Old Vaelen

The city was built within a grouping of hills upon a natural spring that formed from the nearby Liontongue River, northwest of the beauteous Golden Water bay.

As of the late 15th century, the Datharathi chaka of Durpar claimed the lands over Old Vaelan as their own, a mere formality to hold some esteem in the public eye. In secret, they paid monetary tribute to Saed as the old vampire lord slowly increased his control over the region.

The original city of Vaelen was founded as a trade city in the −1234 DR. It remained in human hands for well over a millennium, but was taken over by a band of were-creatures led by a noble wererat in the Year of the Dun Dragon, 245 DR. In the years that followed, the were-beasts that took haven in the city constantly assailed passing caravans, much to the ire of neighboring nations.

Furious about their constant loss of goods, Mulhorand directed their army to level Vaelen, reducing it to mere rubble. Many of its lycanthrope inhabitants survived, finding shelter in the network of subterranean passageways built beneath the city. The vampire lord Saed arrived within the ruins of Vaelen two years later, he rapidly emerged as champion for the outcast creatures that were forced to live underground and over time arose as a leader among the chieftains of the Beastlands.

Saed's Experiments. Many rumours abound of strange happenings in Old Vaelen. Some of these rumours claim Saed is experimenting with psicrystals. These experiments are said to range from creating an army of psionically-empowered, crystalline golems; to creating a psionics-enhancing tower that will allow him to more easily send psionic signals across the surrounding lands. However, these rumours also claim that his constant experimentation with psicrystals has warped his body; transforming him into a vampiric mind flayer.

The ruins of Old Vaelan, which lie on the frontier of chaka-ruled territory, are rumored to contain the lost wealth of old Durpar. However, few visit the grassy knolls and stone rubble that mark the location of the former city. The dead do not rest easy beneath the ruins, and packs of marauding beasts are said to roam the region.

The confusing nomenclature of Old Vaelen and its namesake city Vaelan was outlined and clarified by the Waterdhavian scribe Loducious the Laughing.