The alpine mountains
Ravenfall
Home to the Skarbak dwarves, the Abas’ Orc, and the halflings of Midlake, Ravenfall was once an independent nation, intolerant of arcana. However, after the cataclysm twenty years ago and the drying of the sea, Ravenfall was conquered by Dawnfire and incorporated into a single nation. The homeland of the dwarves is renowned for the long and noble lineage of the Skarback family, who ruled the land for centuries. Following their vassalization, the culture in Eastface—Ravenfall's capital—has grown increasingly reclusive. This isolation has fostered the creation of powerful, highly sought-after war automata and explosives, secrets the Skarbak dwarves zealously guard.
Battlemaps set in this location
Bas Pasture
The valley of rolling grassy hills known as Bas Pasture is considered a sacred land by the Totemic. Year-round, the wandering culture can be found here in some capacity, often traveling from the nearby Toten Tree to the north. The pasture is the origin of the Basana, giant yak- or bison-like creatures the size of wagons and weighing nearly a ton. Herding and raising these magnificent beasts is a highly respected trade, particularly among the locals of Ravenfall, who hold the creatures’ in great cultural and economic significance.
Bas Pasture stretches wide, with a gradual slope of short, dew-covered grass that descends from the high alpine mountains at the center of Ravenfall all the way to the river. The landscape is punctuated by trickling ice-cold creeks with stunning, clear views of the surrounding beauty. It is one of Cruidlex’s most breathtaking locations, having somehow avoided the touch of war and ruin that scars much of the rest of the world.
Beaconstone point
The forests of the north are considered the most dangerous place in all of Ravenfall, though not for any beast or horror. Deep within these shadowy woods lies a small, seemingly humble town that harbors a dark secret: no one who enters Beaconstone Point can ever leave.
The town’s inhabitants are not individual people but a single, collective entity. Their shared consciousness compels them to lure wanderers into their fold, urging new arrivals to become one with Beaconstone Point. With every soul added to the collective, the evil town's intelligence and power grow. a complete anomaly in the world of Cruidlex—something wholly alien with no known counterpart elsewhere.
Though the exact nature of Beaconstone Point remains a mystery, the danger it poses is well understood. Travelers who venture too far into the surrounding Blackmist Glade are never seen again. Trails leading to the cursed town are littered with warning signs and posters of missing people, a stark contrast to the idyllic, provincial, settlement.
Blackmist Glades
The northern forests, known as the Blackmist Glades, are haunted by insidious fey. No mortal can map its ever-changing paths, no human can cross its borders without becoming hopelessly lost, and no one can leave its fog-laden woods without first appeasing the whims of the fey creatures who call it home.
The glades have earned a reputation as a place where people vanish without a trace. Each year, hundreds of travelers attempt to shortcut through the forest to reach Dolver, but none ever return. No bodies are found, and no monsters remain to be hunted—as if the Blackmist Glades simply swallow intruders whole.
Deep within the forest lies a strange and alien power, hidden far from the eyes of mortals. The glades themselves serve as a shroud, a natural barrier that keeps out unwanted trespassers. The fey spirits who dwell within protect the forest with zeal, weaving illusions and curses that ensure few survive the attempt to traverse their forbidden glades.
The Heart of Crudilex
The Heart of Crudilex is the tallest mountain in the world, its sheer, imposing peaks piercing the sky. Rising higher than any other, it ascends all the way to the Soulgate, the ethereal barrier that holds back the unbridled chaos of Avarice. This arcane boundary makes the summit unreachable, as no mortal or creature with a soul can traverse beyond the threshold of the Soulgate, and so whatever lies at the top of The Heart of Crudilex is completely unknown.
Eastface Castle
Eastface, the capital of the Skarbak dwarves and the singular metropolis of Ravenfall, is a city carved directly into the eastern cliffs of the Heart of Crudilex. Renowned across the world for its monuments and history. Towering effigies and countless museums documenting the Skarbak dwarves hold over this mountain for the last 3 thousand years. Today it also holds a reputation for the mastery of explosive manufacturing, Eastface rockets are irreplaceable in automata production in every nation. Even The Factory, the world's largest producer of war machines, has failed to replicate the technology from Eastface.
However, beneath the veneer of ingenuity and grandeur lies a city locked in turmoil. Eastface's King has defaulted on a massive loan taken from the Blackvault Bank, a powerful financial organization operated by dragons. The loan, originally intended to secure independence from Dawnfire, has become a source of strife. Years of unpaid debt have culminated in the arrival of the Bank's enforcers—a mercenary army now stationed in the city.
The Umbral Dragon Lof’Markesh, the head of Blackvault Bank, has personally taken up residence in the royal castle. Many now refer to its ruler as Skarbak the Beggar King, a monarch whose coffers have run dry and whose control of his kingdom and millennias long legacy are falling apart.
Midlake
The snowy alpine mountains of Ravenfall dominate the skyline throughout the country, with their grandeur most on display in the halfling valley town of Midlake. Nestled between two peaks and a sheer cliff, the town is nearly inaccessible by anything other than air travel for much of the year.
Midlake has a quiet and humble charm, standing as perhaps the only known halfling settlement in all the world. The town is characterized by its 4- to 5-foot-tall brick houses, designed to accommodate the small folk. These cozy homes feature steep, dark pine roofs, and the town is interspersed with grassy fields that break up the idyllic countryside. In its far northern section, the nearly tallfolk-sized manors, to an outsider might seem like normal houses but here in midlake are enormous and opulent.
At the southernmost edge of the town lies a shimmering lake, its surface reflecting the surrounding peaks like a mirror. Spanning the lake is Ol'kad Bridge, a marvel of architecture with a tall arc that seems needlessly high for its purpose. Older than the town itself, the bridge has taken on a secondary role as a docking area for the infrequent airships that touch down in Midlake before venturing further over the mountains.
Highwind
Highwind is a revered mountain temple dedicated to the ancient art of dragon raising and riding. Located halfway up the heart of Crudilex, the temple is a bastion of tradition in a world still marked by the chaos of the Age of Beasts during the Second God's Birth.
During that tumultuous age, the lands of Crudilex were ruled by monstrous creatures, with dragons reigning supreme as some of the most powerful and fearsome beings. Though the Age of Beasts has passed, dragons continue to strike fear into the hearts of mortals, savaging the plains and nesting in the highest peaks of the mountains. Highwind serves as a sanctuary, where dragons are raised from eggs in an environment of careful training and stewardship. The temple is a proving ground for the brave individuals who seek to bond with these magnificent creatures.
Dragon Krast
The Dragon Karst is a colossal gouge in the southern plains at the edge of the Abas lands, like a vast, screaming maw reaching toward the toxic seas of Rayion. This desolate place is the resting site of the mortal body of the Queen of Dragons, bound in infernal chains by the Arch-Demon Sulfrix. Her imprisonment is the result of a soulgate curse even beyond Sulfrix's power to reverse. It cannot be undone until all the Primordial Dragons gather at her altar—a near-impossible condition.
The Queen's fury is legendary, her seething rage said to boil the oceans and cause the shifting high and low tides of the Crescent Coast. When she falls into slumber, the tides return, only to recede again in turmoil when her wrath awakens. The lands of Abas marred forever by the scars of her unfathomable power. An ancient orcish sect known as the Cult of the Dragon serves their imprisoned queen, dedicating their lives to fulfilling her will. Their sacred mission is to locate the scattered Primordial Dragons and bring them to her altar, no matter the cost.
Palisade
The orc armies, the original inhabitants of Ravenfall, have waged an unrelenting war against the Eastface dwarves for over a century. Forced to retreat to the southernmost reaches of the region, the orcs felled an entire forest to construct a colossal battlement spanning a hundred miles. Known simply as Palisade, this wall has become their last bastion of defense.
Palisade is adorned with countless spears and the bones of fallen warriors from both sides. Even as they launch furious raids on the dwarven encampments and endure the ceaseless bombardment of Eastface's artillery rockets.
For the past ten years, the battle has reached a bloody stalemate. Neither side has gained a decisive advantage, and the land surrounding the Palisade bears the scars of endless war—a barren no-man's-land littered with debris, trenches, and shattered weapons. Despite the stalemate, both the orcs and dwarves show no signs of yielding, locked in a struggle for control of the region.
Gunbridge
Along the Crescent Coast of Southern Ravenfall, Gunbridge is a fortified city built directly into a bridge, designed to accommodate the immense rolling fortress train, Sanroko-II. The city is famed for its rotating central platform, which is home to a colossal cannon, a defensive and offensive marvel.
This massive cannon, mounted on the roof of the central platform, is capable of penetrating the thick scales of even a primordial dragon, turning a greatfinch into a down feather pillow with a single shot. The rotating platform allows the cannon to be aimed almost anywhere above the bridge, providing defense for Gunbridge and the Sanroko-II train, which frequently travels through the region. The cannon’s primary function is to deter aerial attacks, but it can also serve as an extraordinarily long-range artillery weapon. However, the cannon requires extensive preparation before firing. It takes days to calculate the target's trajectory, with the assistance of forward scouts. But with enough preplaning the weapon can strike targets even hundreds of miles away.
Croporo's Crest
Before the Day of Dawn, this crescent-shaped land at the southernmost point of Ravenfall was a vibrant coastline, shifting tidal rises and falls. Today, it is a vast salt and sand desert, with sporadic tidepool-like oases dotting the landscape. Once home to sprawling underwater cities, the region is now inhabited by a predominantly land-dwelling culture of Atlanteans who make their homes in the ruins of these ancient structures.
The entire desert lies well below sea level, and at its northernmost point is a mysterious structure known as The Pillars, where towering stone towers rise out of the salt flats, remnants of forgotten submerged civilization that once existed here.
The Pillars
At the southernmost point of Crudilex lies one of its most mysterious and ancient landmarks: The Pillars. These colossal structures, made of sandstone blocks so massive that many believe they were built by beings from the Elseworlds beyond Crudilex, in a time long past. Before the oceans drained on the Day of Dawn, nearly all of The Pillars were submerged beneath the waters, leaving only their towering tops visible above the waves.
Sanroko Alpine Tunnel
Carved directly through the mountains of southern Ravenfall, the Sanroko Alpine Tunnel is a structural anomaly, a strange phenomenon. Passengers aboard the train that travels through this tunnel often report that, when looking out the window, the time within the tunnel feels like a blur—one moment, they are entering, and the next, they are emerging from the other side, hours having passed without notice.
This odd experience is actually due to the city the train passes through down below the mountain in the Sunless Sea, an ancient ruin inhabited by the Aboleth King Thrumm. This creature has mastered the art of memory manipulation to such a degree that it can erase the memories of anyone who witnesses him or the hidden city, leaving only the disorienting loss of time.