The Steamstone

Geothermal activity pushes mineral waters to the surface in both bubbling pools and explosive geysers, the terrain provides a buffer to the harsh northern environment, allowing the multitude of dwarven settlements to thrive.

Geography

The Eruptive Palisade. A name so given as this violent landscape of geysers south of Dymkrag prevents any advance except along the proper bridges and highways tightly controlled by the forces of the Stone's Reserve.

The Forged Run. A river that runs easterly at the southern border of the Steamstone, passing above and below ground to end in the Haurloch. The river is through which nearly all commerce of the dwarven kingdoms passes between Dymkrag and beyond.

The Haurloch. The great valleybound waters of this lake were quarried by the dwarves in a past age. Comprising the eastern border of the Steamstone until it meets the lone mountain of the Grasp.

The Rubicund Vents. At the western reaches of the region the waters of the geysers and pools turn rust red as the stone becomes iron rich, creating a veritable hellscape in its appearance.

The Scaldfont. The heart of the region where numerous kingdoms of the dwarves compete for safe paths into the Depths. Mining ever deeper they rely on precise knowledge of the patterns of geothermic activity as resources become rarer and risky delves more frequent.

Roads and Landmarks

The Clanmark. Running the breadth of the region this road passes both above and below ground where the dwarven travelers might marvel at the feats of their dwarven past. Statues, murals, tablets, badges, all manner of memorials mark the passage of this road, but it has become increasingly competitive for dwarven clans to fashion distinctive testaments for their clans' glory.

The Hammered Way. The roads connecting through the Scaldfont, so named for their appearance like that of hammered stone by the perpetual travel upon them.

The King's Road. Leading south from Dymkrag to Voldentonn, the road is never without a dwarven foot upon it. It is even said that there is more gold in the dust of this road than in the vaults of Malanh.

Settlements

Calderak. A small dwarven kingdom carved from inside a butte that rises above the boiling pools of the Rubicund Vents in the westerlands of the region. Hardened and resolute the settlement has persisted in spite of fiendish attacks upon it by an infernal cult known as the Charred Legion, worshipers of the goddess Malceth.

Dohldenbor. At the mouth of the Forged Run, this powerful dwarven kingdom has been held by the Dohldenbor clan for thousands of years as they exacted their tolls upon any that would travel the river. Known for the power of their fleet and the mercilessness of their warrior none have dared cross them since the rise of the High Kingdom of Dymkrag.

Freylkarst. A settlement in the eastern Steamstone, one of the great holds of lycan kind. Still deep within the early tribal dens do they hold stories long forgotten.

Haradra's Hold. The ancient keep of a long forgotten hero, being one of the earliest undertakings between humans and dwarves in a past age. Near the Ryme river just at the southernmost edge of the Steamstone, the Praetori of Achonus as Synstasia's faith militant and the Stone's Reserve as Dymkrag's royal military, they often compete for their forces to be ever more exemplary of their peoples.

Mokkloin. A grand holdfast of the dwarves situated to the far east, ruled by the Sunshields clan. The walls covered in sulfur from the flows of mineral pools that surround it giving a brilliant golden hue as it overlooks the Windward Steppes.

Mute Heights. A human town situated in the Steamstone far east of the Ryme River. Perpetually wreathed in a haunting fog, the settlement is oft spoken of as place of a sullen doom.

Pausthall. A supremely proud and noble dwarven kingdom in the westerlands of the region. Ruled since its mines were first carved by the Harrowflames, a priestly family dedicated to the god Dilig.

Voldentonn. South of Dymkrag on the Haurloch, this dwarven city stands as a testament to industry and commerce and acts as the bulwark of the High Kingdom of Dymkrag. Once the central port of trade between humans and dwarves, trade has suffered with the ascent of Arkyme as Dymkrag and Synstasia now trade more directly.

Ruins and Subterrane

The frozen hell of the Hiemal beneath the Steamstone is rightly feared by the dwarves, as they delve deeper and deeper revealing only the unrelenting cold and the horrors that haunt it. The geothermal nature of this anomalous landscape, said to be the stone set aflame by the dwarves of ancient days in order to survive the Age of Water, when the deathly cold came for all the living.

Grarn'shosh. The ruined palace city a vicious red Dragon King at the heart of the Scaldfont along the road of the Hammered Way. Now standing as a monument of the victory over the dragons, the dwarves openly display the bones of dragons and draconic alike within the city's structures.

Immolarakai (Ceaseless Flame). This infernal fortress of hell-wrought iron is set into the wastes of the Rubicund Vents. Many attempts to smite the devilish forces of the Ninth Legion, the cult of Malceth, within have yet to end this threat. Again and again divifiends heed some dark call to inhabit this place and summon forth once more the denizens of the Dread Inferno of the Hells.

Rhyhthuroth. A ruin of a white Dragon Queen where once her power froze even the boiling pools in the far east of the region. Now said to be inhabited by the restless spirits of the draconic that were slain by the lycan.

Wohlekrov. Once the grand lair of a Dragon King all that remains is the towering rest, the lookout of a dragon who would strike terror into those within its domain.

Zystresyr. Sunken within the mineral lakes of the southeast of the landscape, none would know that once the draconic dominated the region from this city. Having taken the labors of the dwarven people, the terrible tyranny of the draconic in the Age of Fire was ended by the Ashbreak Rebellion, but not before the sorcerers of the draconic sunk the city to rob the dwarves of its hoard.