Bast Fulmar

Bast Fulmar, also known as the Valley of Drums, was a gently sloped valley in the Awl'dan.^[1] It had been formed by a long-dead river that now existed only as hardpacked sand. The valley ran roughly north to south with broad curved bend carved by the river on its western side. The eastern slope was more undulating with a bulge at its centre. The valley's northern end narrowed to a defile below a bluff while the south offered a wide approach. The floor of the valley was wide and flat.^[2] The summit of the valley's eastern ridgeline was largely bare rock overlooking another valley at least a third of a league across.^[3] Visibility was high within the valley, with no features beyond the rolling hills to block lines of sight.^[3] But once down in the valley, the ridgelines on either side prevented sight outside the immediate area.^[4] Seven narrow, shallow drainage channels ribboned the valley's flanks, separating those areas into segments. Three were in the valley's southwestern quadrant, two in the centre-east of the valley, and one each in the northeastern and southeastern quadrants.^[4]

History

Among the Awl it was known as cursed valley where a victorious battle had been fought three hundred years ago in the war against the K'Chain Che'Malle.^[5][6] The Letherii understood the valley to have some obscure arcane significance to the Awl in a war with an unknown enemy.^[7] The last living Elder of the Renfayar clan claimed only he knew the truth that the Awl victory had, in fact, been a defeat.^[8]

According to Redmask, the talk of a battle in the valley, if there had ever been one, obscured its true significance. In truth, the land of the valley had been drained of its magic long ago by the Shamans of the Antlers, whose numbers across the world had engaged in a fell ritual that severed their life from the earth and severed the earth from its own life. They had drunk deep of the valley to quench the fire of life until all life there was stolen and all waters fled.^[9]

In Reaper's Gale

See also: Battle of Bast Fulmar

Redmask chose the valley to be the site of his first major battle against the Letherii Empire and the forces of Factor Letur Anict of Drene. He lured Atri-Preda Bivatt's Eastern Army to the valley knowing its supernatural properties would nullify the Letherii's sorcery. The Awl then used unconventional tactics to crush the unprepared Letherii and send them to flight.^[10]

Notes and references