Northlend Tundra
The Frozen Expance
Battlemaps set in this location
Eoincrown
A frozen city built atop an icy lake with a skyline completely dominated by the looming Fortunii glaciers. It is the last city before the wilderness of Algere beyond. Home to the renowned historian’s guild known as The Relius Conclave. Eoincrown thrives under the rule of scholars and academics. These collectors are a mix of treasure hunters and historians, determined to uncover and study the ancient secrets buried in the glaciers and below. Conclave scholars direct research expeditions into the frozen glaciers, seeking knowledge of the world’s ancient past.
The Conclave’s mission is to preserve history but they are staunch enemies of the tomb dredging industry. They view it as nothing more than grave robbing. They pay handsomely for sun ivory artifacts. This has led to an ironic situation: the Conclave’s high demand for sun ivory artifacts has unintentionally fueled the ongoing ivory rush. With demand at an all time high, more and more adventurers and treasure hunters flock to Eoincrown to cash in.
Village of Tukuruk
Tukuruk is a small, secluded village of ten or so snow-covered yurts, nestled within a bowl-shaped depression in the tundra. Hidden by a tall berm of packed snow, the village blends seamlessly into the endless, icy landscape. Only the thin pillar of smoke rising from its communal fire hints at its presence from afar. One of about thirty similar settlements of the Akowari people, Tukuruk holds a unique role in their interconnected society. It is the village of death, mourning, and burial. Beneath the snowy village lies a vast, stone-carved cavern filled with statues. Each one a transmuted memorial to an Akowari soul.
Upon death, individuals are ritually transformed into stone and placed within this sacred gallery. These statues, many centuries old, form an enduring record of the Akowari’s history, honoring the deceased and those they hold in great esteem. Tukuruk is a place of deep reverence, where the Akowari come to grieve and remember.
Briar Hollow
Briar Hollow is a massive tree that looks gnarled and decayed but never seems to die. A mass of rotting leaves, collapsing bark, and sprawling roots at its base house an unsettling unique ecosystem. A kind of natural undeath takes root in a parade of shambling creatures, zombies, skeletons, and lichenid colonies all thriving under the branches of Briar Hollow. It is the birthplace of the Archdryad of Blight, the demigoddess of rot and renewal, named Briar. Like her sister Archdryads she is the personification of a season. The youngest sister she represents a brand new season brought to being during the Battle of Bitterthorn Ridge, Blight. During the battle she was caught in an explosion of unrestrained essence. She was gone leaving behind a rapidly growing world tree. The Archdryad had absorbed the arcane energy in an awe-inspiring display of absolute primal power.
Fortunni Glacier Shelf
A natural boundary between the Plains of Avarice and Algere. Fortuni Glacier Shelf a mountain of ice that dominates the entire northern horizon. From below it is glittering wall. Its sheer face stretching for miles like an unyielding rampart. At its base, the glacier's surface is pocked with melted tunnels as water carves out its insides like lava tubes. Deep within the glacier’s icy bowels lie titanic, otherworldly bones, so immense they form natural bridges and stairways within the caverns. These colossal remains have drawn treasure hunters and explorers from across Crudilex. chasing rumors of sun ivory, and suspicions that these tunnels may even lead to the Sunless Sea, or drop down the Void itself.
Affinity's Rest
The Affinity was an exceptional airship, and its crash was just as spectacular as the vessel itself. The ship shattered to splinters hundreds of feet in the air when it attempted a reckless maneuver through a basalt canyon that proved just a bit too narrow. Now, the wreckage dangles precariously from ropes high above the frozen wastes, its treasure and secrets forever out of reach.
Henge of the Sisters Three
The Henge of the Sisters Three is in a small glade surrounded by towering stone blocks arranged in a gigantic circle. The stones whistle in the wind of the plains, periodically interrupted by dribbling hot spring waters. It is within this sacred and unsettling place that the witch oracles, the Sisters Three, once guided those few who call the Northlend Tundra their home. These enigmatic sisters were said to be hideous undead monsters for most of the year, with the exception of one month at the heart of autumn. It was during this time that pilgrims from across the region journeyed to the henge, seeking the witches’ omens and instructions for the coming year. However, in recent decades, the sisters have not appeared. Since the dissolution of the Lucan-Oku alliance, the legendary witches have remained absent, undead or otherwise.
Bojonin Gulch
A wide, shallow river with rocky banks cuts through the northern side of the tundra, carving a path between the mountains and the Fortunni Glacier Shelf. This bleak and desolate stretch of land offers little to travelers other than bitter cold and relentless cutting winds.
Despite its inhospitable nature, Bojonin Gulch is renowned for its infamous role in the final showdown of the horseman outlaw Santana Balthazar-Thom. Standing in the rocky shallows of the icy river, Santana faced off against his former protege, Archer Falstead, in a legendary contest of quick draw. Santana was struck down, his life extinguished in a single, fateful shot. His reign of terror ended in the icy waters of the Bojonin Gulch, forever immortalized in the folk tales and songs of the tundra's people.
Nalgorac
The remains of Hellkeep Mountain, once a mighty fortress, now lie in ruin. It was here that the great Iverloft ripped free from its foundations and took flight, leaving behind a gaping pit that now serves as a dark gateway to the Hive. The cold, grey mountain is riddled with cracks and fissures, where the infected dolanth make their filthy nests and poison the nearby land. Shattered fragments of the mountain’s peak still hover around the cavern's edge, floating like tiny island motes caught in the grip of strange, otherworldly magics. The once-proud summit now stands like a giant broken grave.
In the shadow of this desolation, the mountain has come to be known as Nalgorac, a name given by the fallen elven caravans who sought refuge here. After the destruction of their homeland in Felshire, these nomadic tribes of elves immigrated north, fleeing the ravages of their curse and persecution. Feared and ostracized as dangerous outsiders, they found solace in the isolation of the tundra surrounding the mountain, building communities at its foot. There, in the shadow of the ruined Hellkeep, they forged a new life in relative peace, though their presence remains a constant source of tension and unease for the few neighboring inhabitants of the tundra.
The Loom
In a magical valley high in the mountains on the outskirts of the Plains of Avarice lies The Loom, an arcane sanctuary protected by a vigilant spirit named Hemo. The valley derives its name from its nature: a confluence of all the ley lines of Crudilex, crossing and intertwining in a single location. These braided lines form an invisible tapestry of untamed magic, a phenomenon often called the Golden Weave. The Loom exists as a snapshot locked in time, untouched by the calamities of the Day of Dawn. Unlike the fractured and unstable ley lines beyond its borders, the flow of magical essence here remains as steady and abundant as those glory days of old, an illusion sustained by Hemo.
Within the Loom, a rare magical practice known as threading has flourished. Practitioners conjure and control vibrant red threads imbued with potent magic. These threads can be manipulated to extraordinary effect: weaving spells, binding objects, or even animating unique porcelain-like beings called The vaitali or threadborne. These humanoid constructs, endowed with sentience and purpose, serve as guardians of the Loom.
Sanroko's End
The western end of the tundra is a 2,000-foot pit that plunges into an abyssal darkness. This chasm marks the site where the greatest engineering marvel of its time, the Sanroko Crossnational, met its explosive demise. The Sanroko was a 100-floor, thousand-foot-long iron fortress on tracks. However, the construction of the train was plagued by attacks and sabotage from the fey who fought on behalf of nature to stop the train from being completed. The conflict came to a head during the Battle of Bitterthorn Ridge, where a titanic explosion detonated at the heart of the train. The resulting blast destabilized the land, creating a miles-long sinkhole that swallowed the train and sending it into the Sunless Sea below. Once the world’s symbol of progress and unity, the Sanroko was
obliterated.
Today, Sanroko’s End is just one more scar in the war between humanity and the wild forces of Crudilex. The site has been memorialized by the construction of a great bridge that reconnects the shattered tracks, completing the railway that links the inner countries of the Plains of Avarice. The bridge stands as a tribute to the countless lives lost in the explosion, their names etched into its iron supports, forever carried by the cold winds of the tundra.
The Sanroko-II Crossnational Express
The Sanroko once served a secret purpose, to fulfill a divine omen and invoke the wrath of the god of law and justice upon all. This terrible secret mission failed, thanks to the intervention of a few brave adventurers, and the original train was destroyed. Today, the train has been reconstructed in Grand Nostridan, stripped of its divine connection to Dioten. The Sanroko-II now fulfills the promise once made to the people of Crudilex: to unite the nations of the Plains of Avarice and provide safe passage across the otherwise extremely dangerous, iv-warped infested plains. Now, travelers from all corners of the world can move within this rolling fortress, protected from the threats of the world in complete peace. Like its predecessor, the Sanroko-II is so immense that there are those who live exclusively onboard the fortress train.
The Lightning Tree
A gnarled wildroot tree stands at the heart of the Tundra, its rootline brimming with extremely concentrated magic. This immense energy causes the tree to regularly erupt with sparks of light and electricity that crackle through the night sky of Northlend. Those who call the tundra home know that when the lightning tree begins to glow, it means strange or magical events are on their way. Some believe the tree was planted there by the Sisters Three, the fabled protectors of the tundra who have long since vanished. It is said to be their parting gift to their loyalists, a magical beacon meant to alert them of changes in the land or the coming of powerful arcane forces.
Pomark
Pomark is a young kingdom brought to life by the arrival of the Sanroko-II, quickly establishing itself in the Tundra as a hotspot for treasure seekers and tomb dredgers. These ambitious adventurers converged on the newly founded Gravemines, seeking the tombs of ancient peoples and the sun ivory they were often buried with.
However, in the last decade, Pomark has been ravaged by famine and disease. The city now stands practically in ruins, clinging to life as its once-thriving population has dwindled. The majority of its citizens have either abandoned the city or perished in the cold, leaving behind a bitter few who remainIts people now live in constant fear of the Zank Raiders, a ruthless band of cannibals who prey on the desperate survivors.
Zank
Once the starving citizens of Pomark, these unfortunate souls turned to cannibalism in a desperate attempt to survive. In doing so, they unlocked disturbing sangromantic powers, blood-magic that grew stronger with each sentient being they consumed. These twisted survivors have banded together in a cult-like society, now living on the fringes of Pomark in the barren, desolate region known as the Zank. This land mirrors its occupants: starved, cold, and devoid of life. The region is a wasteland of jagged rocks and frozen ground, where little grows, and nothing but death lingers. The Zank Raiders lurk in the shadows of the tundra, waiting for anyone to wander into their territory. If the land remains quiet for too long, they will turn their attention to Pomark and the Gravemines, striking in a violent raid. They capture hundreds, transforming those they can into raiders like themselves. Imbuing them with their hunger for flesh and devouring the rest.
The Gravemines of Pomark
The Gravemines of Pomark are a booming excavation site exploring recently exposed crypts. Among the remains of these mysterious peoples lie treasures of unimaginable value, including weapons crafted from a substance known as sun ivory. It is a material far superior to anything known in the modern world and worth a fortune. The discovery of sun ivory ignited a frenzied rush of adventurers, miners, and fortune hunters, all eager to extract these rare and potent relics. What began as a small dig has now grown into a feverish race to unearth the catacombs and mine their contents.The practice of treating these ancient graves like mineral veins to be stripped and sold earned the participants the name "tomb dredgers." Originally an insult, the term has since become as common as "blacksmith" or "lamplighter". The demand for sun ivory has surpassed that of any other resource in Crudilex. The Gravemines, the largest of the excavation sites, are now ruthlessly strip-mined in search of more tombs and artifacts.
Headstone
The name Headstone is an ironic one, as this town was originally established as an outpost for local tomb dredgers to trade sun ivory. What began as a refugee camp for those fleeing the chaos of Pomark's famine has grown into a thriving merchant camp. As Pomark's slow death continues, many who are still willing to risk an encounter with the cannibalistic Zank Raiders have settled in Headstone, hoping to continue their work in the Gravemines.
Today, Headstone is becoming a boomtown for tomb dredgers and anyone profiting off the ivory-rush. Despite lacking a formal station, the Sanroko-II still makes a stop here, pulling up outside the town to drop off tomb dredgers and take aboard any willing refugees before continuing its journey past the ruins of Pomark. The train’s presence is a lifeline for the town, offering a rare connection to the outside world beyond the tundra.