The Forgotten Reign of Baron Elktazar

Companion-level module CM8: “The Endless Stair” (1987)^¹, by Ed Greenwood, is a D&D adventure for a party of four to six characters of levels 15 to 20. Greenwood has described it as his “learn how to write TSR modules” module, released the same year as the original “Forgotten Realms” boxed set.

The adventure begins at “Daelzun’s Rest”, a large and busy inn which serves as a gathering place for local trappers, woodcutters, prospectors, and hunters. The PCs get caught in the crossfire between a deceased wizard’s apprentices, as the rival mages vie against one another to claim their master’s inheritance.

A small wilderness area is featured, along with two dungeons: a wizard’s tomb, and the titular “endless stair” leading to an extra-dimensional complex of chambers housing the Seat of Power, a lesser artifact created by the Immortal “Cheiros”. The whole adventure can probably be completed in 2–3 sessions.

Situating CM8: “The Endless Stair” in the Principalities of Glantri

“This adventure is designed to fit into an ongoing campaign. It can be introduced into play any time the PCs are traveling overland together for more than a day’s journey, through fairly extensive rocky, forested regions. The area in which play will take place lies on a road far from large cities and at least a day’s ride from any large towns, in fairly rugged terrain that discourages travelers from casual exploration. For those campaigns set in the D&D® game world introduced in the Expert Set, it is recommended that Daelzun’s Rest be located on a road somewhere in the Principalities of Glantri, at least four days’ ride from Glantri City.” (CM8 pg. 2)

The “D&D game world” is “The Lands and Environs of the D&D Wilderness” as presented in the 1983 Expert Rulebook (pg. 33), based on the map of “The Continent” in module X1: “The Isle of Dread” (pg. 16). The map in the Expert Rulebook also depicts overland trade routes, with two roughly parallel routes leading northwest out of the Principalities of Glantri.

The map in GAZ3: “The Principalities of Glantri” (1987) only depicts the southern of these two trade routes, the one that runs through the Isoile river valley in New Averoigne, which isn’t the best fit for CM8, since the route doesn’t pass through any rocky, forested regions at least a day’s ride from any large towns.

An alternative for the location of Daelzun’s Rest involves a “lost” trade route – the one depicted in the D&D Expert Set, but not GAZ3. This route clearly follows the Vesubian river on the Expert Set map, but stops at Leenz on the Gazetteer map.

The Vesubian Valley portion of Thorfinn Tait’s replica map for Glantri, 8 miles per hex (December, 2020)^² modified by Thorfinn (December, 2024) with an extension of the trade route from Leenz through the Black Mountains (my addition), to join the Sayr Ulan–Wendar route.

By extending the road from Leenz across the mountains to join the main trade road going north, we create a fitting location for Daelzun’s Rest, perhaps halfway along this route, described as “the only shelter and source of supply for goods from afar in the area”.

The module goes on to state that “Weapons are permitted in the inn (as this is wilderland country), and visitors of all races and creeds are welcome.” (The latter possibly explains the tolerance of a clerical sect described later in the module – after all, these are the outskirts of the Principalities.)

The wilderness map in CM8, “The Woods Around Lost Axe Lake”, covers a small area (about 2,000 x 3,000 yards, less than 2 square miles). A standard 8-mile hex contains 55.4 square miles, so if it were not for the trade road, the map could really be situated anywhere.

The Lands of Baron Elktazar

According to the module, the area around Daelzun’s Rest was ruled by Baron Elktazar some 300 years earlier, when the highlands region was still a Flaemish realm, prior to the formation of the Principalities of Glantri.

Elktazar’s domain contained “vast forests, rocky crags, and small farms, a loyal land under the Baron’s even justice in a land of many small baronies and landholdings.” The northern Vesubian river valley could represent Baron Elktazar's domain (there might have been more widespread forested areas, which were cleared to create more farmland).

CM8 also states that the Baron reigned from Moonkeep “a many-towered fortress atop a rocky crag (it is up to the DM to decide if Moonkeep has vanished entirely, is an explorable – i.e., dungeon – ruin, or still exists, perhaps under a different name, as an inhabited stronghold).” Perhaps Fort Nordling represents the centuries-old Moonkeep?

Continuing this line of thought, I consulted my copy of “Dragonlord of Mystara” (1994) by Thorarinn Gunnarsson. The novel is set in AC 500 (200 years before the rule of Baron Elktazar) and contains interesting details concerning the period of Flaemish rule.

The northern portion of the Aalban river valley on the map on the inside front cover of “Dragonlord of Mystara” is depicted as heavily forested, fitting the description of Baron Elktazar’s land of “vast forests, rocky crags, and small farms”.

Locations in GAZ3 that don’t appear on the map in “Dragonlord of Mystara” include the town of Leenz, Fort Nordling, and the villages of Vorstadt and Ostbruck.

A map of “The Highlands” in AC 700 could include the “many-towered fortress” of Moonkeep in the location of Fort Nordling, and a village in the location of the town of Leenz. Lands held by the House of Linden would represent the southern boundary of Baron Elkatazar’s lands.

History

The Flaems, also known as the Followers of Fire, first arrived in the lands now known as the Principalities of Glantri in AC 395. Their settlements multiplied, and their great capital of Braejr was established in AC 450.

Frictions with the neighbouring Ethengar Khanate, starting in AC 585, culminated in a disastrous invasion attempt by the Flaems in AC 662, when the Flaemish expeditionary force was utterly massacred in the steppes.

In the years following this humiliating defeat, an adventurer by the name of Elktazar established a Barony in the unclaimed forested wilderness in the northern Vesubian river valley.

By all accounts, Elktazar was a tall, powerful man with a battered visage and great prowess, also known as the “Axe-Lord” because of his favorite weapon.

With the help of his magist, Phelzaron the Long-Lived, the baron constructed an imposing, many-towered fortress atop a rocky crag, naming it Moonkeep.

The early years of his reign were marked by skirmishes with neighbouring Flaemish lords, in which the Baron would usually prevail.

By AC 700, Baron Elktazar was thirty-eight years of age and in the thirteenth year of his reign. He was known far and wide for his love of falconry, hosting splendid tournaments, and breeding fine warhorses (including his black stallion “Darkmane”).

The magus Ruirlon the Brown was a frequent visitor to Moonkeep, and would assist Phelzaron with magical research. The Baron’s court also attracted foreign mages, such as Dathlinn “Windmaster”, a Follower of Air from the distant Empire of Alphatia. Elktazar’s alliances with powerful magic-users served as a deterrent to attacks by Flaemish sorcerers.

The Baron and his wife, the Lady Baeria, had a son, the proud and warlike Thykyl, and a daughter, the quiet, dark-eyed Lathluryl.

The fall of the Barony is shrouded in mystery, possibly involving the schemes of the evil Flaemish sorceress Lady Maerklara of Nordeen. The baron, his wife, and their daughter were entombed in a remote location in the nearby mountains, to discourage grave robbers.

Today, the reign of Baron Elktazar is not well remembered by the Flaems, who prefer to think of themselves as the only settlers of the Highlands prior to the arrival of the d’Ambrevilles from La Terre in AC 728 and the first Thyatian settlers in AC 730.

However, memory of the Baron is certainly known to the local folk, and preserved by “Those Who Watch”, a secretive clerical sect which believes that dead champions of the past will rise again to renew the lands.

Staging

Although the module assumes the PCs are travelling overland when they stop for the night at Daelzun’s Rest, there are several more engaging adventure hooks for a campaign set in the Principalities of Glantri.

Rumors of the Baron’s tomb might lead the PCs to its location. Alternately, legends about the Endless Stair could serve as an impetus to explore the area around Lost Axe Lake, or else rumors of the Seat of Power itself.

Ed Greenwood includes many interesting new monsters (Prying Eyes, Guardian Hand, Skullwraith, Eater-of-Magic) that don’t appear elsewhere, as well as new spells (Stone Bolt (3^rd level), Control Bats (4^th level), Warning Trumpet (4^th level), Control Gargoyle (5^th level), Symbol: Spell Loss; Entrap (8^th level)) and magic items (Crystal of Death Scrying, Dart of Death, Gem of Magic Missile Protection, Diadem of Disenchantment).

Overall, CM8 is an underused module with lots of useful material, which situates quite neatly into Northern Glantri.

2The map is available on The Atlas of Mystara website here https://mystara.thorfmaps.com/gaz3-glantri-8/ while the original module is available on the Drivethrurpg website https://mystara.thorfmaps.com/gaz3-glantri-8/