The Mountains of the North

The Mountains of the North is a region in Landorya. A formidable chain of peaks rising through the frozen reaches shared by THE FROSTBORN and their mountain-dwelling allies, these mountains are as much a homeland feature as a natur… It is commonly linked to THE FROSTBORN. Geography: The northern mountain range rises dramatically from the glacial plains, with sheer cliff faces, high-altitude passes, and deep valleys chok… Climate: High-altitude conditions prevail, with temperatures plummeting far below those of even the surrounding Frostbound Waste…

The northern mountain range rises dramatically from the glacial plains, with sheer cliff faces, high-altitude passes, and deep valleys choked with ice and snow. The peaks provide natural shelter for settlements and serve as the ancestral meeting grounds between the Frostborn and the mountain-dwelling races of Landorya.

High-altitude conditions prevail, with temperatures plummeting far below those of even the surrounding Frostbound Wastes at the highest elevations. Howling mountain winds carry ice shards and reduce visibility to near zero during the fiercest storms.

These mountains have long served as the shared domain of THE FROSTBORN and the mountain-dwelling races of Landorya, whose strong alliances were forged across generations of mutual survival and defense. The Frostborn's proficiency in Runecraft is believed to have developed in part through exchanges with these mountain-dwelling neighbors, whose own ancient traditions blended with Frostborn elemental ice magic over centuries of close cooperation.

It is said that the highest peak of the Mountains of the North, called the Spire of the First Pact, was where the Frostborn and the mountain-dwelling races sealed their original alliance, not with words, but with a single rune carved simultaneously into the living rock by both peoples' elders, channeling ice magic and stone-craft into one glyph that still burns cold to this day. Travelers who press their bare palms to that ancient carving in midwinter are said to hear two voices speaking in unison from beneath the stone, one in the Old Frostborn tongue, one in a language no living scholar can fully translate. Some believe the mountains themselves remember every pact ever sworn upon them, and that to break an oath made in their shadow is to invite the peaks to close the passes against the betrayer forever. The most chilling rumor whispered around Frostborn hearthfires holds that one such oath-breaker was sealed alive inside the glacier, his frost-rimed face still visible deep in the ice as a warning to all who would treat alliance as a convenience.

Life in the Mountains of the North is defined by the unrelenting rhythm of survival at altitude, at dawn, mountain guides lead supply trains through treacherous high passes before the wind rises to its cruelest pitch, while craftsmen and runebinders work in the relative shelter of deep valley settlements, their breath misting over tools and carved bone alike. The ancestral meeting grounds nestled between the great peaks serve as seasonal gathering places where Frostborn clans convene with their mountain-dwelling allies to exchange goods, runelore, and the stone-working techniques that have quietly shaped Frostborn architecture for generations. Runecraft holds a place of profound reverence here; young Frostborn apprentices are often sent to spend a full winter season in the high caves, studying alongside mountain-race elders whose traditions predate even the oldest Frostborn oral records. When the aurora blazes above the peaks, it is customary for all communities across the mountains, regardless of race, to cease their work, step into the cold, and observe a shared silence lasting until the lights fade, a habit so old none living can name its origin.