A great stronghold on the eastern shore of Lake Cyre, the cliff dwellings of Gatherhold are the jumping-off point for many an adventure in eastern Khorvaire. The ramps that connect one cliff dwelling to another are always teeming with nomadic Talenta tribesmen, caravans en route to Valenar or Q’barra, or adventurers embarking on expeditions into the eastern Mournland. The house’s baron, Yoren d'Ghallanda, has his personal domain deep in the cliff-tunnels.
Built into a rocky outcropping along the eastern shore of Lake Cyre, Gatherhold has space for 3,000 or more halflings, though its population approaches that number only a few times a year. Fewer than 500 residents live here full time, and these are nearly all representatives of the dragon marked houses.
House Ghallanda built and maintains Gatherhold, both as its headquarters and as a place where all the Talenta tribes might gather and meet as equals. Gatherhold’s houses are for the use of visitors from other parts of Khorvaire. The halflings prefer to put up their tents along the surrounding hills rather than stay cooped up inside “boxes,” as they call even the most lavish set of rooms.
House Jorasco has a strong presence in Gatherhold, though its headquarters was moved years before to Vedykar in Karrnath. Many Talenta halflings resent what they see as Jorasco’s abandonment of their homeland and values for the world of the human cities. However, the house continues to operate a handful of mobile clinics that travel throughout the Plains, dispensing healing and comfort to the tribes they meet.
At least three times a year, Gatherhold hosts a meeting of the tribal council. All tribes are welcome to attend, but attendance by the lathon and the laths of the five largest tribes is mandatory. During the five or ten days that the council remains in session, the town’s population swells as a continuous stream of tribes passes through.
Source: Eberron Campaign Guide
The only proper city in all of Talenta, Gatherhold, is the one constant in the plains. The city is maintained (but not owned) but House Ghallanda, and all of the houses have permanent outposts here. People who wish to trade with the tribes almost always prefer to come to Gatherhold rather than try to venture out into the plains. While the halflings aren't interested in much from the Five Nations, they value metal bits, nails, and screws to hold their saddles, housing, and other objects together.
Ghallanda's profits come in part from a booming tourism industry for the wealthy who want to "rough it" for a few nights. However, the house is not as relentlessly profit-oriented as the others. After the Day of Mourning the city swelled with survivors who had fled by boat across Lake Cyre. The house took care of the refugees free of charge, and to this day many Cyrans regard the house warmly, even as the vast majority have left for New Cyre and Q'barra since.
The city feeds itself through a combination of magically conjured food from of the Mark of Hospitality and fish from Lake Cyre. While House Lyrandar planners have offered to irrigate the land around Gatherhold by drawing water from Lake Cyre, House Ghallanda and the tribal leadership have thus far refused.
About three times a year the tribes gather and discuss important matters, although only the largest tribes reliably represent themselves every meeting. Tribal members do not stay in the city proper, instead establishing enormous tent cities on the boundaries. Despite disliking being "trapped in the boxes" that make up the city, the tribal leadership still conducts business indoors to accomodate the variety of foreignors that wish for an audience.
Even when the tribal leadership isn't around, foreign dignitaries and the houses have gone to work establishing a nook for themselves in the city. The lightning rail makes the city reasonably accessible from Korth and has contributed to the strong Karrnathi diplomatic presence in the city.
House Deneith has established a prominent enclave in the city as a recruiting center for young tribal warriors. While the war is technically over, the Blademarks guild has little faith the Treaty will hold and wants to be ready for when hostilities renew. The Defender's guild is less pessimistic but has found plenty of nobles in need of personal protection and interested in the exotic appeal of a dinosaur-riding warrior.
House Orien has based its Mournland reclamation efforts out of Gatherhold, primarily due to its proximity to Metrol. While the city as a whole was apparently magically rearranged by the Mourning, the rail station in particular has thus far proved impossible to find. As such, the house is offering considerable bounties to anyone who can locate the missing station and recover missing magical developments.
Source: Politics of the Talenta Plains
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