Moon Hills The Nerath Campaign & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Nerath campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

The Moon Hills are the hills surrounding Fallcrest that help to protect it by making it difficult for any sizeable group or army to advance without breaking up. Without the Moon Hills to help keep them safe from intruders, Fallcrest would not have lasted nearly as long as it has, and would have surely been obliterated during the Bloodspear War. The first group of Bloodspear orcs to arrive overcame the soldiers and militia and ransacked Fallcrest rather than completely destroying it. The orcs left many buildings burning and returned to the main orc army telling them the mission was complete and that Fallcrest was completely destroyed. The orc commander, seeing the smoke from the town, turned the rest of his army to attack other human settlements.

The residents of Fallcrest respect these hills and small fertile valleys and owe much of their prosperity to them. The Moon Hills over the centuries have been lightly settled by humans from many empires and there are ruins of various ages dotted all over it.

The area closest to the town is well patrolled by the Fallcrest Guard, but beyond that goblins and human bandits are known to exist. On the blackest of nights, a fearsome beast is said to roam the hills and moors of that region, hunting the unwary. No one has ever seen the Dark Drake and lived to tell the tale - its existence is only known by the gruesome remains it leaves behind.

The Dark Drake is in some ways Fallcrest’s pet monster, as it features in many stories told in taverns or to children. These tales attribute all sorts of weird abilities to it, and also talk about its extensive brood. These “lesser” drakes have been frequently spotted in the area, and they’re also clearly more dangerous and malignant than simple natural animals, but the Dark Drake itself has remained elusive for decades, evading even experienced monster hunters. Serious scholars dismiss it as just a myth. It doesn’t help that opportunists from Fallcrest sometimes stage hoaxes to make a buck or cover up a more mundane murder. Nevertheless, these smaller drakes and hoaxes can’t explain all the bodies found on the Moon Hills.