Western Vareth · Northern Stormspine
The Frost
March
Where mountains become glaciers, civilization survives beneath the snow.
Also called Frostmarch or Northmarch, this is a living northern subregion—not a separate continent, a single dungeon, or an empty frozen wasteland.
The inhabited north
Five zones overlap beneath ice and stone.
The Frost March rises from wooded lower valleys and short-season alpine pastures through fortified passes and glacial caverns into largely uninhabited ice fields. Trade, farming, herding, engineering, schooling, healing, and family life continue where land and logistics allow.
Lower March
The southern transition from established Stormspine: protected valleys, alpine meadows, seasonal grazing, forest, streams, roads, villages, and short-season agriculture where shelter permits it.
Winterwall
Defensible high ridges and narrow passes crossed by fortifications, dwarf-built avalanche galleries, shelters, guard posts, and locally guided roads.
Deepglass
Glacial tunnels, ice caverns, subglacial channels, and older rock chambers exposed or buried by moving ice. Permanent facilities must be anchored to stable stone.
White Expanse
Remote glacial wilderness of exposed ice, buried crevasses, isolated summits, changing visibility, and expedition-scale risk. It is not an uninterrupted supernatural blizzard.
Buried Crown
A concentration of monumental ruins and gigantic remains that may come from unrelated eras. The geographic name does not prove a lost dynasty, single builder, or shared origin.
People before spectacle
A northern society,
not an encounter table.
Families, schools, craftspeople, kitchens, animal keepers, trade, celebrations, and local arguments matter as much as walls and weapons.
House Vanthe
Northern wardens, judges, stewards, commanders, pass-keepers, knights, and guards maintain defense, law, and coordination beneath blue-and-gold lightning-over-stone heraldry.
Dwarven Holds
Northern holds anchor construction in bedrock, maintain galleries and bridges, manage drainage and meltwater, and continually resurvey a landscape that moves.
Talrathi Goatfolk Clans
Animal-faced, horned, cliff-adapted communities maintain sheltered settlements, seasonal herds, high trails, environmental knowledge, and winter guide services.
Northern Bearfolk
Additional regional communities work in transport, husbandry, construction, hunting, engineering, and defense. They add to the north without replacing the established Three Peoples presentation.
Settlements on stable ground
Keldwatch & Deepglass Hall
Keldwatch
A permanent fortified town on stable rock above a sheltered valley: citadel, watchtower, winter markets, covered approaches, steep roofs, storehouses, fuel, medicine, family homes, and Vanthe-linked expedition support. It does not displace Stonegate Hold or Vanthe Keep.
Deepglass Hall
A working northern Dwarven Hold built in bedrock behind an exposed glacial wall. Guarded excavations, drainage, ore work, maintained accessways, craftspeople, families, and stores are regularly reassessed as the ice shifts.
Regional bestiary · natural and natural-magical fauna
Twelve creatures.
None reduced to “monster.”
Threat labels are field cautions, not Guild ranks. Similar silhouettes do not make two species aliases, and none of these cards grants automatic taming, Echo prices, dungeon drops, or new spells.
Rimeback Bear
- Habitat
- Frozen ravines
- Temperament
- Solitary · territorial around dens and food
- Threat
- High caution
Dark insulated hide, mineral spines, and mana-linked cold adaptation.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Cairnhorn
- Habitat
- High passes
- Temperament
- Defensive · protective of young
- Threat
- Very high caution
A colossal shaggy body, many horns, digging forelimbs, and a crushing physical charge.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Whitehowl
- Habitat
- White Expanse
- Temperament
- Territorial · occasional pack hunter
- Threat
- High caution
Silent tracking, powerful paws, and long-distance travel across snow.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Frostmane Lynx
- Habitat
- Treeline cliffs
- Temperament
- Solitary ambush hunter
- Threat
- Moderate caution
A distinctive mane, tufted ears, and sure movement over snowy ledges.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Pale Sabercat
- Habitat
- Glacial forests
- Temperament
- Ambush hunter
- Threat
- High caution
Long fangs, a pale shaggy coat, and patient movement along glacier-margin forest.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Avalanche Leaper
- Habitat
- Avalanche slopes
- Temperament
- Wary · mobile predator
- Threat
- High caution
Explosive climbing and leaping across unstable snow and rock.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Glasswing Froststinger
- Habitat
- Glacial streams and ice meadows
- Temperament
- Swarm-territorial
- Threat
- Low alone · moderate in a swarm
Frostglass wings, a numbing chill sting, and pollination of cold-blooming flowers.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Shardhide Mauler
- Habitat
- Deepglass and broken ruins
- Temperament
- Solitary · territorial
- Threat
- High caution
Pale fur, mineral plating along forelimbs and spine, and powerful physical swipes.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Hornwing Snowstalker
- Habitat
- Winterwall cliffs and White Expanse edges
- Temperament
- Aloof ambush hunter
- Threat
- High caution
Broad feathered wings, cliff nests, silent glides, and drop attacks.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Ghoststripe Sabercat
- Habitat
- Whitebough Basin and old pass shrines
- Temperament
- Solitary · watchful
- Threat
- High caution
Mist-associated ambushes, strong forelimbs, striped pale fur, and territorial calls.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Frostvein Colossbear
- Habitat
- Buried Crown ice fields
- Temperament
- Slow to anger
- Threat
- Severe when provoked
Enormous mass, pale fur, visible blue mana veins, and disruption of unstable snow.
Open searchable Codex entry →
Ruinfang Warden
- Habitat
- Buried Crown ruins and White Expanse margins
- Temperament
- Watchful · aggressive
- Threat
- Severe caution
Crystal growths, heavy foreclaws, and fierce territorial behavior around ruins.
Open searchable Codex entry →The older world · origin unresolved
Ruins are not answers.
Crown Beneath Ice
A monumental complex partly swallowed by glacier. Different passages suggest multiple periods or builders; no original name, ruler, or royal affiliation is confirmed.
Fallen Colossus
A colossal humanlike figure and swordlike object frozen into ice. Fossil, petrified being, statue, or something older: every proposed identity remains unresolved.
Great Rib
Enormous ribs exposed by retreating ice appear draconic, but their age and lineage are unknown. Archaeological interest does not make the site a dungeon or loot node.
Whitebough
An immense living white-barked tree sheltering a basin community. Deep roots and careful stewardship explain its survival; it is not a World Tree, deity, or ascension site.
Dragons and ecology
Territory has consequences.
Frost drakes can occupy suitable upper valleys, while larger intelligent dragons hold the most remote mountains. Elder dragons may be near the ruins without having built them. This expansion creates no named frost ruler, permanent magical blizzard, or weather-control power.
Livelihood and trade
Warmth is work.
Frostwool production, valley husbandry, food, mining, metalwork, construction, guide services, surveys, archaeology, provisioning, and imports sustain the March. Frostwool gear helps but grants no cold immunity; winter field manuals still require practice.
Expedition reality
Power does not replace logistics.
Cold injury, whiteouts, crevasses, avalanches, glacier motion, water, shelter loss, fuel, and weak route intelligence can end an expedition without a hostile creature. Layers, dry insulation, traction, shelter, fuel, water, food, rope, medical supplies, route knowledge, and qualified guides remain essential.
Open story seeds
The north leaves room for discovery.
The Lost Survey
A scholarly party is overdue from the Buried Crown. The cause remains genuinely open.
The Broken Migration
Cairnhorns cross an important pass; guides, wardens, and merchants must protect roads without treating a natural migration as villainy.
The Ice Is Moving
A Deepglass passage shifts rapidly, forcing engineers to study conditions while protecting travelers and trade.
The Colossus Question
Newly exposed structures provoke competing explanations without revealing an unapproved definitive identity.