The Black Fields

This expansive swath of land in the Vingotha Plateau earned its moniker from the black, volcanic soil covering the ground. Farmers covet the fertile earth deposited in the Black Fields, but the chilly conditions and thin air make the land less conducive to agricultural endeavors. Instead, the mountain dwarves quarry basalt from the site and use the cooled volcanic rock as a construction material and an artistic medium for master sculptors. Enmel Stoutchisel, a hermetic dwarf artist, maintains a studio adjacent to a partially exposed lava tube. The xenophobic eccentric and his six apprentices exclusively craft commissioned artworks for Clan Craenog, which likely represents the only organized commercial endeavor on the Vingotha Plateau. The High Thane’s representatives travel to Enmel’s studio once per year to pick up his completed artworks and give him the specifications for newly commissioned pieces. Despite his genius and his incredible skill, even the clan’s interactions with the quirky and hot-tempered misanthrope may quickly go awry, as the old, cantankerous coot frequently instigates a heated verbal exchange with his rare visitors for no comprehensible reason. Nonetheless, the clan continues its testy relationship with Enmel for as long as his artistic abilities remain unsurpassed.
The mountain dwarves undisputedly wield absolute mastery over the Black Fields and the Vingotha Plateau at large, yet periodic disappearances in the area imply they are certainly not alone. Lava tubes cut into the bedrock beneath the fields are reputed to contain several communities of dark folk who harbor an ancient grudge against their dwarven adversaries. In a similar vein, dwarven folklore speaks of a clan of fire giants who built an extensive subterranean complex beneath the lava channels that empty into the Black Fields. Along with an efreet in their service, they purportedly travel to the surface on occasion to sift through the lava flows in search of an unknown anomaly in the discharged volcanic material.

Type

Plain