Spine of the World

The Spine of the World was a mountain range that stretched across the northwest region of Faerûn from the Cold Run near the Sea of Moving Ice, to the Ice Spires north of the Silver Marches.

Folks all across the lands of the Savage Frontier and the Silver Marches, particularly those in Scornubel, referred to the Spine as "the Wall". On the winter days when the white snow covered faces of the peaks met the iron-gray of the sunless winter sky, it appeared as though the peaks were holding up sky. To others, it simply marked the end of the world as they saw it.

Geography

The Spine of the World mountains shielded the civilizations of the North from the freezing expanse of the Uttermost North, that comprised the Reghed Glacier and the Endless Ice Sea.

Geographical Features

To many Faerûnians, the Spine of the World was simply an endless, nearly–impassable range of high, jagged, perpetually ice-covered mountains. While the western-most edge of the Spine was penetrated by a circuitous, always dangerous trade route to Icewind Dale, the rest of the range was not even approached by those without a stout heart.

Some of the mountains in this range stood over 20,000 feet (6.1 kilometers) tall, and all but the smallest were covered in snow and ice all year–round.

Three peaks to seem as one,
Behind ye the morning sun.

— Bruenor Battlehammer reciting the first part of a dwarven song, whilst at Fourthpeak.

There were four well known sister peaks that were referred to as Firstpeak, Secondpeak, Thirdpeak, and Fourthpeak. The sister mountains were so similar in height that they seems to form a single line.

The northern slopes of the mountains had plentiful enough trees that loggers of the Ten Towns would risk regular treks back-and-forth across the tundras. The southern slopes, located near the Druarwood and Moonwood forests, were referred to as the Lands Against the Wall.

Natural Features

• Cackling Chasm: The precarious icy pit earned its name from the pack of gnolls that dwelled within.
• Cave of the Berserkers: Set within the northern mountains was this cavern complex that was home to Tribe of the Bear berserkers.
• Dragon's Eye: True to its name, the entrance to this cave complex was located in the "eye" of a rock formation that appeared in the shape of a dragon's head.
• Fell Pass: This precarious pathway through the mountains was the site of a hellacious battle between dwarves and orcs.
• Golden Cove:
• Keeper's Dale: A canyon hundreds of feet below Fourthpeak.
• Klauthen Vale: Found west of Mirabar, this valley was named after the ancient red dragon Klauth.
• Kuldahar Pass: This pathway extended north, from Kuldahar to Easthaven of the Ten Towns.
• Vale of Shadows: A short distance east of Kuldahar, this secluded valley contained the resting place of the barbarian king known as the Black Wolf.
• Valley of Khedrun: Legend said that the great dwarf Khedrun carved this area out of the mountains for all of his dwarven kin.
• Wyrmdoom Crag: The home of the friendly Thuunlakalaga tribe of goliaths.

Settlements

Ancestral Mounds

• Great Worm Cavern: Unlike other ancestral mounds, the sacred place of the Great Worm tribe was located beneath the mountain.
• Raven Rock: Two tribes of Uthgardt barbarians, namely the Black Raven and the Gray Wolf tribes, both shared this snow-covered ancestral mound.

Keeps and Fortresses

• Dark Arrow Keep: After King Obould was defeated at the Citadel of Many Arrows, the Many-Arrows relocated to this mountain fortress.
• Fortress Eyegad: Originally home to dwarves, this fortification was reclaimed by the Skortchclaw orcs under the rule of Ugra Ngarl.
• Mithral Hall: Due to the great deeds of its founder, King Bruenor Battlehammer, this was perhaps the most famous northern dwarfhold as of the mid–14th century DR.
• Sunblight: The imposing, cliffside fortress of the duergars of Clan Sunblight.

Settlements

• Clicking Heels: This small hamlet was found upon the mountain's southern slopes.
• Hundelstone: This mountain pass village was home to a few hundred dwarves, gnomes and humans.
• Karkolohk: The goblins of this fort were led by Chief Yarb-Gnock.
• Kuldahar: Originally founded by druids, this village grew around the Great Oak tree.
• Skytower Shelter: The home of the Akannathi clan of goliaths.
• Tholvarr: This mountain domain was home to six tribes of frost giants.
• Mirabar: A mining settlement on the slopes of the Spine of the World.

Temples and Monastaries

• Black Raven Monastery: The monks of this sanctuary followed the teachings of the half-drow Valas Belaem del Pharm.
• Eye of the All-Father: Located a few days from the Valley of Khedrun, this temple complex was sacred to the giants of Ostoria.
• Temple of the Forgotten God: For some time, the temple served as the resting place of the Heartstone Gem.

Ecosystem

Like much of the North, these mountains had a subarctic climate. As expected for mountains of that height, the Spine of the World experienced devastating, icy winds.[13] As a result, the mountains experienced frequent rock slides.

Fauna & Flora

Those creatures that did inhabit the Spine were not spoken of in polite company, and their propensity to raid the lands below kept the conifer-cloaked, stag-roamed rolling foothills relatively uninhabited (as though the Savage Frontier and the Silver Marches were packed)―but it should come as no surprise that several fierce barbarian tribes inhabited these lands, traveling between summer and winter camps.

Alternative Name(s)

The Wall, Barakmornolor

Type

Mountain Range

Location under

Northwest Faerûn