Kuldahar

Kuldahar is a northern settlement of Firbolgs located in the frozen, rugged frontiers of Icewind Dale, near the shores of the frozen lake Lac Dinneshere. It is celebrated chiefly as the homeland of Hrothgar Hillsfar (who later became known as Farwald), one of the legendary saviors of the Sword Coast, and is famous for its colossal world tree.

The Great Tree and the Ordning

Kuldahar’s defining feature is its enormous world tree. Unlike other world trees created by Annam the All-Father, this magnificent specimen was grown by his favored daughter, Diancastra. She was permitted to create it to exist outside the constraints of the Ordning, the rigid social hierarchy that defines all other giant races.

Because Kuldahar exists outside the Ordning, it has long been protected by various giant-kin. The Firbolgs constitute the largest group and define the community’s peaceful way of life, and their presence also serves to isolate and shield a few storm giants who dwell in the nearby mountains.

Culture, Faith, and People

The clans of Kuldahar preach a delicate, harmonious balance among three protective deities:

Because Torvik remains in an eternal slumber, Kuldahar’s clerics primarily draw their active powers from Othea and Diancastra. Consequently, the community traditionally places nature, diplomacy, trickery, and careful planning at its center.

In this society, clerics serve as skalds—nomadic storytellers who travel between the clans to remind them of the cultural bonds that unite them. Because of their mastery of words and community building, they also function as diplomats to the outside world.

The Firbolgs of Kuldahar are characterized by grey skin with a blue tint, dark wild hair, thick beards (often laced with grey), big flat noses, and cow-like ears. Due to the biting arctic climate, some find hard lichen growing along their arms. Many decorate their bodies and arms with protective runes that illustrate the legends of their people.

Geography and Neighboring Relations

Kuldahar is situated in a broader network of northern landmarks. The settlement of Helsingor lies to the southeast, while the town of Targos guards the entrance to Icewind Dale.

Further north, near the northern end of the Sea of Moving Ice, lie the Throat of the World Mountains, home to the local Frost Giants. These giants value martial strength above all else. Rather than confronting them in open warfare, the Firbolgs of Kuldahar traditionally used a strategy of diversion—moving game, altering paths, and making the mountain passages unhelpful so that the combative Frost Giants would lose interest and wander elsewhere.

History and the Dragon War

Three centuries ago, a destructive coalition of chromatic dragons launched a devastating assault across the North, laying waste to emerging cities like Neverwinter, Luskan, Waterdeep, and Baldur’s Gate. When the storm giants of Kuldahar sensed the approaching threat, many of their communities were dispatched to confront the menace before it reached their homeland.

Hrothgar Hillsfar, a Kuldahar cleric and skald eager to travel beyond his traditional tasks, stepped forward to represent Kuldahar in the Lord’s Alliance. He joined a legendary company of heroes that included Elminster Aumar, Lady Tanager Alagondar, Esfaloth Nightbreeze, Gorion, Kiara Shadowbreaker, and Uther Vendrock.

The Dragon Masks and Cryovain’s Flight

To defeat the massive draconic threat, the heroes constructed five powerful dragon masks—one for each chromatic color. These artifacts granted immense power, allowing the party to influence the minds of the dragons and directly control them.

Using these masks, the heroes successfully convinced the black, red, and blue dragons to fly away and never return to the northern Sword Coast. However, the masks failed against the wily green dragon, Virethas (the Jade Queen). Virethas had to be dealt with directly, ultimately being slain outside Neverwinter by Lady Tanager Alagondar, who tragically perished in the battle.

To ensure that no single individual could wield absolute control over the dragons, the remaining mask locations were kept strictly secret, even from other party members. Hrothgar took the white dragon mask and buried it in his own empty grave in a tomb by the shores of Lac Dinneshere, trusting the warmth of Kuldahar’s great tree to counter the icy, corrupted influence of the white dragon Cryovain.

Hrothgar commanded Cryovain to remain confined within his original lair in the Throat of the World Mountains. However, this ward was recently broken when intruders entered the lair, disabling the lair’s magical protections and allowing Cryovain to break free of Hrothgar’s command and fly south to the Sword Mountains.

Legacy and the Great Cover-up

Following the war’s conclusion, Hrothgar’s fame grew immense. Fearing that the surviving dragons or their fanatical cultists would seek retribution against Kuldahar and his beloved family, Hrothgar chose to make a supreme sacrifice. He asked his ally, the Archmage Elminster Aumar, to cast a powerful combination of Modify Memory and True Polymorph upon him.

This magic stripped Hrothgar of his memories, reduced his towering 3.2-meter Firbolg frame, and transformed him into Farwald, an elderly human adventurer. For three centuries, his true identity was lost, even to himself. Farwald only began to piece together his past after encountering the white dragon Cryovain, seeking guidance at an ancient temple of Ioun, and later being healed of the mental fog by a restoration ritual.

Intriguingly, Farwald’s restored cleric powers no longer stem from the goddesses of peace, trickery, or nature. Instead, they manifest as the domain of Torvik, the sleeping god of ice and wind—a sign of the awakening anarchy of the sleeping father.