The Four Realms

Mountains of Melancholia
Listen Well Youngling, we havent always lived under the open sky. Once we lived in
the bosom of the earth where we mined ore and explored the great underground, we
sailed lakes that had never seen the sun and blind luminescent fish swam in the
depths. Our ancestors marveled at crystal caverns but the dark ones were released and
we were forced to flee.
Now we dwell on the surface and live the life of a nomad in our clans wagons,
following the age old pathways and forever taunted by the mountains we can never
reclaim. Once they were called another name but now we call them the Mountains of
Melancholia for they will forever be a cause of pain to the Dwarven people.
The Mountains of Melancholia form the western border of the known realms
forming an impenetrable barrier between the east and west. It is a wild and
untamed region, inhabited by all manner of monstrous creatures from trolls to
harpies and other, darker beings.
Lying at its heart lie a pair of great volcanoes called Gog and Magog after a
pair of long forgotten gods of the humans who once inhabited the realms.
These mighty fire mountains constantly spew out columns of ash high into
the atmosphere and between them sits the fallen Dwarf hold of Dum Morak.
Far in the past the Dwarves called this mighty mountain range home but
disaster struck when Dwarven miners broke into a vast subterranean chamber
containing a great stone seal. The Dwarves foolishly broke the great seal
which unleashed their doom as the forces of the Abyss were released into the
realms of the mortals.
In an orgy of destruction the terrible creatures of the Abyss rampaged
through the Dwarven hold, slaying all that opposed them. The Dwarves
fought back with all their might but were driven out of their own home and
into exile on the surface.
Now Dum Morak is a place of terror, its great forges have been perverted into
sacrificial pits and its once great halls resound to the sound of the followers of
the Abyssal Lords as they chant a never ending litany of worship to their dark
gods and deep within the hold a swirling vortex of power pulses providing a
portal between the Abyss and the Four Realms. From their obsidian keep,

creatures of horror and their mortal pawns march forth to enslave all they
find.
I have traveled the ancient paths into the mountains, avoiding the lackeys of the Dark
Ones and even seen the gates of our lost hold Dum Morak, its once proud visage
warped and mutated by the terrible things that now call it home.
It is a wild and untamed place where only the foolhardy venture, its high peaks are
inhabited by the once noble Harpies and the high valleys swarm with Trolls,
Mountain Goblins and the degenerate descendants of the Humans but our elders still
require information on the movements of the servants of the Darkness and I am
honour bound to follow their command so I will venture forth to explore our
surroundings again, despite the danger as it is my sworn duty.

Slate Plains
Lying to the East of the Mountains lie the great Slate Plains, the new
homeland of the Dwarves. It is a bleak place by any standards consisting of a
sea of grass punctuated by outcrops of broken slate.
Here the Dwarven Clans have been forced to find a new way of living. The
survivors of the great holds destruction split into several smaller clans and set
forth with

Debatable Lands
To the south lie the debatable lands, an untamed and wild place and home to
law breakers and bandit tribes. The goblin tribes inhabit its coastline and often
raid inland towards the Slate Plains.
Land of the Barrow Dwellers
Lying in the foothills of the Mountains of Melancholia, the land of the Barrow
Dwellers is a gloomy, mist shrouded place dotted with mighty barrows
constructed at some point in the ancient past. Recently lights have been seen
flitting between the barrows and shadowy forms have been glimpsed from
afar.
Shivering Forest

The shivering forest is a frozen expanse of pine trees which lies between the
southlands and the frozen north. It is almost uninhabited save from a few
barbarian trappers and all manner of wild and terrifying animals.
Forest of the Ironwoods
Lying to the south of the Ironlode river, the Ironwood forest is a huge and
impenetrable forest. The Ironwood trees grow to exceptional height and girth
and the
Stygian Jungle
Due to the warm current brought from the south to the Sea of Dreams the
southern reaches of the Ironwood forest have turned into a steaming jungle of
vast trees, creeping lianas and inhabited by the reclusive lizard folk in their
stepped pyramids.
Sea of Dreams and Emerald Straits
The shallow sea of Dreams is warm and broken by reefs and treacherous
currents and inhabited by the insidious Sea Demons.