Durmgrist

Durmgrist, or The Durmgrist Range, is one of the continents on Eln. It is made up of several mountains, each roughly a country in size, as well as a vast underground that stretches beneath the Ice Wastes. It is home to an unusually large number of nations, although these are typically much smaller than nations like Xhanitia. Durmgrist means home in dwarven.

## Geography

Durmgrist's surface is made up of 8 major mountains. In the cenre is Mount Durmgrist, by far the largest of the mountains. To its north, east and south is a large forest known as Alufortunia. Going further eastward there are another 3 nation sized mountains. In the southeast there is another nation sized mountain. Northwest of Durmgrist is a large range of smaller mountains and hills. Directly next to these hills is a large lake, almost nation sized on the surface, known as Lake Mistsoul. Also to the east of Mount Durmgrist are three more nation sized mountains. Beneath the surface are dozens of huge interconnecting caverns. Beneath Lake Mistsoul the lake expands dramatically, becoming fully nation sized. The furthest depths of these caverns connects to Eln's Underdark.

## Climate

The vast majority of Durmgrist is extremely cold, owing to their being less of the geological activity that warms other continents and the natural cold of Eln. The peaks of Durmgrist are even colder due to their extremely high altitude. Snow is common in Durmgrist although there are also plenty of clear sunny days even if these are still cold. The one major exception to these rules are certain areas in Southern Siltas, in the southwest of Mount Durmgrist where inside magic circles the land is extremely hot and filled with sand.

## Ecology

The Durmgrist Ranges feature a wide range of flora and fauna well adapted to the mountains cold climate. Dangerous monsters are typically kept well away from villages, towns and cities due to the presence of adventurer's guilds which often receive quests to hunt the monsters straying too close to civilisation.

## History

### Formation

There are many different beliefs about the formation of the Durmgrist ranges although none have been definitively proven. Many dwarves believe that the god Torag rose each of the mountains out the ground to give the dwarves a perfect home. Many mages in the Mageocracy believe that mountains simply formed due to a combination of magic and seismic activity although the exact specifics of this is still a mystery too them.

### Early history

The earliest known civilisation on Durmgrist was a mysterious empire known as Zarlock made up primarily of trogolodytes, kobolds, goblins, pale goblins, gnolls, and other races typically viewed of as monsters by many modern Elnian civilisations. Their relationship with the native Durmgristians was initially amicable as the empire attempted to integrate itself with their culture and respect its inhabitants. However this relationship deteriorated when Zarlock increased it's military presence when they predicted one of the Artifacts of Ao would fall to Durmgrist, threatening the entirety of Eln. Zarlock fell and it's people scattered before this artifact arrived on Durmgrist.

### Age of Dragons

An unknown but most likely long time after Durmgrist was freed , the surface of the continent was once again conquered, this time by chromatic dragons that ruled from Xhanitia while it was still just a large volcano. The dragons where weakened by the drake rebellion on Xhanitia allowing a rebellion primarily lead by Humans and Elves to attempt to fight back against their oppressors although they made little progress until the dwarves mined above the surface for the first time since the continent was ruled by Zarlock. With the weapons that were never confiscated by dragons as the underground wasn't conquered and tactical tunnelling they turned the tide of the rebellion and pushed the chromatic dragons away from Durmgrist.

### Age of Peace

The vast majority of known Durmgristian history takes place during this age, characterised by it's lack of continent spanning conflicts, although smaller wars have frequently taken place. During much of this time the continent was ruled by 3 huge nations, these being the nation of humanity, the nation of elves and the nation of dwarves. The Artifact of Ao whose arrival was predicted by Zarlock fell to Durmgrist. Striking fast while it was severely injured the 3 nations united once more to attempt to destroy it. Unable to kill it they sealed it within a magically reinforced block of ice and sealed it deep within Mount Durmgrist. This nations have since splintered, new races have come to Durmgrist and established new nations and races that previously lived within nations primarily ran by other nations have set up nations of their own.

### The Cult of the Broken Sky

A cult based within Durmgrist seek to awaken and control the Artifact of Ao that fell to Durmgrist. The adventuring group known as The Delta Squad are attempting to fight the cult.

## Nations and other notable locations

Nations within Durmgrist include:

* The Kingdom of Valceado
* The Siltas Dynasty
* Alufortunia
* Spring Spire
* Summer Spire
* Autumn Spire
* Winter Spire
* The Rat Warrens
* The Kingdom of Iron
* The Kingdom of Steel (Destroyed)
* The Kingdom of Earth
* The Kingdom of Ash (Destroyed)
* Lake Mistsoul
* Boggleland
* Quiseppi
* Bresata
* Makpak
* The Mageocracy

Notable locations not claimed by any nations include:

* Masks Mountain
* Melora's Mountain