Jarl Balgruuf

Balgruuf is a Jarl who rules, or once ruled, the frost giant clans dwelling in the frozen heights of the Throat of the World Mountains, located at the northern edge of the Sword Coast near the entrance to Icewind Dale.

The Frost Giants of the Throat of the World

The frost giants live toward the northern end of the Sea of Moving Ice and are the most distant giant cousins of the Firbolgs. They maintain a complex society and value martial strength above all else. Within their territory, stealth is highly despised; the frost giants expect travelers to openly project strength rather than attempt to sneak through the mountain passes. The traditional Firbolg approach to these giant kin was historically diplomatic rather than combative, focusing on shifting paths and diverting game to make the mountains unhelpful so that the combative giants would lose interest.

The Return of Hrothgar

When the Firbolg skald and cleric Hrothgar (then traveling under the magically altered memory of the human “Farwald”) returned to the Throat of the World after an absence of three hundred years, he sought to determine if the political landscape of his giant cousins remained unchanged.

Upon entering the snowy valleys, Hrothgar shouted a booming greeting in the Giant tongue, inquiring to any within earshot whether Balgruuf was still the reigning Jarl. Though intended to gauge the status of the local leadership, this loud announcement echoed through the mountains and inadvertently alerted a nearby wight commander, leading to a perilous undead ambush.