The Ash Peaks
“The oldest tunnels do not follow the ore. Miners call them failed workings, but failed workings generally begin by following something worth digging toward.”
— Veydrith Serrin, Lucent Endura
The Ash Peaks are a rugged mountain range in Faulmoor, rising near Valkenheim in a region of dark rock, steep ravines, caves, misted ridges, and difficult passes. They remain only lightly controlled by House Valkenmar and are avoided by most ordinary travel.
Overview
The range is not exceptionally high by the standards of distant mountain country, but it is difficult to cross. Loose shale, hidden sinkholes, deep fissures, sudden fog, cold rain, and poorly mapped routes make even short journeys unpredictable.
Natural caves mix with older cut tunnels and abandoned workings. Some were once used for mining, while others have no clearly remembered purpose.
The Ash Peaks have never supported the kind of settled authority found in Faulmoor's lowlands. Small groups, isolated camps, prospectors, refugees, and travelers may enter the range, but no power maintains dependable control across it.
History
Mining and exploration brought people into the Ash Peaks long before the Rotmire Blight. The Sveerla Mines were once an important excavation site before collapse, flooding, or abandonment ended large-scale work there.
The range also accumulated stories about ruins, buried chambers, and objects older than the institutions of modern Faulmoor. The lack of reliable maps has helped those stories survive because few expeditions can conclusively prove or disprove them.
Present Day
The Blight drove some refugees into the mountains in search of isolation. The peaks offer distance from heavily affected lowlands, but little food, difficult shelter, and no reliable protection.
The range offers the kind of isolation refugees dream about and the kind of terrain that can make isolation lethal: little food, uncertain shelter, bad maps, and no authority close enough to help when something goes wrong.
Whether the Blight has established a lasting presence deep within the range is not publicly settled. House Valkenmar maintains little effective military presence beyond the more accessible approaches.
Explorers and relic-seekers continue to enter despite the risks, particularly those drawn by stories of old mines and the legend of the Hollow King.
Notable Locations
Sveerla Mines
The Sveerla Mines are abandoned workings within the range. Portions are collapsed or flooded, and their deeper extent is uncertain.
Valley of Ash
The Valley of Ash is a barren stretch where fine gray material is carried constantly by the wind. Its origin is unknown in surviving public accounts.
The Shattered Spires
The Shattered Spires are tall, irregular rock formations overlooking part of the range. Some traditions claim they are natural remnants; others interpret them as the eroded remains of something constructed.
Rumors and Legends
The Hollow King
Stories of the Hollow King describe a forgotten warrior or ruler connected to a hidden chamber somewhere beneath the peaks.
One version of the tale claims miners once found a black throne of unfamiliar metal deep below the Sveerla Mines before the route to it was sealed or lost.
The Crown of the Hollow King
No publicly verified recovery of the crown is known, and stories about its powers differ widely.