Reposting this as it might have gotten "lost" in the thread. New map I used in game, and a bit about it.

Far to the north beyond the wind swept steppes of Troglan tribes,the vast tundras further still and the sea of moving ice. There is a chilly no mans land called commonly as the Endless Icy Fields. Here is a place so barren that neither the hearty nomadic Troglan tribes nor their more savage cousins dare to thread. It is a place of wind blasted ice covered field that stretch beyond the reach of mortal eyes.Temperatures here stay around a constant 30 degrees fahrenheit to -90 at night. These temperatures have been known to freeze men and beasts in place as they walked leaving behind grim statues of frozen flesh as grim reminders. The northern most portion rumored to be seen and heard of this frozen land are a series of mountain ranges along a massive fault line. Often referred to as The Pillars of  the World, or as simply the Ends of the World. The mountains act as a natural,(some say various mountains in said ranges are unearthly or hold magical secrets), barrier between the frozen lands of the icy wastes. Tales of explorers and adventures speak of  this being a land(s) where refugees for floundering Mu have settled building colonies for their kind..Strange sights,luminous orbs,and flashing colored lightening that blasts both men and beast have been seen along mountain tops and legends of  said cities and  colonies beyond these mountains are abundant.Indeed the most learned in the esoteric of the Ninth World oft refer to the lands beyond the Crown  of the World, as part of the mythical lands of Hyperboria. Many scholars swear that a vast land(s) lay beyond. Rumors of frost giants,ice encased demi gods ,and glowing "chariots" that fell from the sky persist in more civilized lands to the south. Here it is rumored protomen like the simian Voormis, with their sorceries and reverence to Morloc and Tsahoggua, in fact mated with curious beings from the sky . These men in turn created great kingdoms and empires based on fell magic and the technologies of their sires. If these stories are true or not is unknown and more then one party of adventures, or mad wizard have all never been seen again after  taking such a journey beyond these towering peaks.


 To the south of these giant peaks lay the , Endless Icy Fields . Here only the proto human wild men and the fierce yeti dare to enter and eke out an existence. Hunting caribou ,elk like herd animals as well as large marine mammals. There are tales however from the more adventurous members of the Troglan tribes of these, Non-men, hunting small sized behemoths and  even hunting and eating civilized men, when meat is scarce in the frozen wastes.
Of all the legends and superstitions that abound of this region. The legends and rumors of the ,White Vale are some that have persisted for generations. This valley is situated north of an inland sea teeming with aquatic life. From Ninth Age whales and Krakens to where artic ,finned and bearded Gnorri have built their underwater cold, icy, singular labyrinths, This inland sea has no official name but is a small part of the seas of moving ice. So rich in these moving mountains of ice is this inland sea that the waters and shore line is littered with ages old ships and vessels of many peoples and eons, proof that making travel to this valley by water is  extremely dangerous.  Rumor and tavern tales speak of some of these wrecks harboring caches of riches and other treasures. One such being the famed ship, The Sea Needle, crewed by a company of mercenaries and captained by none other then, Nul, an illithid fugitive from another plane of existence. While stories of the creatures loot are varied  most center on a device still said to be on the wreck. This device is said to allow any ship or vessel to travel between the stars to other worlds. While some take this tale as true most scholars scoff at its preposterous nature. Tales of pre-human catacombs,hidden treasure vaults,and monster haunted locations in the frozen valley abound.

One point of interest just beyond the shore of the valley and just inside the sea of floating ice is an island. This island is simply known as ,Portal Island it is said that an ancient portal is sitting on an ancient mound,(this mound is told to be one entrance point to the tomb of some nonhuman king), This portal regularly flickers images of different locations and times within the ninth world, and anyone stepping through this gate will be teleported to that shown  place and era. Strange beasts,beings and even alien craft are seen entering and leaving the portal from time to time. However if the riddle of the mound can be found and the three words spoken,(in their original ancient and blasphemous tongue), the portal will lock onto Taboo Island  to the north,allowing travel to and from.(Each time a PC speaks these words they must make a save or suffer sanity loss and/or a corruption).

If adventurers decide not to use the portal and instead travel across the frozen fields, preparedness and some form of protection against the cold is a must,so that frozen death can be adverted. Even with these measures, the traveling will be perilous. Along the shores of the icy fields there are said to be the still standing and weapon clutching frozen corpses of those who braved the cold and failed. It is said that when these phantoms sense hot blood in the veins of would be adventurers,they animate their frozen limbs making snapping sounds as the move forward and swing their weapons with long dead arms and legs, fighting with undead tenacity and unwavering purpose. Other dangers exist in this wind blasted vale besides the restless spirits of the dead, demon dragons, cyclopes,frost giants,giant ice worms, hungry yeti and protomen all roam this ice encrusted realm. Tales of strange mutated predators and ravenous otherworldly subterranean things ready to make short work of travelers have too been told.
Further north beyond portal island,south of ice capped mountains and sitting on an island in the largest and only known lake in the vale, is Taboo Island. This island is much the same as the rest of this frozen land save for it's one notable feature,a castle of ice and stone of immeasurable size and complexity floating in the sky. Outwardly from a distance the floating ice castle is easy to miss. On closer inspection the shape and structure become apparent against the rest of the natural ice, snow,and winter grey sky. The castles walls appear as giant sky reaching spires  of ice. This walls has the look of half melted, then quickly refrozen ice, giving the outer walls a slick fused and crystalline appearance. Under this ice at irregular intervals sections of a stone structure can be seen under many feet of slick murky and clear ice. No records exist on who built the castle. Other then fragments of tales on the leathered hides of animals by the Troglan tribesman and more ancient shattered fragments of stone tablets.
Some of these tell of the master of this castle as a being known as, "The Worm That Walks".  Others tell of a sorcerer and necromancer Katamay Rey , from a world orbiting far off [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#:~:text=Betelgeuse%20is%20usually%20the%20tenth,by%20any%20first%2Dmagnitude%20star.]Betalgeuse[/url] driven to this world by his own kin in their effort to rid their world of demon worshiping kinsmen. Katamay Rey ,(This is his/it's humanish name as his true name like his biomechanical kinsmen is impronunciable by any born of woman). Another tells that the master of castle and master of the entire valley as the demigod  gargantuan cyborg demon ice worm,Sorodu Tasiniet this demigod being the offspring of a Pit Fiend mating with the mother of the ice worm species,Yhanop. The demon worm demigod is said to have vast tunnels underground beneath the entire valley and is assembling an army which it will use to conquer the world.  Still another tell of the master of the castle of the lake as being the ancient sorceress of Mu,Chuntha. Chuntha is said to be eons old and to have built this castle as her fortress after she had studied and visited the planes of the multiverse and existence. As for who or what Chuntha is, the fragments vary, describing her as an old crone, bent and weathered from centuries  of life and power. Others describe her as a creature of great beauty, however according to these tablets, her beauty is, "lost on men". As, "the device of men knowing her is closed off to men but it is the eye in which she is reborn again and again." The fragments also tell of her having conquered vicious snow beasts,yeti,and protomen, who serve her as their queen and as her army. Some say her consort(s) are various ice worms or Sorodu himself or sentient fungi  worms from dim icy Yuggoth.
https://flic.kr/p/2mUaZ7z
 Na Chuba! Na Gita! Negatorie Na! Na! Natoota! 

Last edited by Chartauk (12/31/2021 4:50 pm)