The legendary lost city and dungeons of Arden Vul lie on a plateau
overlooking the valley carved by the Swift River into the knees of
the Emerald Mountains. The valley is about 90 miles wide and
80 miles long, and it features varied terrain: forest both ancient
and new, cleared fields, swamp, mire, and rocky hills and ridges.
In antiquity it marked the northern-most edge of Archontean
civilization on Irthuin; the important administrative and scholarly
city of Arden Vul was the seat of an archonate and home to several
legions. With the Archontean retreat occasioned by the great War
of the Sortians and Theosophs, Arden Vul was abandoned in 1803
AEP. Most of the Archonteans estate-owners in the valley fled as
well, and the fields reverted to wood and mire.

For a variety of reasons, the Thorcinga never chose to settle
the valley in great numbers. So, when the empire returned to
Irthuin in 2639, albeit in reduced numbers, they found a mostly
depopulated, dangerous frontier region. The exarch in Narsileon
assigned lordship of the valley to the Basileon family, and a new
town (Newmarket) was chartered. More recently, a second new
town, Gosterwick, has emerged under the aegis of Lady Alexia
Basileon (see AK map and chapter). The towns and villages of
Burdock’s Valley are thus islands of civilization in a still dangerous
frontier region. To the south lies Narsileon, some two weeks’ walk
along the imperial road. To the north are the Emerald Mountains,
which are home to giants, monsters, and the occasional Wiskin
steading.

The valley itself takes its name from the Thorcin thegn who
ruled the valley in antiquity, before the Archonteans arrived to
‘civilize’ it. The Thorcinga still know it as the Vale of Burgheat,
although this has been rendered into Archontean as Burdoc-Vale
or Burdock’s Valley.