Grensfal Mountains

Within the Grensfal Mountains, there is a small mining community led by dwarves, an unobtrusive group of miners and smiths who ply their wares in Hrist, and mostly keep to themselves. At least this is what the people of Kandar believe. In truth, the Grensfal Mountains hide a vast number of dwarves, some of whom consider the mountains their ancestral home, and more of whom are escaped thralls from Thrull who have been taken in by their northern cousins.

The Great Collapse.

In ancient times, well before the Age of Expansion, vast underground roads connected the Rock-Teeth Mountains to the Grensfal and Jakkan Moun- tains of Kandar. When Gormadraug was defeated, the elementals who had once viewed the north as their demesne went into a frenzy that shattered these mountainous passages. The dwarven cities within the Jakkan range collapsed, leaving only the dwarves of Grensfal to survive. Though they did their best to clear the tunnels to their sister nations, the damage was too extensive. Unsure what dangers the surface might hold, the dwarves dug themselves deeper into the mountains, risking the monsters in the bowels of the earth rather than face the elementals that still raged above. As the years went on, the dwarves became even better adapted to darkness and life underground than their peers. But some still longed for moments of sun, and a community returned to the upper mines their great-great-great-grand-parents had abandoned. Finding veins of gold and gems still rich for mining, the dwarves returned to work, crafting weapons and armor and tools to rival the most beautiful found in the lands above. With their supplies ready to trade, they traveled to the surface once more.

The Emergence.

The world had changed, and humans now populated the surface—though their settle- ments were still few and far between. The city of Hrist welcomed the dwarves, not realizing that they had subterranean neighbors. The dwarves of Grensfal established themselves as valuable craftspeople and merchants. Most of the surface dwarves from Grensfal wear tinted glasses, unable to stand even the weak sun of the north for long. The highest levels of the mine are known simply as Grensfal Mine; the lower levels are unexplored by outsiders, but travel deep, deep below the surface, to realms of bioluminescent fungi and underground hot springs. The deepest dwarves have begun to gain some bioluminescent features as well, and most are unable to return to the surface or be blinded by the light, even in the depths of winter.

Type

Mountain Range