Stönhavre

## The Stönhavre Wastes

Stönhavre (*pronounced stone-hah-v)* is the name for the area in the northeast of Aebria, which borders The Golden Sea along the Hengerok Mountains. Although not a country in the sense that it is bound together by a unified government, Stönhavre is an area of alliance between the settlements and civilizations in the area. While not directly governed and ruled together, the different peoples of the area agree to keep peace with each other. While there have been events to establish some sort of major overarching government, one has yet to be adopted by everyone. On the surface, Stönhavre seems to be made up of entirely of unimpressive and cold wastelands. Very little plant life thrives in the rocky and dry soil, only the most tough and resistant plants can thrive. The same can be said for the creatures that inhabit the surface, the majority of which are fierce monsters. There are very few major settlements on the surface, and they all require strong defense to maintain. However, this changes once you make your way underground. A vast, sprawling cave system connects the lands together. These twisting and turning caverns are home to a large variety of plant and animal life, both peaceful and hostile. Though you can get a sense of how to navigate it over time, a full and comprehensive map of Stönhavre's caves is yet to be created.

## Notable Locations

### Val Gruhm

-Val Gruhm is the largest single city in Stönhavre. It sits at the base of and reaching up onto Mt. Gruhm, a large lonely mountain which is actually a dormant volcano. Exploration of the mountain has revealed what seems to be an ancient dragon's den, belonging to a dragon much larger than any other dragon observed in the Old World. However, no corpse of this dragon has been found, and no signs of distress are within the former den. No one knows where the dragon has gone, and if it is still living or not. Val Gruhm is surrounded by tall, thick walls on all sides to protect the city and it's 12,000 inhabitants from the fierce monsters of the outside. The city was founded at the base of the mountain to facilitate excavation around the mountain, which is rich in precious metals and crystals with mysterious properties.

### Narn Bherna

-Along the western border, a sizable surface settlement lies. Narn Bherna is home to a large research center for monsters and other living beings. The Bherna Research Report exists in the center of Narn Bherna. It scouts out great minds from across the world to come and perform biological research on the monsters and animals of this new world. On top of this, they also employ warriors to hunt and capture monsters as research specimens as well.

### Sehenvew

-Sehenvew is a small encampment and watch post created to oversee the digging of a tunnel through the Hengerok Mountains. To make land travel between Stönhavre and The Golden Sea much easier, a plan was devised to dig a tunnel straight through. However the work is tough and dangerous, with the Hengerok Mountains being the home of many fierce draconic monsters.

### Glasbrun

-Glasbrun is one of the most well known entrances to Stönhavre's underground and settlements within it. Above the surface it seems like not much more than a large village of farms and a few buildings. There are a handful of cave entrances around the area, which get smaller and tighter as you venture in. However, upon passing a certain point, the caves open up into vast caverns with crystalline growths expanding from the walls, ceiling, and floor. These crystals give off a faint, iridescent light which blankets the underground in a magical glow which gives the same effects to living things as sunlight. There are several kinds of other crystals here, each aspected with a different type of magic or energy and each having their own properties. These crystals are mined and exported to those who desire them.

### Felsleben

-Felsleben is similar to that of Glasbrun as far as the surface-level entrances and buildings are concerned. However, once entering the underground, the area is quite different. A wide variety of plants and animals fill the surrounding area. While Glasbrun and surrounding areas are home to grasses, trees, and a few animals, Felsleben is ripe with life. Outside of the reaches of the city, a vast and dense jungle of vegetation sprawls throughout the caverns. Looking up above, the same iridescent crystals are present, although they seem to glow much brighter and with much more vibrant coloring.

### Lyte Boldir

-Lyte Boldir's entrance is much different to that of the other major underground entrances. A single, large cave hangs open like a beast's maw, heading directly down deep into the earth's depths. Unlike other parts of the underground, this area is harsh, hot, and volcanic. Magma flows freely and openly through the caverns and the rocks glow with heat the further down you head. Several strange monsters have been witnessed exiting this area, both into other parts of the underground and to the surface, however no one knows their origins. Intricate carvings appear on the cavern walls working deeper and deeper down, leading to something left by some sort of lost civilization. There have been no successful expeditions deeper than this, all of the adventurers which enter never returning.