AT A GLANCE: Rashemen lies north of
the mysterious land of Thay, and is the
easternmost of the known Realms. To
its east lie uncounted leagues of rocky,
grassy wastelands, and beyond that
several rumored kingdoms of men,
unreached and unreachable in recent
memory. The land of Rashemen is the
home to a race of short, muscular
humans who are concerned primarily
with their herds, and who are adept at
carving bone and sculpting rock.

ELMINSTER'S NOTES: Merchants from
the Sword Coast call Rashemen "the Far
Land," and trade is brisk with other
nations in the Realms. Merchants come
to Rashemen from the west by three
routes: via the Long Road to the north
through Nathoud; through the Great
Dale to Kront and thence across the
Lake of Many Tears; or across the
"Golden Way" which skirts the border
with Thay and enters Rashemen at
Mulsanter.

The trade-goods of Rashemen are
wool, furs, and carved stone and bone,
as well as much-prized casks of jhuild,
or firewine. Rashemen imports cloth,
woodwork, lumber, and foodstuffs.
Rashemen is self-sufficient in warmetals,
and has large herds of goats and
rothe. Rashemen is also the home of
sjorl, a heavy, smoky-flavored cheese.
Sjorl is very nourishing, but it is an
acquired taste, and little is exported.

Some ballads refer to Rashemen as
the "Land of Berserkers." Such is the
fearless savagery and stamina of its
warriors that at least sixteen invading
forces from Thay have been slaughtered
or turned back from incursions
into the land in the last seventy winters.
To date the Far Land remains free.

Rashemen is ruled by a Huhrong
("Iron Lord," or senior war leader),
whose steel-shod palace towers above
the roofs of the city of Immilmar. The
Iron Lord commands Rashemen?s
standing army, called "The Fangs of
Rashemen." The Fangs are a contingent
of warriors clad in heavy fur and leather
tunics, armed with hand weapons,
short bows, and light lances, and
mounted on surefooted mountain
ponies. Most of Rashemen's armed
force is involved with patrols on the
land's borders with Thay, along the
shores of Lake Mulsantir, and the broken
lands east of the Gorge of Gauros.

The present Huhrong is Hyarmon
Huzzilthar, a grizzled veteran warrior
with a salt and pepper beard, who numbers
seventy-six winters, and has ruled
as senior war leader for the past
twenty-three of them. Huzzilthar was
chosen, as all Iron Lords are chosen, by
the Witches of Rashemen, a group of
female spell-casters who hold great
power in the land. Huzzilthar replaced
"Old Wolf" Targuth Athkarr, who in
turn had held the High Seat at
Immilmar for seventeen winters after
the death of his predecessor, Lethgar
Mimdusko. Athkarr had been plagued
by senility in the later years of his rule,
and upon Huzzilthar's selection as leader,
Athkarr was taken in by the witches,
and never seen again by mortal eyes. It
is believed that the senile "Old Wolf"
was carefully tended until his death, for
the witches, as the common Rashemen
say, "are like that" (usually accompanied
by a knowing shrug).

Beneath the Huhrong there are many
lesser, local lords, each with their own
followers and businesses. The succession
of rulership, however, and the
posts of warleaders within the armies,
are chosen by the true powers of the
land, The Witches of Rashemen.

The continued existence of Rashemen
speaks greatly of the true power of
the witches' magic. There are believed
to be no less than sixty, and likely over a
hundred, witches in the land. Within
the nation of Rashemen the members of
this order wear black robes and grey
masks showing only passive faces.
Should a witch leave Rashemen for any
reason, she abandons her black garb
and conceals her powers, for none have
revealed their abilities or identities
beyond the borders of their native land.
The central haven for these witches is
the town of Urling.

It is this powerful order which provides
the pilotless boats known as
witch-ships, and which unleashes fell
beasts and poisonous gases on vessels
from rival Thay. These witch-ships
roam at will throughout the great lake
Ashane, also called the Lake of Many
Tears, from as far north as the Pool of
Erech to as far south as Lake Mulsantir
and the "harbor of chains" at Surthay.

The Witches of Rashemen also brew
jhuild, the fire-wine, a potent amber
drink that warriors imbibe before battle,
which deadens pain and inflames
the passions, whether for battle or other
activities. Through their control of
the jhuild as well as their great and mysterious
magical powers, the witches
control the warriors of Rashemen, and
through them the nation.

In their native land, the witches of
Rashemen are venerated and respected.
The penalty under Rashemen law
for harming or disobeying a witch is
death. The witches are said to take male
lovers for brief periods, though none
have pierced the veil of secrecy that
surrounds their group. It is believed
that these males are used for some
form of planned breeding program, but
this is as yet undetermined.

The people of Rashemen are by nature
a hardy, brawling race. Both sexes
practice the sports of snow-racing (a
wintertime cross-country foot race,
clad only in the briefest skins) and the
hunting of snowcats. Widespread hobbies
among those who can afford the
time include the collecting of rare and
beautiful stones (including gems), and
exploring the old ruins in the north of
their realm. That elder kingdom, now
only collections of destroyed citadels,
was known as Raumathar, and once
ruled this land and contested with Narfell,
another equally extinct kingdom
that lay to the west.

The key ritual for young men in
Rashemen is the dajemma, a "journey to
manhood" that every male Rashemen
makes in his youth. The dajemma often
has some far-flung goal, such as an
expedition around the Inner Sea itself,
but if the youth returns home, he is
accorded great honors and considered
an adult and accorded the rights of a
warrior of the people. The dajemma is a
perilous undertaking, but has the
advantage of showing the young males
of Rashemen the nature of the world
outside, so that the people have an
understanding far beyond that of normal
rustic cowherds. These continual
dajemmas have the additional advantage
of strengthening trade contracts
with the west, and picking up useful
information about the nations of the
Inner Sea, in particular military information.
At the same age, young females
are tested by the witches, and those
who qualify are inducted into their
organization.

Sages, merchants, and mercenary
captains generally agree that Rashemen
has no designs upon the lands around
it. As with most nations that border
Thay, their primary concern is survival
in the face of expanding hostile neighbor,
and with the aid of the witches,
they accomplish that task quite well.
Rashemen's warriors are fearless and
feared, but they are rarely encountered
outside their homeland, and do not
have the reputation or expertise of the
Mercenary companies of the Sword
Coast. The most common encounter of
a Rashemen citizen is a youth (or band
of youths) on dajemma, usually taking
in the sights and much of the liquor in
the area. For most of the inhabitants of
the Inner sea and Sword Coast, the Far
Land of Rashemen will remain a mysterious
land sung of in minstrel's tales,
the setting for feats of brawn, the starting
point of epic travels, and the land of
the mysterious witches who can thwart
the Red Wizards of Thay.

GAME INFORMATION: Jhuild, the Firewine,
is an incredibly potent liquor and
appears a honey-gold, but burns the
tongue and mouth when first consumed.
A draught of this material
effects a state of moderate intoxication,
and two mugfuls a state of great intoxication.

Effects of Intoxication from Firewine

Morale	+10%	+15%
Intelligence	-3	-6
Wisdom	-4	-7
Dexterity	-1	-1
Charisma	-1	-1
To Hit and Saves	+1	+1
Hit Points	+1	+3

Morale indicates the beneficial effect
on the imbiber to morale, and applies
only in combat situations.

Intelligence, Wisdom and Dexterity
reductions are the temporary lowering
of that character's abilities while under
the effect of the wine. While Dexterity
is lowered, its effects are less harmful
than most other western drinks.

To Hits and Saves indicate the benefit
to such throws while under the effects
of the wine. The nature of the firewine
allows swift, if not particularly sound,
actions.

Hit Points is the addition of the effects
of the drink to the imbiber, similar to
the effects of the aid spell. Any points
lost are taken from these "false bravery
" hit points first.

The peril of firewine is that an hour
after drinking, the user falls into a comatose
sleep for 7-10 hours, though in
that hour great deeds may be performed.
Other forces who have sought
to steal this idea (such as "The Firewine
Incursion" from Thay 30 winters back),
have found their drunken forces in
slumber when they are needed elsewhere.

The Rashemen seem immune to
this effect, though whether this is from
the spell-lore of the witches or the natural
hardiness and resistance of the
Rashemen is unknown.

Firewine sells for 1 gp a pint in Rashemen,
15 gp a pint elsewhere in the
Realms.

The witches of Rashemen are a mysterious
cult of female spell-casters
which control the fortunes of the
nation. If encountered in Rashemen,
they will appear as noted under Elminster's Notes,
in numbers from 1-6.

While these spell-casters are very different
in nature from the other magicusers
of the world, for game purposes
treat them as magic-users of no less
than 6th level, and no higher than 25th
(1-20 +5). While this is not fully accurate,
it will suffice until a full study of
these individuals may be made. Each
witch encountered will have a 5%
chance per level of a useful magical
ring, a useful magical wand, and a useful
magical weapon. The latter will be a
whip (UA page 78) with properties and
abilities from the magical sword table
(UA Page 89).

The witches of Rashemen are greatly
honored in their land, and the people of
the area will risk their own lives to save
a witch. In the remainder of the
Realms, no witches have been sighted,
and it is presumed that such witches, if
they do wander the Realms, do so in disguise.