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 Faerun’s Arctic North (Starlight Enclave Spoilers)
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1151 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2022 :  18:25:53  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Just off the top of my head I am trying to summarize everything that’s canonical (or sort of canonical or whatever due to novels, video games etc) about the distant north. Please add as you see fit!

-Slaad, including Ygorl are you to something nefarious
-The Aevendrow have a major city of 40k drow, arktos oroks, Kurits and humans)
- A Wind Duke of Aqaa names Qadeej sleeps here in the form of a glacier
-The northern lights known here as Merry Dancers have strange waxing and waning effects on magic, as does the equinox.
- The Dracorage mythal was once located here(?) protected by avariel.
- Lythari are present (?)

I’m also open to homebrew ideas. What else besides Santa lives at this North Pole?


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Edited by - Seethyr on 11 Jan 2022 18:27:21

sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11829 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2022 :  23:06:41  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Sources?

Grumpus and his sleigh pulled by 8 medium perytons fly out to find naughty children and devour their hearts
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5170958


Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe

USA
958 Posts

Posted - 11 Jan 2022 :  23:24:36  Show Profile Send Delnyn a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

Sources?

Grumpus and his sleigh pulled by 8 medium perytons fly out to find naughty children and devour their hearts
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5170958





Now I picture Gromph as Grumpus/Krampus and the perytons have the fiendish template.
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2476 Posts

Posted - 12 Jan 2022 :  01:30:30  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

Sources?



The Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy, specifically the last novel (The Ruin) is all about the Dracorage stuff. A portal to the Mythal was hidden in an elven citadel in the Novularonds, but it was destroyed by the dragon who killed Iyraclea. The proper mythal was located in a ruin located way to the North, in an unspecified location hidden by magical barriers, but that it was avariel in origin.

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1151 Posts

Posted - 12 Jan 2022 :  02:19:38  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
My soul for a map of the far north lol.

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Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3741 Posts

Posted - 12 Jan 2022 :  03:16:42  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
-I only read the first book (and frankly, it really wasn't that good), but the Chosen of Nendawen trilogy took place in the far north, among other places.

-Frostfell also might've, I honestly don't remember what cold area it took place in.

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Edited by - Lord Karsus on 12 Jan 2022 03:17:59
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deserk
Learned Scribe

Norway
238 Posts

Posted - 12 Jan 2022 :  11:58:04  Show Profile Send deserk a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I was not exactly impressed by the atheist hipster vegan drow of the Far North. Not to mention the "Kumbaya" relationship they had with the Arctic Dwarves and the "Arktos Oroks" (weird and not very Realmsian sounding name, arktos is the Ancient Greek word for the North and the origins of the English word arctic). Far too idealistic society and consequentially an insufferably boring one. What made Menzoberranazan intriguing in the Homeland novels at least was that it was a very alien and hostile environment, not to mention a hard place for anyone to imagine growing up in.

Of course the great North should technically be the Great Glacier/Pelvuria. Though RAS didn't call it that by name, he did say these lands were beyond the Spine of the World. It is a vast land mass so it could pretty much fit anything in it.

Edited by - deserk on 12 Jan 2022 11:58:51
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11829 Posts

Posted - 12 Jan 2022 :  13:00:11  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus

-I only read the first book (and frankly, it really wasn't that good), but the Chosen of Nendawen trilogy took place in the far north, among other places.

-Frostfell also might've, I honestly don't remember what cold area it took place in.



Not that far north... just a little north of Narfell. Guess I'm left wondering what we mean by artic north, because we have info on the Great Glacier... so north of that? I also find it interesting that we have different representations of what's above the great glacier and what's above Winterkeep, etc.... Some things represent it was water, and others as ice. I'm assuming that means that part of the year its water and part of the year its frozen over, but no matter what there's no land beneath it.... and the place we're talking about hear would be a place with land beyond this melting area (or a place of pure ice that never melts that's beyond this melting ocean area)?

That being said, do we have ANY indication / references for where the city of Aevendrow is ... for instance in relation to Hartsvale, Great Glacier, Icewind Dale, etc....?

That being said, that novel DOES place frost uldra in the realms in the regions north of Narfell

by the way, if the great glacier is what's meant, a map CAN be found on pinterest here
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/502995852123492821/

or this if logged into pinterest

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/df/39/c9/df39c90dccda6fd590795233c0f8fba4.jpg

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 12 Jan 2022 21:48:38
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1151 Posts

Posted - 13 Jan 2022 :  02:15:25  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I am specifically trying to get more about the full on northern pole. It seems to me like that’s where Gromoh sent Doum’wielle and where Callidae is located. I think no mater what part of Faerun you head north from, you get there.

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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore

United Kingdom
1152 Posts

Posted - 18 Jan 2022 :  06:57:07  Show Profile  Visit hashimashadoo's Homepage Send hashimashadoo a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

I am specifically trying to get more about the full on northern pole. It seems to me like that’s where Gromoh sent Doum’wielle and where Callidae is located. I think no mater what part of Faerun you head north from, you get there.



The only info we've got on the far north that I recall is that there's supposedly a tower on an island suspended above the north pole by a 300ft tall pillar of ice. Some people believe this tower is where the archmage Nchaser mysteriously disappeared to, others don't believe that the place exists at all.

When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11829 Posts

Posted - 18 Jan 2022 :  13:40:00  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

I am specifically trying to get more about the full on northern pole. It seems to me like that’s where Gromoh sent Doum’wielle and where Callidae is located. I think no mater what part of Faerun you head north from, you get there.



Gotcha, so above the great glacier and beyond the great ice sea. So, at some times of the year, it might be "connected" to Faerun by a relatively thin sheet of ice (that might be able to be traversed, but might be extremely dangerous to do so).

The one thing I recommend and offer for there... from my races of the adusgi and surrounding environs... frost sprites and frost uldra. I know that I put them in northern anchorome, but they very much fit the concept. Snow elves definitely work as well, such that there might be snow elves AND these drow..... to note that snow elves blame dark elves for SOME involvement with their deity from long ago with a deity known as something like "Megwandir" (who is heavily hinted as Lolth, but could just as easily be the Raven Queen ... who is involved with winter, The Queen of Air and Darkness, Kiaransalee, Aurilandur, or even a dead elven god... or not even an evil one, as their god may have skewed the story). To note as well, the snow elven god is friends with the god known as the Frost Sprite King, and Auriliandur is known as the Frost Sprite Queen (but to note, king and queen may not be married... it may be mother and son.... or deposed queen and new dynasty, etc....).

Some other ideas.... may seem a little Christmassy, but icewind dale introduced reindeer whose antlers glow.... what about asperii like reindeer who can fly, but only when the air is "cold enough to walk upon".... so during snow flurries, etc.... Maybe they have some limited control weather abilities that surround themselves. Maybe they can bend their heads and aim a "cone of cold" type effect that picks up available snow and hurls it like snowballs. Maybe call them Frostraindeer (someone can probably come up with something better)

Maybe, more polar urskan, and maybe my more "humanoid" variety of Thonabiers with their magical links.

a walrus riding polar race that is immune to cold and can breathe water maybe, who might live in vast open areas of water carved within the ice. Maybe they have control of water in the form of water shaping cantrips, etc... Actually, this might be an interesting take on some uldra druids or frost sprites. Maybe they can't naturally breathe water, but they all create magic items to do so, and they live in air filled caverns under the ice accessible by swimming.

Definitely some artic dwarves from the great glacier migrating there.

Not sure what from Kara-tur, but they definitely have a region that's snowy at the top.

Maybe a hidden facility for keeping goods that have to be kept frozen, wkth portals to somewhere else

Of course, I know you want to break the mold of what you did in blacktoe glacier as well, and a lot of this was stuff we included in Anchorome, but still ... its the same world.



Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 18 Jan 2022 13:44:33
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11829 Posts

Posted - 18 Jan 2022 :  15:32:32  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
So, one thing to bear in mind as well IF you want to stay with "canon" rough idea of the layout of the continents as presented by clicking the globe on the FR Interactive Atlas. Showing something for both north and south poles taken from that at below url

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C8k2vYmReUcqBzzN2lIa3RDs0DXP65P3/view?usp=sharing

So, I did a modified version where I used the magic wand in paint.net to try and find areas that look like they're JUST ice versus areas that are continents with ice covering them. I then noted that there's a discoloration too that probably denotes areas that "melt" every year. From this, it looks like the absolute north is just frozen water and not ice over land. It also looks like the place I'd call Aurune is entirely under ice. On the south pole, ice seems to "reach out" and cover a portion of that bottom unnamed place, but doesn't similarly reach out towards the bottom of Katashaka.

Now, given that this is a FANTASY world and not a real world, one idea that comes to mind is that there could be a direct "cylinder" of ice that goes from the north pole to the south pole.... right through the core of the world.... and maybe there's something containing this cold to a cylinder, but it's leaking out of the top and bottom. Perhaps the geothermal energy of Toril doesn't come from a "molten core" any more than the sun is a star. Perhaps the geothermal energy of Toril is due to portals to the plane of fire or magma. Maybe even there are places like Thay, Lopango, etc... which have ties to a lot of magical fire energy.... and this is containing whatever "being" (such as Ulutiu) that maintains the core of ice.

Mainly throwing out this idea to see what we could do with it. For instance, if one could have an "underdark" within this cylinder of ice, then you could traverse from the north pole to the south pole via tunnels. Maybe there are cold sections of this place that are SOOO cold that even people with cold immunity take damage there.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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