Steelhelm

"'How nice it is to be in the embrace of the six sisters' -Thengar Stonehammer"Steelhelm is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Ephoria, after the fall of Brightspear. Found sitting between the Thurum Maurr and Folds mountain ranges, in the western edge of the kingdom, it is one of the two gateways into the central plains of the kingdom. Identified as a fortress city, famed for its high walls and six iconic towers lined in steel known as "The Sisters", and the great citadel that sits at its heart. Steelhelm is also the home of the Warmaidens of Helm, an elite force charged with the protection of Steelhelm and the Kingdom of Ephoria, although they rarely leave the city, and are the founders of Steelhelm.

= History =

Founding of Helm Valley
Steelhelm began many hundreds of years ago as a simple temple to Helm, the god of protection. Guided by Helm through the Sister Superior the temple and its female-only attendants became know in the area as fierce warriors, protecting smaller settlements and farms from raiders and menacing creatures. Over the years the temple and the war-maidens were held by in great esteem, that many families would find it an honour to have their own daughters to be accepted into the ranks. Many women and young girls traveled from far away to pledge their lives to the Helm and the sisterhood.

The temple grew larger with many people beginning to settle around it finding the mountains rich with quality material. It was also a key trading point between the young capital of Ephoria, Palmrock, and the dwarven city of Kal-Thurum. Under the protective eye of Helm’s daughters, this new settlement flourished, originally called Helm Valley.

Joining the Ephorian Kingdom
Helm Valley and the Warmaidens of Helm kept to themselves not getting involved with politics at large, at most they would trade with those who passed through. However about 120 years after the founding, the once fledgeling town of Palmrock had grown into a major city and become the seat of power for the Kingdom of Ephoria. Having expanded into the plains below the Fold mountains and to the southern coast, the young kingdom turned their eyes to expand northwards beyond the Folds, and the only way was through the Raven Vale pass, and the Helm valley.

The king of Ephoria at the time, Berthellemy II, was loved by his people and remembered as the forger of what Ephoria is today. Being quite young at the time, he was very wise, and led the kingdom firmly but fair. When looking to the Helm Valley he knew of the strength of the Warmaidens that lived there and knew that the valley could not be taken by force.

He sent many messages asking that Helm Valley join his kingdom, to which his received rejection, again and again, declaring they are loyal only to Helm. The king’s patience began to draw thin and began to contemplate open war, however, one day he became inspired. He sent word to the Sister Superior instead of a message to join but simply requesting permission to visit the temple in pilgrimage, which was granted.

King Berthellemy arrived at the temple of Helm not in full regalia but in a simple pilgrims clothing and his sword, which impressed the Sister Superior. The king bowed and prayed to Helm before turning to the mass of people, who followed him to see this “pilgrim king”, and challenged the Sister Superior to combat before Helm, waging that if he was the victor the Helm Valley will join his kingdom or let him die. Impressed by this spectacle she accepted his challenge.

The fight that took place is written in the history books of Ephoria, as the two fought with ferocity and skill. Those there that day could not say if one or the other had the upper hand, as blow after blow the blades clashed. The duel seemed to show no sign of ending when over the sound of metal on metal was interrupted by screams, a horn, and the sound of many galloping horses. It was at this time a war-band of raiders from the north attacked the valley. Both combatants stopped their duel and ran in the direction of the assault. Still in his pilgrim’s robe he alongside the Sister Superior and the other war-maidens, the king fended off the attack, leading a counterattack that routed the raiders. Returning to the temple, the Sister Superior turned to the king and thanked him for his help, the king having witnessed the might of the Warmaidens of Helm, he saw that this was not his place to rule yet felt honour bound to protect it. Before the Sister Superior and her sisters, he vowed that the Kingdom of Ephoria will not rule them but will protect them and their endeavours. At that moment appearing on his hands were two gauntlets of the impenetrable steel, the Pilgrim's Gauntlets, a gift from Helm. The Sister Superior seeing this as a blessing from her patron bowed before the king and swore fealty to him along with her sisterhood. The king seeing this blessing declared Helm to be the patron god of Ephoria, and in honour of that made the gauntlet the emblem on his banner. From that day forward the Helm Valley joined the Ephorian Kingdom but granted independence to govern itself, a partnership that no successor of Berthellemy would ever dishonour.

The Battle of Iron Tears
200 years after the founding of the temple, Kal-Thurum, the dwarven city hidden in the Thurum Maurr mountains, faced a terrible horror when from the Underdark attacked. A terror from ancient times, an Aboleth named Umom Notlith the “Dark Ruin”, assaulted the city with an army of creatures from the deep and turning some of the dwarves into madness that they would attack their own. Struggling to hold off the onslaught, the dwarves of Kal-Thurum called for aid to which the Warmaidens of Helm answered. A great battle was fought where many war-maidens and dwarves alike died, remembered in Ephorian history as the Battle of Iron Tears. The battle was almost lost if it wasn’t for a small party of war-maidens, eternally known: Marina, Marissa, Serena, Zilyana, Ommabella, and Hilda, infiltrated the aboleth’s lair and slew the ancient beast at cost of their lives.

Deeply grateful for the help of the war-maidens, the dwarfs of Kal-Thurum repaid this great debt with a massive undertaking. Using the vast sources of iron and stone around the Helm Valley built a great citadel to be both temple and barracks for the Warmaidens of Helm. In addition, they built great walls strengthen with great steel pillars and 6 great towers each named after the war-maidens that killed Umom Notlith, collectively named "The Sisters". However, when attempting to build the foundations of one of the towers, it collapsed into the earth where a great natural well was discovered, and thus was named the “Sunken Sister”. Upon completion, the walls stretched across the valley becoming an impenetrable gateway to the south. The settlement was renamed to Steelhelm, and the Warmaidens of Helm took residence in the citadel manning the great walls that protect their ancient home.

The War of the Black Horde
Despite the Warmaiden’s great efforts to protect its neighbouring settlements and camps, the northern steppes in the valley between the Thurum-Maurr and Little Finger range were constantly plagued by raiders from the north. These roving warbands came from beyond the edge of the current borders of the Ephorian Kingdom, where the Horse-Lords warred among themselves for supremacy and control of the limited supplies of the wastelands they call home. Occasionally they would enter the northern valleys to pillage what they could find. Throughout the years the Sisters of Steelhelm and the Ephorian kingdom would fend off these intrusions, but with the suddenness of the attacks and the distance from the strongholds, it was getting harder to defend.

About 50 years after the walls were raised around Steelhelm, the raids appeared to have stopped and the northern valleys and the kingdom found peace for 7 years. The snows melted in the northern pass, and waiting on the other side was a sea of horsemen about 10,000 men strong. In those 7 years of quiet, a horse-lord by the name of Zul the Black Stallion rose to power dominating and uniting the horse-lords with the promise of great riches and land. Under his banner, his Black Horde planned to invade the Ephorian kingdom and take it for themselves.

The initial attack took the Ephorians by surprise unable to respond fast enough to save the new settlements in the northern reaches of the valley. None were spared as the horde rode through the valley. The horde was held back by the walls of Steelhelm, and the mighty force of the Ephorian Army at the fortress city of Eastwatch. For 6 months the horde held Steelhelm sieged and neither force could break the other. It wasn’t until the seventh month Steelhelm were awoken by cheers and a feral warhorn as an army of Orcs marched over the eastern pass into the valley and began to besiege Steelhelm beside the Black Horde. Messages arrived at Steelhelm over the following days that at both Eastwatch and Brightspear orcs were attacking, this was the Second Incursion of the Orcs from the Forsaken Island far to the east. It seemed that Zul was able to forge an alliance with an army of Orcs, promising a share in their spoils.

The siege continued with greater ferocity, but the Warmaidens were able to hold back the tide, however at a great cost. On the fifth day of the heighten siege, the force of Sisters of Steelhelm and other Ephorian defenders could feel their last day coming upon them. For every fallen defender 3 attackers were taken with them. As the sun began to lower in the sky, over the clamour of battle, a deep horn like it came from the depths of the earth echoes across the battlefield. From the western mountains, an army of dwarves emerged and attack the Black Horde and their orcish allies. Rallied by this the defenders of Steelhelm sallied forth to push the invaders back into the northern valley, the Black Horde and the Orcs set fire to the valley as they retreated. There the battle waged on for two more days until Zul the Black Stallion was killed. Without a clear leader, the Black Horde broke due to infighting of the different Horse-Lords and some of whom found their alliance with orcs distasteful. With Steelhelm now secure the remaining Ephorian defenders were able to reinforce Eastwatch and Brightspear ending the war.

The mark of that war still remains, due to the flames and the many dead the valley north of Steelhelm was covered in blood, mud and ash, as such was named the Ash Valley. Over the years the Ash valley turned from a rough steppe land into fertile land and have since become a key farming region of the kingdom.