Hylo – War of the Lance Era

Isolated from the rest of Ansalon, Hylo or Kenderhome is more complex than most know. Let’s learn more about the nation of Hylo. Buy the War of the Lance sourcebook: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3164/war-of-the-lance-3-5?affiliate_id=50797 

https://youtu.be/_zuV95xCn6U

Transcript

Cold Open

You won’t believe how this nation was founded!

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Hylo in the War of the Lance Era. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing The Atlas of the Dragonlance World, and the War of the Lance sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!

Discussion

Before we move on from Northern Ergoth in the War of the Lance era, I would like to dive a little bit deeper into Kenderhome, otherwise known as the nation of Hylo. Its history mirrors that of the rest of the island, but the Kender who live here are much more welcoming than any others you will find in Northern Ergoth. The founding of Hylo is also one which could only come from Kender, or perhaps Gnomes, now that I think about it. Back in the Age of Dreams, in the Time of Light, approximately 2600 Prae Cataclius, a clan of Kender in Balifor discovered a floating citadel. Seeing as they had never ridden a Floating Citadel before, they thought they might take it for a brief ride, and bring it right back for its owner. Unfortunately for its unknown owner, this did not happen. For when they began steering this floating citadel, they quickly realized they had no idea how to control it effectively. They soared all across the continent before crashing the citadel near the foothills of the Sentinel Mountain range. 

Disembarking the now non floating citadel, they realized this was as good as any place to settle down, and so they began building the village around the wreckage of the citadel, naming it High-Low referencing the mountain ranges and Valley. There is speculation that it is in reference to the fact that they were high up in the sky in the floating citadel, then crashed low into the ground. This isolated region allowed them to thrive without the intrusion of other races, expanding their villages and towns throughout the region. They lived in relative peace and isolation for thousands of years. That is, until the Cataclysm. The survivors of the continent being ripped apart began to subdued. Many Kender wondered why the gods would punish them for something Istar had done. Others became increasingly religious, making offerings and joining any religion they could discover. They began fiercely guarding their borders, but within a few generations, they returned to their traditional Kender ways.

Hylo is a well-protected forested area, bordered by a vast mountain range to the west, the Straits of Algoni to the east, empty wastelands to the north, and the inhospitable lands of Ker-Manth to the south. With a population of over ninety-thousand, they live in isolated peace, like they did before the cataclysm. No outside races want to invade, without any real resources to collect outside lumber, and the Kender are content to live within their borders, minus the wanderlust of course. There are flatlands spotted with ruins of an ancient ogre nation outside of which are irregular hills and dales. The forests of Hylo are temperate and warm year round.