est of the Howling Heights, the jagged peaks of the high moors give way to rolling hills and vales. Though lower, they are equally windswept and blasted by the ever-present wailing gales that afflict the entire range. This stretch of the Howling Hills is known to the locals as the Räuberthal, for it is haunted by bandits and robbers, and is the haven of murderers fled to its creeks from hundreds of miles all around.

At the centre of the Räuberthal, atop the tallest rise for many miles, stands the castle of Middenstag. This ancient and imposing edifice dominates the entire region, guarding the Delberz-Hergig road against the many bandits hiding amongst the hills. The castle is tall and spindly, its highest towers able to see for many miles all around. Its tumbledown walls have been patched up and repaired many times over the centuries, giving the castle a ramshackle appearance. Within the Middenstag Castle are garrisoned the wardens of the Räuberthal — dour, professional warriors who ride out over the dales to track down and capture the bandits of the hills. Once in the wardens' custody, few such bandits ever walk free again. Many are imprisoned deep beneath the castle in its rotting dungeons, or are hanged from its highest towers as a grim warning to all who transgress the laws of the Grand Duchy of Middenland.

On at least three occasions over the last two centuries, the bandits of the Räuberthal have swelled sufficiently in numbers to present a serious threat to the stability of the entire region. Demagogues and rabble-rousers have risen within their shabby ranks to lead ill-disciplined but bloodthirsty bandit armies against the settlements of the southern Middenland and northern Talabecland. In these short, but terrible wars, appalling vengeance has been meted out by the bandits upon the law-abiding folk of the region, bitter revenge for past punishments. On each occasion, the Middenstag castle has remained a solid rock around which an ocean of banditry has crashed. At such times, the fiery beacon atop the castle calls the Middenland militia to the defenders' aid. Now the militia have ridden to the aid of the Emperor, their local knowledge employed in the hunt for the crown.

Regions of the Great Forest

For information on the locations within this region, see the Warroom when it open on June 25, 2007.

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