Tharkadan Mountains
The Tharkadan Mountains separate the peninsula of Abanasinia from the main continent of Ansalon. The Tharkadan mountain range is home to the legendary mountain dwarf city of Thorbardin, the ruins of Skullcap, the Plains of Dergoth, and the fortress gateway of Pax Tharkas.
Geography
Lake Valley
This snow covered valley contains a village of wooden cabins. This is a village of the Neidar Clan, a highly suspicious lot.
Steam Caverns
The dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin once controlled this entire region. Outposts - smaller underground cities like this one- were left to fend for themselves when Thorbardin sealed its doors. The mountain dwarves who once occupied this city either died out or left, and the complex was reoccupied by gully dwarves. The Steam Caverns are an ancient city that was once under Thorbardin’s control.
The place contains of yards of tunnels that emerge into a magnificent underground hall carved from the mountain. Dozens upon dozens of halls, chambers, and rooms are empty, long since looted of anything of value. Gully dwarves have occupied part of the once-thriving city.
This underground city can be entered through the Valley of Clouds and is very close to a large underground reservoir, as well as a powerful source of geothermal energy. Therefore, the caverns and underground city are filled with steam, fog, and very muggy air. The air is very hot and extremely humid, and will deal a mild amount of ongoing damage to any non-dwarf not acclimated to heat.
Near the entry, there is a massive underground installation. A true underground town, huge tunnels are carved out of the very rock, with buildings similar to those that one would expect to find in any human town built into the caves. Once a minor mountain dwarf city, it is dwarfed by Thorbardin.
Steam Valley is ruled by His Magnificence, the Highphulp. He is a gully dwarf and holds a treasured dais of stone. When this dias is asked a question in dwarven, a magical voice will answer the question. His Magnificence is generally very friendly and welcomes people, however the environment is not suitable for non-dwarves longterm.
Honey Cliffs
Travelers will find sheer cliffs as backdrop to this beautiful end of the valley. Thousands of huge shrubs—mostly rhododendrons and mountain laurel which would flower brilliantly during warmer times of the year, seem to thrive here. The cliffs are pockmarked by hundreds of grottoes and caves. They contain thousands of giant bees.
Hopeful Vale
A peaceful location with plenty of game, trout, streams, lakes and plenty of wood for shelter and fuel. A feeling of peaceful contentment rests on travelers who decide to stay here. The winds are gentler then other areas in the mountain, and snow only dusts the surface.
Lens Tower Keep
A stone keep tower with a giant slab of black marble about 100ft away. The slab is written in dwarvish. The telescope can be used to read the slab and look for the gates to Thorbardin.
Climate
During a travelers travels, the autumn wind carried greater bite up in the mountains, and many of the passes, high mountain woods, and meadows were already seeing snow. Travelers could hear the bitter autumn wind howling across the ice-capped peaks, thousands of feet above the valleys and passes they traversed. Daytime temperatures in the mountains are no higher than 40 degrees in the lower valleys and quite a bit colder in the high passes; nighttime temperatures drop well below freezing.
Fauna & Flora
In some of the protected valleys, game is plentiful; mule deer, bighorn sheep, and elk are gathering as the autumn mating season begins. A herd of bison wanders the lower altitudes. The mountain streams have an abundance of trout and other edible fish. In other areas, travelers will find foraging, hunting, and fishing very difficult. Travelers will need to watch out for predators such as bears, mountain lions, and wolves; more dangerous creatures might include owlbears, dire wolves, and dire bears. The forests that cover much of the range are made up mostly of hardy evergreens and aspens, most of which have dropped their leaves. Some oaks and maples manage to survive at this altitude as well.
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