Village of Eglan
At the base of Mount Tinnuben and the spider forest is a village where Darkling Giants first came to be, when a Giant from Jotunheim became lost on the other side of the mountains and was saved by the spiders of Ungol Forest. That Giant decided to set up camp at the edge of the forest, and before long, other travelers and outcasts had found their way here to the edge of the world.
The spiders saw the early villagers as pets, always offing bad elements by offering the spiders one of their evildoing compatriots, while the spiders went about their business as they had for centuries, eating the monsters roaming the salt flats before they got into Ungol Forest. As one might imagine, this led to the early villagers to see the giant spiders as protector gods, which led to the Aráchnanism religion taking root here, including the building of the Moonweb Temple. As part of their worship of their gods, any troublemaking elements in the village are offered to the spiders in Ungol Forest for what the spiders see as breakfast in bed.
Over the last 1000 years or so, a rather cozy village of Darkling Giants and many other varieties of Night Elves has sprouted, ethically harvesting the spider silk that covers the buildings, petrified forest and mountain hollows (if they didn't, the entire village would soon be cocooned. After gathering, cleaning and spinning this silk, it is made into thread, rope, cloth and garments, some of the strongest filaments known in the Realm. When exposed to Catoblepas urine, it turns the deepest of black, in a color that never fades, even as centuries pass.
Most of this silk and silk goods are exported to Caduben, who pick up exports and drop off shipments of many dry goods, along with the few fresh goods that can make the journey from the fertile regions of Alfheim and Vanaheim every quarter. This is in accordance with the Elven Accord of 112 that asked Svartalfheim to expose itself to further horrors in opening The Gaw to allow the autumn to take over the Realm. In return, the still fertile regions of Manegard would supply Svartalfheim with what they needed to survive in their homeland.
What is needed for survival but is not present here between the salt flats and petrified spider forest is thankfully but couple day’s trip through the mountains (by tunnel or overmountain) through Fend Pass to Cîl Gorge and game-rich Jotuneheim. Water does not flow in most of Svartalfheim, least of all here, but in the gorge, villagers cut large blocks of ice to haul back home and store underground.
Living is hard here, and there is not much to do here, so folks make their own fun. Some of that fun leads to trouble that leads to the spider forest, however, so caution is warranted if visiting.
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