Northern parts of the continent
Regions to the north of the Kingdom of Eusia
Stormcrown Mountains
Located north of the great forests of the Wild North, the Stormcrown Mountains are an imposing physical boundary between the warm lands of the south and the open tundra of the north. They are known to be a place of mystery and increased magical activity.
This mountain range is a formidable obstacle to any traveler due to the lack of safe passes most of the year. There is a small window in high summer where the conditions become reasonably safe for prepared parties to move between north and south or vice-versa. In any conditions, straying from the path will find you in shifting glaciers, unpredictable avalanche conditions, extremely high winds, vicious snow storms, and the ever present brutal cold.
Found within the range is Skallheim Hall, a fabled place of Thor worship which is known of by the populace of the northern Kingdom of Eusia.
Frostmarch Pass
Frostmarch Pass is one of the few reliable passes through the Stormcrown Mountains. It is used by merchants travelling between the Wild North and the Tundra. It has a reputation for being deceptively calm, only to trap travelers in surprise blizzards, whiteouts, avalanches, and the rare yet terrifying lightning snowstorm.
Cosmic Mire
Located within the southern reaches of the Stormcrown Mountains, this is a holy place for the Circle of the Hrímspegill. The druids come here to stargaze and study the nature of the cosmos, and it acts for them like a temple.
Located behind a glacier which has ground the down the earth in its wake, the great ice flow has left this place behind. For a time, a lake sat between the mountains and the face of the ice, but the forward march of the glacier has since released the water, allowing many pools to form and freeze in the naturally levelled ground. Surrounded on all sides by mountains (except for the glacier to the south), the Cosmic Mire is remote and pristine. Winds sweep through this place constantly, keeping the snow pristine and erasing all trace of those who come to reflect and meditate by gazing into the mirror-like ice sheets that dot the place.
The Wild North
This region of untamed wilderness exists in northern hemisphere of the Continent of Eusia. It is the primary setting for Wild North Hexcrawl. It refers to the unclaimed pine forests to the north of the kingdom of Eusia all the way to the base of the Stormcrown Mountains. Despite this, common parlance in the kingdom is that everything beyond the northern borders of Duchy of Ironwood and Duchy of Greycliff is 'The Wild North.'
Skallheim Hall
Skallheim Hall is located deep within the Stormcrown Mountains, it's exact location known only to followers of Thor. It is an infamous place among the people of the northern duchies of the Kingdom, and many blame the residents of the Hall for bad weather which descends from the north.
The Hall is modest in size and features due to it's remote location. Also owing to this isolation, the exterior is notably less ornate than other Halls of Thunder like the famous Skyfather's Hall in the southern Donnerwald forest.. It's rugged exterior does nothing to diminish the Hall's significance to the Thorist faith, nor does it quench the warmth of it's fire, flavor of it's food, or quality of it's mead, all common qualities of Open Halls of Thunder.
Brynja Stormmantle acts as the High Keeper of the hall, residing there year round and looking after both the hall and those who find themselves within it.
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Significance: Brynja’s Open Hall of Thunder and one of the halls that people have the most suspicions and gossip about
Description: Outside society doesn’t often hear from the storm priests that make their existence in the Skallheim Hall, and its remote location makes it unlikely this will ever change. As a result there are lots of rumors about what is and isn’t going on in this place, and whether it was the vicious and unpredictable weather that drew the storm priests to set up a hall here, or that the unpredictable weather exists because of the hall’s existence. Its exact location is only known to the followers of Thor, who travel there as part of a sacred pilgrimage they undertake but once in their lives. Many of them believe they were able to interact with divinity while up there, but whether that’s based in fact or an elaborate hallucination brought on by the sheer altitude is anyone’s guess.
Being in such a remote and inhospitable location the hall itself is quite modest in size and features. The exterior closely resembles the familiar shape of the other Open Halls of Thunder, but harsh and cold conditions require modifications to the size and exterior construction that look decidedly less ornate than Skyfather’s hall in Wolkenruh.
The humble exterior however doesn’t diminish the hall’s significance to the Thorist faithful. Nor does it diminish the functional but welcoming interior with the cozy warmth, food, and mead that’s both common to the rest of the halls as well as a necessity for the storm priest making it their (temporary) hom
The Skies' Lantern
The Skies’ Lantern sits on a rocky outcrop overlooking Frostmarch Pass, its lantern beacon is visible for miles in good weather, and often the only discernible landmark available to travellers caught in a storm on the Pass.
Description: Stormward Sanctuaries are outposts of necessity, unlike the more grand nature of the Open Halls of Thunder. As such, they generally consist of just a simple stone refuge hall with a central hearth used for both warming and sheltering the occupants as well as cooking the communal stew, stables and kennels for pack animals (depending on where the sanctuary is located), and a small shrine dedicated to Thor worship.
There are no private quarters. All who pass through the sanctuary (from its keepers to those seeking refuge) share the common hall, sleeping on simple beds arranged along its walls.
The Skies’ Lantern is very much based on this template, but the Skallheim Hall decided to add a watchtower housing the Lantern’s perpetual flame to help provide visual guidance in the often challenging conditions of the pass.
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