Ugradrath

• Previous
• Next

Ugradrath is a towering mountain range of northern Grashakh and into Cinazan. Many consider the area impassable, the terrain to rugged and steep. In the Horgon Era, it t once was the land of the frost giants that came to be known as the Glangveif. Today, it is a natural border between the Orchish Empire to the south and the Khazarkar Empire to the north.

Splitting the peaks, flowing south to north is the fast-moving rock tossed Alarthand River. Fordable in the most unreachable parts, it is has long been a major obstacle from getting from one side of the mountain range to the other.

Having been the site of war between the Titan Empires and in those of more recent times, the mountains are littered with the wreckage of old conflicts. A borderland today, the mountains are dotted with the towers and castles of the Orchish Empire and the Khazarkar.

Dangerous land to cross with an army, some go underground, following a tunnel system built-up over three hundred years of routine conflict. The Fograth, the Orchish Empire's ground forces, made and continue to make eastward advancing tunnels and subterranean bastions. On several occasions, with great success, they were put to use in great offensives against the Khazarkar Empire. When these are not used or patrolled, they become havens for all sorts of beasts. For many of the subterranean realm, unguarded means unclaimed. This has led to vast tunnel systems becoming the homes of trogs and other subterranean peoples.

On the surface, the main route through Ugradrath is a rugged valley named Lyfning Bar.

Going north through this area, past blockhouses, trenches, and walls, one leaves impassable Ugradrath for the deep evergreens of N'nathil and the triple walls of Bazar, the Khazarkar Empire's diamond of the west.

- Ek'tar, wanderer, from his book Silent Footfalls - "One Tyranny into Another"

In the Horgon Era, Ugradrath's northern tracts, those beaten by the Winds of Talos, were claimed by the Glangveif Monarchy. They controlled this area from a massive citadel, now a ruin, named Fjorstaki. The upper tracts are also dotted with mithril mines, old mining towns, and forts. Having been worked out by the Glangveif or by the empires that followed, many of the area's mines serve as the lairs of orcs, goblins, and other humanoids.