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Members of a githyanki faction are encountered here and there as the PCs move through a section of the Uluriak. These githyanki, weary of constant struggles with Khyber denizens, are planning to collapse the Uluriak tunnels so Katal Hazath will never again provide access to Khyber. They are ready to collapse the tunnels and let the expedition take the blame. They have weakened the walls in a core section over time until collapse is imminent, and are waiting until the PCs are at the spot before they strike the final blows, The PCs must thwart those who would destroy the tunnels they occupy, or they’ll have no easy way back home.
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During the Last War, Katal Hazath pledged one hundred githyanki soldiers to the King of Breland* an arrangement that helped the githyanki maintain their autonomy. Some of those githyanki never returned home and are believed to languish in prisons in Karrnath or Thrane. The city enlists the aid of the PCs in locating and rescuing these lost heroes.
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The rangers who patrol the Uluriak tunnels take great pride in their ability to hunt and slay mind flayers that try to ascend to the surface world. But some of the younger, braver rangers want to descend into Khyber itself and attack a mind flayer settlement as a reprisal for past attacks and a warning to the illithids not to visit the surface world. Katal Hazath’s leadership has rejected their plans, so they are looking for assistance from nongith who share their hatred of mind flayers.
Many of the entrances to the underground region known as Khyber are guarded by fearsome monsters. Cazhaak Draal in Droaam, for example, is home to a band of medusas that petrify any explorer who tries to gain access to the vast underground caverns. Tharkgun Dhak in Xen’drik (see page 140) is in the middle of an unexplored continent and overrun with ogres. Khyber is right beneath an adventurer’s feet, but it can be devilishly hard to reach.
One of the more accessible entrances to Khyber is the githyanki enclave of Katal Hazath. Located in the Graywall Mountains between Breland and Droaam, Katal Hazath sits atop a circuitous network of tunnels that lead down into the heart of Khyber itself. Because the githyanki hate the mind flayers, daelkyrs, and other denizens of Khyber, explorers from the surface world can often get guided and reasonably safe passage into the underground world.
It is not always easy to win the assistance of the residents of Katal Hazath, however. They are accustomed to hostility based on preconceptions about githyanki as evil raiders who strike without warning, then fade into the Astral Plane. Droaam’s marauding monsters, forces from the Daughters of Sora Kell, and even well-meaning crusaders from Breland all attack Katal Hazath on a regular basis.
The githyanki of Katal Hazath aren’t evil, by and large, but they’re extraordinarily militant because they face threats both from the surface world and from the caverns below. Everyone from the soldiers patrolling the mountains to the rangers in the tunnels leading to Khyber is on a hair trigger, ready to defend the enclave against any threat.
Lands: Katal Hazath sits in a remote valley in the midst of the Graywall Mountains, just on the Breland side of the Breland–Droaam border. Incursions from Droaam are common; the area is only lightly patrolled by the Brelish army, so Katal Hazath must defend itself against marauding monsters. The terrain is particularly rugged around the enclave, with many avalanche-prone cliffs. Beneath Katal Hazath (and the only thing of interest to most explorers) is a vast, twisting network of tunnels known as the Uluriak (githyanki for “tangle”). The Uluriak leads far beneath the earth into the largely unexplored caverns of Khyber. In those caverns, both great treasures and unspeakable horrors await. Getting There: As the crow flies, Katal Hazath is 750 miles northwest of Sharn. The trip by road is much longer, however, because of the twisting mountain terrain, stretching the trip to a harrowing 850 miles. Once a season, a delegation from Breland’s army visits Katal Hazath, making the trip from Galethspyre on horseback in 20 days. While it’s common for explorers to mention Katal Hazath, few know its exact location. Accordingly, civilians (such as explorers and merchants) sometimes accompany the military delegation on the journey.
Appearance: After climbing over the steep mountain pass that guards the eastern edge of the valley, visitors see strange, swirling buildings perched at the edge of a shallow alpine lake. These seashell-shaped buildings, clearly of magical construction, are Katal Hazath.
Layout: The twisting spires of Katal Hazath house the enclave’s githyanki residents. Like githyanki everywhere, the enclave’s denizens are entirely militarized, so they refer to living quarters as “barracks,” their leaders’ chambers as “headquarters,” and so forth. A nautilus-shaped building in the center of the enclave surrounds the entrance to the Uluriak tunnels that lead to Khyber.