Geographical Features
Forests & Woodlands
- Dragon Wood. The eastern half of
the great Northern Forest, its heart is a dark thick tangle of briars, swamp, and dense
pine forest filled with spiders, trolls, green and black dragons, and worse. Though
sparsely inhabited along its edges, it is generally avoided by most wise folk.
- Elven Wood. Also known as
Arhillon, the western half of the Northern Forest is a mixed evergreen and deciduous
woodland. The elves of Arhillon do not take kindly to trespassing strangers, tending to
shoot first and not bother with questions.
- Northern Forest. This
enormous forestland spans several thousand of miles running west to east. It is primarily
a northern pine forest but the Elven Wood in the west is thick with deciduous trees, as
are the Dragon Wood's swamplands to the east. The central region, through which winds the
Gold Road, is home to many bandit groups.
Mountains & Hills
- Bloodaxe Pass. A wide gap between the
Blood Hills and the Skull Crags, it is the main opening used by Orcs and other humanoids
to march into the Fire Ridges and raid Dwarven towns.
- Bone Hills. A small ridge of
low-rising rough hills just south of the foothills of the Fire Ridges. The rocky ground is
almost completely barren and dry, with little water except during the Riverstide spring
runoff.
- Fire Ridges. The southernmost
ridge of the White Mountains is quite lively with volcanic activity. Living amid its crags
and peaks are Fire Giants, Mountain Dwarves, Aarakokra, and Ogre-kin (Orcs, Gnolls and
Ogres).
- Frost Ridges. The northernmost ridge of the White
Mountains, it is also the highest and coldest range. Rocky and glacial, very little
inhabits these ranges, but they are known to be sacred to Frost Giants, who bury
their dead in cairns here. Deep trenches and deadly cliffs divide the Frost Ridges from
the Stone Ridges.
- Ogrespines. This narrow ridge of rocky cliffs begins near
the Rock of the Basilisk and runs to the southeast for several hundred miles, ending about
halfway to Harpy Falls. Ogres and goblins inhabit the range, as do a variety of strange
creatures found nowhere else in the Shield Hills.
- Shield Hills. This vast rocky
plateau stretched from the Fire Ridges to the Black River Valley. Its surface is desolate
and swampy tundra to the north, while farther south the hills are covered in thick scrub
brush and dwarf pine. Lakes and rivers are plentiful, providing excellent freshwater
fishing. Many of the rivers eventually spill into the Black River Valley. The Shield Hills
are home to the Haddi and to Goblin-kin (Goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears) who live here
in large numbers. Humans tend to dominate the surface, while the Goblin-kin inhabit
extensive cavern systems underground.
- Skull Crags. A long curved stretch of sharp desolate peaks
on the eastern edge of the Shield Hills, the Skull Crags are almost impossible to traverse
by any means other than flight. This has made them the ideal home for several blue
dragons, Aarakokra, blood hawks, as well as sure-footed goats and leucrotta.
- Steppes of the Haddi. This area of the Shield Hills is home
to the humans known as the Haddi. The grasslands of the steppes are home to winter-hardy
plants and wild animals, including packs of roaming winter wolves. Boiling mud flats and
steaming sulpher springs line the northwestern part of the steppes.
- Stone Ridges. The central ridge of the White Mountains is
cold and rocky, but with fewer glacial heights than the Frost Ridges. Its southern side
slopes into a series of rocky valleys inhabited largely by Stone Giants and Cloud Giants,
a few Rocs, and other creatures which prefer the desolate isolation of the valleys.
- Stoneland Wastes. This wide stretch of hills south of the
Steppes of the Haddi is littered with boulders, rocks, and pebbles of all sizes. Sand
shifts among the rocks, and a strong prevailing wind whips over the surface from west to
east almost all year long. In some parts of the wastes, the wind and sand erosion have
created magnificent and twisted sculptures of natural stone. Basilisks are Gorgolisks are
known to dwell here.
- White Mountains. The name given to the massive mountain
range comprising the Frost Ridges, the Stone Ridges and the Fire Ridges.
Plains, Deserts, and Swamps
- Bronze Desert
- Mossmarsh
- Steppes of the Haddi
Oceans, Seas, Lakes, and Rivers
- Black River
- Bright Sea
- Carp River
- Eastern Sea
- Evendary River
- Green Mere
Special Features
- Black River Valley
- Harpy Falls
- Rock of the Basilisk
- Rock of Farhold
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