Auroth the Ice Snake[ | ]
Down low, running horizontal well below the Star Circle, is a zigzag line of seventeen stars that join two larger, brighter star clusters known as the Jaws (to the west) and the Tailknot (to the east). This is Auroth, the Ice Snake of Auril, also called “Old Icefangs” by the Uthgardt. Said to be a beloved and faithful steed of the goddess, Auroth sacrificed himself to shield Auril in a long-ago battle among the gods, and for his valor was raised into the havens. It is said that to this day the Clergy of Auril pray to specific twinkling stars in Auroth's body to hear divine messages from their goddess.
People born under these stars are aid to have a cold, calm demeanor, but are capable in erupting in a fierce anger when pressed. Some wizards and mercenaries find themselves linked to these stars.
Eyes of the Watching Woman[ | ]
Opposite the Arrows of the Gods on the other side of the sky are tow hazy clusters of blue-white stars, which appear as two side-by-side crescents or arcs in the sky, pointing downward. To most, these are called the Eyes of the Watching Woman. While the constellation does resemble a pair of eyes, no legend survives which explains the name.
People born under these stars are said to be highly sociable and the most adaptable to change. Those who have a very charismatic aura about them and people who survive great events are said to be linked to these stars.
Fishing on Glorfindar[ | ]
The lake at the floor of Twilight Tor is called Glorfindar, which means “the lake of fair fortune” in the common tongue. The lake is fortunate indeed, for even in the depths of winter it sill teems with all manner of fish from the common knucklehead trout to the rare candlefish.
Local fishermen fish the lake year-round, cutting holes in the ice when the lake freezes over to go ice-fishing. Often the town will organize fishing contests around Simril, both to hold contests for Winter Festival celebrants, and to help keep their stocks of food up through the winter.
Flowers for Sune[ | ]
Local tradition has it that brilliantly colored flowers of the Fireblossom Lilly are sacred to the goddess Sune. The flower's tendency to bloom at the height of summer has cemented this association, and now the flowers are commonly linked with Sune's Summer Festival. Fireblossom flowers bedeck the festival and magically treated flower petals are often used as an informal currency on festival days.
It has recently been discovered that Fireblossom flowers have a strange effect on kobolds. The creatures hunger for the flowers, consuming them to enter a violent trance-like state. The kobolds living in Neverwinter shun the flowers as poison, but feral kobold tribes have been known to attack festival goers just to get another taste of Fireblossom nectar.
Hungry Trolls[ | ]
The Summer Festival is traditionally a time of feasts and festivity to celebrate bounty and bring good cheer to one and all. Now that Neverwinter's recovery is well underway, the Heartwarders of Sune are glad to return to this tradition, and plan for a great feast at this year's Summer Festival.
Unfortunately, a local tribe of trolls has caught scent of the Midsummer Festival's grills. Trolls normally avoid fir e and so eat their food raw, but they are known to take advantage of cook-fires to steal roasted meat for themselves. If no stopped by force, they'll often make a meal of the cook in the process.
To combat this problem, the Heartwarders have revived another Summer Festival tradition: Contests of martial skill. Now adventurers of all types compete to defend the Summer Festival from troll raids.
Jassa's Dagger[ | ]
Jassa's Dagger is shaped like it's name-sake: a line of six stars whose highest star (the Pommel) is a large and pink, and which is crossed two stars lower by a line of four stars (the Guards). The constellation was said to have been the dagger of Queen Jassa of the city Lirremar. Long ago, her reign ended when she was impaled on a spear at the Battle of Biting Serpent. According to the stories, she flung her dagger into the night sky, where it now hangs below and to the east of the Watchful Knights, hilt uppermost and blade forming diagonal line pointing southwest.
People born under these stars are said to have great pride, whether it be their positions, possessions, or accomplishments. They are also known to hold a grudge. Ambitious people and those who set out on personal vendettas can be linked to these stars.
Lavarandar's Lantern[ | ]
Lavarandar's Lantern is an upright rectangle of stars enclosing four very bright blue-white stars, in the northern sky far south of Mystra's Star Circle and West of the Sleepless Knights. In the common stories of the Sword Coast, they are thought to be four sister princesses, who were cursed with lycanthropy. Their father, the king, built a silver cage to imprison them while he quested for a cure. While he was away, his evil nephew stole the cage and plunged it into the sea to drown them so he could inherit the crown. However, this drew the attention and anger of Umberlee, and the goddess hurled the cage up out of the watery depths with such force it soared up into the Sea of Night and stayed there, as it does to this day.
People born under these stars are said to be compassionate of others, but keep a stalwart demeanor when facing their own problems. Some clerics and people who put others ahead of themselves can be linked to these stars.
Marthammor Duin[ | ]
Marthammor Duin is a god mainly of shield dwarves. He came to prominence centuries ago when the great shield dwarf kingdom had collapsed. The ethos of his priests is surprisingly outgoing for dwarves, and his faithful are usually accepting and forgiving.
Criminals and dwarves who've dishonored themselves can often find succor among dwarves who worship Marthammor, since those dwarves are themselves often exiles. But communities and clergy of Marthammor Duin are not gangs of dishonorable criminals. Those who join them must evince an honest desire to take high road and help others
Monsters on Ice[ | ]
The Lake Glorfindar's bounty has been known to draw more than just fishermen. This year, it seems it has drawn the attention of frost goblins and ice trolls.
This is not unusual, but the large numbers who have appeared this year, as well as the Rimefire golems they've brought indicate that these may not be hungry raiders, but an advance force from a larger army. The rumors that the raids are being lead by giants makes this much more likely, and much more of a threat.
To combat these raids, the people of Twilight Tor have enlisted the aid of Neverwinter's heroes, and have started a contest with rewards for the heroes who do the most to drive the icy monsters back.
Mystra's Star Circle[ | ]
The North is marked by a circle of large, bright stars with utter darkness between them, known to most folk today as Mystra's Star Circle. In children's stories, Mystra's floating Castle of Night is said to float in the center of the darkness. Other folk in the Realms call this constellation the Crown of the North, or just the “Cold Crown.”
True north is marked by the brightest “Brow Star,” called Alagairtha after a legend of the Bedine people. According to Bedine story-tellers, a proud Bedine sorceress by that name challenged the gods long ago. In the tales, her challenge failed, and as punishment she was transformed into the star which bears her name: imprisoning her from the world but preserving her breathtaking beauty for all time.
People born under Mystra's Star Circle are said to be inquisitive, with a strong ability to learn. Those who pursue academics, the arts, and magic are said to be linked to these stars.
Of Sune and Feasts[ | ]
Neverwinter's Summer Festival hosts thousands of revelers during the course of its celebration, and many will join in the feasting. Thanks to the largesse of Lord Neverember the Festival is never wanting for victuals, but recen events have left the entire region short-handed for farm workers.
In order to keep the festival fed, local farmers have created contests out of farm work to attarack the help of the Summer Fesitval's revelers. Thus the fesival now sees able bravos and adventurers chasing chickes and herding pigs. The Heartwarders say taht Sune herself has blessed this alteration of the festival, and will sometimes send a special celestial bird as areward for all the hard work and good fun.
Origins of Sahha[ | ]
Layfolk the world over have played some variation of handball since time immemorial. Until recently, no variation has ever gained much tin the way of popularity outside of its regional roots. The origin of sahha, therefore is an unexpected tale of the game´s quick rise to favor.
That tale takes us to Amn, where after years of steady decline, House Bessail–a wealthy merchant family–was in its death throes. Having inherited the house from his business-challenged, late father, Balenti Bessail was desperate for financial breakthrough. In a bid to avoid bankruptcy, Valenti bet on a business venture inspired by his eldest sister´s pastime, a local variation of handball.
Valenti commissioned his most trusted sailmaker, the young Rhaal Voleau, to make a ball using sailcloth decorated with lavish ornamentation. Unlike common handballs made from cheap, heavy leather and animal bladders, this ball was to be as beautiful as it was lightweight.
Accompanied by his eldest sister Tche, Valenti took holiday at a family friend´s estate on Lake Esmel where the most affluent Amnian families spend midsummer. His bet was that the elegance and novelty of these new balls would prove too tantalizing to the avant-garde sensibilities of the wealthy for them to resist investing. Valenti was right and the young and fashionable among the high houses clamoured to order their own paraphernalia, each eager to be ahead of the trend and promote their status.
Only a few summers later, the variation of handball played with the sailcloth balls, dubbed "sahha" had become a mainstay of summer reaction at Lake Esmel. Many high houses began sponsoring teams and the outcome of games became a popular subject in betting parlors. Thanks to its popularity in high society it soon gained traction among all classes of Amnian society, due in no small part of the spirited campaigning of Valenti and his sisters.
Simril[ | ]
The Winter Festival celebrates Simril, the holiday of the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Despite the cold and darkness of winter, Simril is not considered a time of dread or fear. Instead, the hardy people of the Sword Coast consider Simril to be a festival about surviving winter instead of fearing it.
Simril thus becomes a holiday of festive defiance. Instead of fearing the cold and starvation, people put away extra stores so they can have feast of roasted meat and sweet winter wine by roaring bonfires. Instead of fearing the dark of the longest night, they stay up until dawn to gaze up at the starry sky, looking for good omens for the coming year.
Summer Waters[ | ]
Summer Festivals across the sword coast are often combined with contests of martial prowess. The Heartwarders of Sune were eager to implement a similar contest as part of Neverwinter's Sumer Festival, but the city's council of advisors voiced concern over their plans due to the large number of adventurers who attended the festival, and the possible mayhem they might cause.
At the same time, there were numerous complaints that the period of time chosen for the festival was simply too hot, and celebrants needed some way to stay cool.
Working with the church of Sune and Neverwinter's restored academy of magic, Lord Neverember devised a plan for a grand water battle, solving both problems at once.
The Arrows of the Gods[ | ]
The Arrows of the Gods travel across sky throughout the course of the year. They are formed of three converging lines of stars, each with a cluster of stars at it's outward end, or “point.” Where the three lines come together points east. To folk elsewhere in the Realms, these stars are called Atar's Arrows, the Sun's Signpost, or the Caltrop.
People who are born under these stars are said to have a very blunt personality for better or worse. They tend to be driven and tackle their goals and obstacles as directly as possible. Independent and headstrong, people tend to be linked to these stars.
The Goddess Sune[ | ]
The Greater Goddess Sune is known as “The Lady of Love”, or in older texts as “Sune Firehair” for the blazing red locks she is often depicted with. As the diety of love and beauty, Sune is known to take many forms and has been worshipped under several names.
Sune is the mistress of all that is beautiful and thrives on the most tender of emotions. It is said even other dieties have become smitten with her, but she reserves her love for the mortals who revere her name.
Sune's priesthood are known as the Heartwarders, and are among the most beautiful people on Toril. She is also served by the Order of the Ruby Rose, a small band of warriors who seek to preserve all that is beautiful from the wickedness of the world.
The worship of Sune is most prevalent in civilized areas and among the aristocracy, who have the time to give proper attention to values such as romantic love and the preservation of beauty. However, even the roughest souls have been known to whisper prayer to Sune before an encounter with the one they most desire.
The Sleepless Knights[ | ]
In the sea of night not far south of Mystra's Star Circle, there shines a distinctive cluster of middling-brightness start arranged like a perfect square with a fifth star in the center. These stars are the Sleepless Knights. According to legend, they were once five knights oathbound by an ancient king to keep watch on the North for approaching armies. So stern were their vows it is said they never slept nor wavered until the final battle high in the Crag mountains when the old king died. Then, it's said they rode into the sky and never fell, to keep watch of the North forever.
People born under these stars are said to be extremely reliable and loyal to their friends and duty. Some knights and paladins can find themselves linked to these stars.
The Twilight Run[ | ]
The Twilight Run is a slalom down the Twilight Tor hill and around the Lake Glorfindar, ending below the village. The course is made of slick ice and filled with obstacles, arcane speed boosts, and slalom bates racers must maneuver through for points.
Celebrants may run the course at any time in order to learn the track, and during the Twilight Run event, each participant's total score across multiple races is added together to determine the victor.
Twilight Tor[ | ]
The small town of Twilight Tor, “Anaurdahyn” as it is known in dwarvish, nestles in the shadow of the hill which gives it its name. The town was founded by the dwarves of the Vault of the Lost Wayfarer, a subterranean enclave for dwarven outcasts seeking a new home.
Twilight Tor was originally founded as a fishing village to help feed those trying to reclaim the vault below, but in the time since has grown into a settlement in its own right.
While most in the town are still fishermen or mine the hills for gold or star metal, several scholars, astrologers, and diviners have also made the town their home. This is an ancient pattern, as ruins of ancient Uthgardt stone circles, and even Illefarn artifacts show Twilight Tor has been used for watching the stars since ancient time.