• 691 DR [Year of the Stricken Sun]

  • Lord Erthaer Javilarhhsson, the youngest son of King Javilarhh "the Dark" Snowsword returns to the court of Delimbiyran convinced he had found a valley he wished to call home. With the consent of his nephew, King Davyd Snowsword, Lord Erthaer raises a host of men and leads the settlement of Starshadow Vale (so known for its position on the southwestern fringe of the High Forest, poetically placed "in the shadow of the Star Mounts"), seizing the lands from orcs and other fell creatures. King Davyd elevates Lord Erthaer to the rank of Baron of Dauntylgar, and gives him title to Starshadow Vale upon condition that the newly installed baron (or his heirs) could hold the land for at least a dozen winters. »

  • 702 DR [Year of the Clutching Death]

  • Unbeknowst to the humans of Delimbiyran, and the settlers of Starshadow Vale, the orcs of the western High Forest consider Starshadow Vale to be a sacred burial ground, and it is the founding of the barony and subsequent wave of settlement in the region that forms a great orc horde.

    Orc raiders form the High Forest inflict heavy losses on the splinter kingdoms of Delimbiyran that were formerly part of the Kingdom of Man. Many of these lesser realms are destroyed before the armies of the Duke of Calandor finally defeat the orcs.

    Among the realms left shattered in the horde's wake was the Barony of Starshadow Vale, just eleven winters after its founding (and 1 winter short of fulfilling King Davyd Snowsword's requirements for Baron Erthaer Javilarhhsson taking rightful lordship of the lands). In defiant anger, the Baron Erthaer defies the gods and becomes a ghost, haunting the Starshadow Vale, and longing to restore Dautylgar to its earlier status and maintained for at least one full winter. »

  • 882 DR [Year of the Curse]

  • The Company of the Yellow Star takes refuge in fallen Starshadow Tower, which they came across while following the path that leads north form the Hall of Four Ghosts. The ghost, baron Erthaer Javilarhhsson possesses the leader of the company, a warrior named Heldack Ironclaw, who then convinces his fellows that they should settle Starshadow Vale. The company spends the summer months gathering landless men willing to settle the vale. By early autumn, there are at least three dozen families settled in the vale.

    The settlement falls less than a fortnight later when warriors lead by Nimoar "the Reaver" sweeps through the vale, ravaging the harvest and setting fires to the small settlement. »

  • 1018 DR [Year of the Dracorage]

  • Tordath Ironfist, blood of Turgo, the dwarven lord and his followers were returning to the Forlorn Hills after visiting kin working a small mine in the depths of the High Forest, but they are forced to take shelter amid the ruins of Starshadow Tower by the passage of an errant green wyrm. The ghost baron Erthaer Javilarhhsson, possessed Tordath and then led him back to Firehammer Hold, where the charismatic young clan leader convinced many of his kinsman to return with him to the vale. The stout folk rebuilt Starshadow Tower within a matter of months, and then set about establishing a ruby mine along a nearby ridge.

    Less than two months after their arrival, the dwarves of Starshadow Tower were no more, and the ghost baron's keep was once again a smoking ruin. The great red dragon named Imvaernarhro, torn from slumber by the madness of the Rage, set fire to the vale, quickly killing Tordath and his followers and tearing into the ruby-laden ridge with his grasping claws. Since that time, the stout folk have avoided Starshadow Vale, but tales still speak of the fortune in rubies they left behind of Imvaernarhro's lair. »

  • 1222 DR [Year of the Horn]

  • A Waterdhavian hunting party led by Lord Ornigar Tchazzam makes camp amid the ruins of Starshadow Tower in the early days of Tarsakh. The ghost baron, Erthaer Javilarhhsson, possesses the young Tchazzam scion, who then becomes obsessed with founding his own hold in the vale. That summer, Lord Ornigar enlists the financial backing of several noble families; in the fall, he returns to Starshadow Vale accompanied by a dozen scions of Waterdeep's nobility and ten times that number of retainers. Backed by a large amount of coin and the arrogance of youth, the nobles quickly restored Starshadow Tower with the aid of spellcasters in their employ. However, their efforts quickly come to naught, for some ill-advised plundering of the orc-built barrows that dotted the vale quickly drew the attention of the Horned Lord and the Tanglethorn orc tribes of the High Forest. Within a tenday, the Blackhorn Horde had overrun the vale, and Tchazzam and his ill-fated followers lay crushed beneath their boots. »

  • 1374 DR [Year of Lightning Storms]

  • Flamerule 14 Word spreads through Loudwater that Starshadow Vale is haunted, severely curtailing Daela's (of the Band of Falling Waters) ability to recruit new followers. »

  • Eleasis 1 Dozens of would-be settlers plege to join Daela Swiftarrow (of the Band of Falling Waters) in Starshadow Vale. »

  • Eleasis 14 The Starshadow March, led by Daela Swiftarrow of the Band of Falling Waters, heads north toward the border of the High Forest. »

  • Eleasis 17 Daela Swiftarrow of the Band of Falling Waters, and her followers arrive at Starshadow Vale and the ruins of Starshadow Tower. Work rebuilding the structure begins almost immediately. »

  • Highharvestide Daela Swiftarrow (of the Band of Falling Waters) orders a small celebration to mark the arrival and storage of the last shipment of food stores from Secomber. During the celebration, word spreads that three settlers are missing. »

  • Marpenoth 1 The shattered bodies of three missing settlers are found atop one of the vale's many barrows. The barrow itself has been opened up as if ripped by a massive claw. Daela Swiftarrow (of the Band of Falling Waters) leads a small band into the barrow where they find a warren of tunnels and a large band of orcish wights. »

  • Marpenoth 12 Five more settlers vanish from Starshadow Vale. Their bodies are found after nightfall atop another opened burial mound. Seven settlers are lost battling the host of orcish wights that swarm forth from the barrow. In the days that follow, wight attacks become increasingly common. »

  • Uktar 19 Word spreads through Starshadow Vale that a skeletal dragon has been seen flying above the valley. »

  • Uktar 21 Most of the settlers of the Starshadow Vale meet and demand that Lady Daela Swiftarrow (of the Band of Falling Waters) lead them south to Secomber before winter sets in for good. Lady Daela refuses to entertain the notion, appealing to their desire to build a new settlement. »

  • Uktar 24 Word reaches Starshadow Vale and Lady Daela Swiftarrow (of the Band of Falling Waters) that a few settlers attempted to make their way to Secomber on their own, only to be turned back by roving bands of wights that stalked the low hills south of the vale. »

  • Feast of the Moon Starshadow Vale is attacked again on a clear, moonlit night by a great dracolich. Lady Daela Swiftarrow (of the Band of Falling Waters) and her followers manage to drive it off, but not before the roof of Starshadow Tower is shattered by the wyrm's claws. »

  • Nightal 1 After a herculean effort from the settlers of Starshadow Vale to move the settlement's food stores and clearing the tunnels of wights, Lady Daela (of the Band of Falling Waters) leads her remaining followers down into the first barrow to be opened. The settlers quickly collapse those tunnels believed to lead to other barrows. Few believe they can survive the winter. »