Hellgate Keep & The Blue Bear Tribe

[Revanche]

I'm looking for any information y'all can give me on Hellgate Keep and the Blue Bear Tribe, including references in sourcebooks and novels (beyond FR Wiki).

Specific questions I'm curious about are:

Was Hellgate Keep controlled by Demons or Devils in 1369?
What caused the Blue Bears to turn away from Uthgar?
Why did the Blue Bear Tribe besiege Hellgate Keep?
Why did the Harpers destroy the keep afterwards?

If anyone can shed some light on this (seemingly obscure) lore question, or direct me to appropriate sources, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Munmun]

From the FR Campaign Setting book:

Hellgate Keep: In the days of Eaerlann, the city of Ascalhorn was a moon elf citidel. Human refugees occupied it after the fall of Netheril. Later the baatezu infiltrated Ascalhorn, secretly gaining control over ruling figures and the populace until 882 DR, when a number of wizards realized what had happened and summoned demons to destroy the baatezu. The warring fiends tore the city apart, and the victorious demons turned the city into the dreaded Hellgate Keep. For nearly five hundred years, Hellgate Keep gave the north end of the High Forest a bad name.

In 1368 DR, after attacks by elves had weakened the baatezu, members of the Harpers used powerful magic to destroy Hellgate Keep, killing most of the baatezu. The great treant leader Turlang moved in to seal off the area and keep the remaining fiends from causing more damage. At the present time, after several expeditions by adventurers who evaded Turlang or bargained for passage, the smoking crater that was Hellgate Keep seems pacified.

[Audark]

Sarya Dlardreageth and her son and some followers were freed from Hellgate keep when the Harpers destroyed it with the gatekeeprs crystal. This led to the daemonfey/fey'ri war, the fey'ri assault on evereska as well as the elven crusade to retake Myth Drannor.

Ascalhorn was founded by the Eaerlanni elves in the northeast of the High Forest on an area known as Ascal's Horn, to protect the boundaries of the kingdom. They gave it to the Netherese refugees after Netheril fell.

Wulgreth, a Netherese wizard, summoned demons to the city in 820 DR. In 880 DR, this prompted other wizards, with the guidance of the fey'ri, to summon devils to counteract the demons, but in 882 DR the demons won the battle and conquered the city. The demons continued their rampage, destroying Eaerlann and Ammarindar. So the city was demon controlled until it fell.

In 1368 DR, the Blue Bear tribe, led by shaman and chieftain Tanta Hagara, marched on the fiend-ridden fortress.

[Revanche]

Thanks guys, that's some excellent info on Hellgate Keep.

If anyone has any further information on the Blue Bear Tribe, I'd be very interested to hear it. I know Tanta Hagara was actually a powerful Hag, but how she came to power and what role Malar had in turning the tribe from Uthgar is still a mystery to me.

[maralten]

Wait, if the city was demon-controlled after the demons won, why does it say "after attacks by elves had weakened the baatezu"? It makes no sense.

[Vendrin]

Wait, if the city was demon-controlled after the demons won, why does it say "after attacks by elves had weakened the baatezu"? It makes no sense.

Demons controlled the city till it's destruction, but after it's destruction they left. The ruins and all that were left became Hellgate Keep, which the devils showed up and decided to use.