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

Fallcrest stands at the highest peak of the Moon Hills at the falls overlooking the Nentir River which can been by viewing the maps here and here. Here travelers and traders using the old King’s Road that runs north and south, the dwarven Trade Road from the east, and the river all meet. The surrounding ridges shelter several small valleys where farmers and woodsfolk live; few are more than six or seven miles from the town. In general the people outside Fallcrest’s walls earn their living by farming or keeping livestock, and the people inside the walls are artisans, laborers, or merchants. People with no other prospects can make a hard living as porters, carrying cargo from the Lower Quays to the Upper Quays (or vice versa).

Fallcrest imports finished goods from settlements downriver and ironwork from the Dwarven fortress of Hammerfast, and exports timber, leather, fruit, and grain. It also trades with the nearby settlement of Winterhaven. The surrounding hills hold several marble quarries that once produced a good deal of stone, but the area has little demand for ornamental stone these days, and only a few stonecutters still practice their trade. Fallcrest has a standing population of around 1,350; another 900 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the town. The people of Fallcrest are mostly humans with a very small number of halflings and dwarves, travelers of all races pass through on occasion.

Fallcrest is divided into two main districts by a steep bluff that cuts across the town. The area north of the bluff is known locally as Hightown. This district survived the city’s fall in relatively good shape, and it was the first area resettled. To the south of the bluff lies Lowtown, which tends to be newer and poorer. In the event of a serious threat, people retreat up to Hightown—the bluff and the town walls completely ring this part of Fallcrest, making it highly defensible. The human noble Faren Markelhay is the Lord Warden (hereditary lord) of the town. He is in charge of all city justice, defense, and laws. The Lord Warden appoints a city council to look after routine commerce and public projects.

Fallcrest’s Hightown is guarded on two sides by a thick wall (the river and the bluffs protect the other two sides). It consists of two parallel barriers of stone block with a few feet of fill between them, and stands about 20 feet tall. Every hundred yards or so, a small tower strengthens the wall.

Two pairs of sentries (Fallcrest guards from the castle) walk the wall tops at night, but unless danger is imminent, the towers are left locked and aren’t manned. The gatehouses are permanently garrisoned. The Fallcrest Guard numbers sixty warriors, who also serve as constables. Moonstone Keep is their barracks. The Lord Warden can call up 350 militia at need.

310 years ago the Nerathan hero Aranda Markelhay founded a modest tower overlooking the Nentir Falls, where the present day Moonstone Keep sits. With the tower overlooking it, a meager settlement began to grow as settlers from Nerath ventured into the new Northern Province. This settlement soon became known as Fallcrest. Over the next two centuries, Fallcrest grew into a small and prosperous city. It was a natural crossroads for trade, and the Markelhays ruled it well. When the empire of Nerath began to crumble about a century ago, Fallcrest continued to flourish.

Ninety years ago, a fierce horde of orcs known as the Bloodspears descended from the Stonemarch and swept over the vale. Fallcrest’s army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears out on Gardbury Downs. The Bloodspears burned and pillaged the lower portion of Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the Nentir Vale, including the complete razing of Fastormel.

In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Fallcrest has struggled to reestablish itself. Fallcrest is a shadow of the former city; little trade passes up and down the river these days. The countryside for scores of miles around is dotted with abandoned homesteads and manors from the days of Nerath.

Notable Locations
• Nentir Inn
• Blue Moon Alehouse
• Halfmoon Trading House
• The Silver Unicorn
• Sandercot Provisioners
• Temple of Erathis
• Fallcrest Stables
• Moonsong Temple
• House of the Sun
• Knight's Gate
• Fallcrest Harbor
• Moonstone Keep
• The Tombwood
• Fallcrest Tenements
• The Nentir Falls
• The Catacombs
• Septarch's Tower
• Watch House
• Naerumar's Imports
• Kamroth Estate
• Teldorthan's Arms
• The Market Square
• Lucky Gnome Taphouse
• Fallcrest Cemetary
• Fallcrest Bathhouse