Connects to: 14.02, 18.10.01, 22.03, 20.10, 24.26 and 26.01.
Right at the edge of orcish territory once lay the famous fields of the Skibart halflings, where the pipeweed that most every gnomish illusionist smokes was grown. The Skibarts paid their tribute to the orcs of Hoth Achaar (26.01) and lived in relative peace. But with the recent troubles among the orcs, this has broken down and the Skibarts have had to learn to fend for themselves.
They have done this by relocating their growing operations to winding tunnels beneath their hills that they keep lit with thousands of Light-enchanted stones. The fields around their hollow hills are kept as ostrich pasture and the halflings make sure that their herds are locked away safe below ground whenever orcs approach. And these orcs have found these halflings a tough nut to crack, for they have bought a good deal of gnomish magic and their dense network of tunnels mean that they can pop up behind any orcish war party without warning.
But the halflings still fear the orcs of the north and pay off the most fearsome raiders. The Skibarts have also tunneled down to the Sunless Sea and have docked enough boats at its shores to carry them away south if the worst comes.
But at the moment orcs are not the only thing that the halflings have to deal with; they also have Heleg Koldranson on their hands. He has taken to lounging around their pubs smoking a truly enormous amount of pipeweed and making a nuisance of himself. The halflings fear to send him away because of the reputation of his father, Koldran the Mighty, Holder of the Immovable Rod of Penultimate Thule (also known as the North Pole, see 14.02).
They do right to fear. Some of the gems that are set into Heleg’s magical axe and enchanted helm are delayed blast fireballs that have been set to explode if they are removed or if the right command word is not said at each and every dawn. Koldran dislikes those who steal from his children but if his children die, what of it? He has a hundred more.
Connection:
Hooks:
- Pipeweed isn’t tobacco, is it?
- Why do gnomish illusionists value pipeweed so highly?
- What are the troubles that have broken out among the orcs?
- Where did the halflings get that many stones with Light cast on them?
- What magic have the Skibarts bought from the gnomes?
- Is it wise to tunnel down to the Sunless Sea?
- What relations do the Skibarts have with the Furfeet (17.06) and Bolgers (11.08) halflings farther south?
- Who is Koldran the Mighty? Where is his north pole? Is it off the map or the north or somewhere else?
- Besides have delayed blast fireballs set in them, what magic do Heleg’s helm and axe bear?
- Why/how does Koldran have so many children? Are any of the rest of his children about in these lands?
