Connects to: 02.04, 03.03, 03.04, 04.06, 07.01 and 19.31.03.
Overview
Rising above the Draugmere Peaks which loom over the Dwarven Monastery (03.04) kiss the coastline, and extend to the Giant’s Lake (07.01), Mount Scorshia is the highest mountain in the realm, just shy of 14,000 feet. Twisted basalt spires surround the mount, and the giants claim these are their slumbering brothers; when viewed under the long light of sunset one might see sharply carved eyes staring at them from the stone or seem to imagine a giant shifting posture. None of the local people, semi-nomadic shepherds, come near the mountain, believing it is cursed (02.04). Only Dwarven monastics, garbed in flowing orange robes and their faces smeared in ash, bear fat, and dyes, come here on pilgrimage in some sort of a test. However, the last group of dwarves to ascend Scorshia never returned.
In the dead of winter no living souls come here, though mountaineers of the past claim to have been saved from an unusually early winter storm by a giant shepherd with a frozen beard, burning white eyes, and a golden cudgel. No one is sure if the mountaineers were delusional, but “The Shepherd” has become a popular story and many believe he hides a treasure under the mountain. Interestingly enough, all of the people dwelling in or near the mountain range radiate enchantment magic. Strangely, no humans remember where the mountain got its name, but one dragon claims to know. A certain dragon claims that “Scorshia” is a mispronunciation of a draconic term that means “mother of mountains” or perhaps “the first stone,” draconic is difficult to translate. According to this dragon, when the world was created it began with Mount Scorshia. Although the mountain now stands older than anything else in the world, it still radiates the magic of creation itself. In midwinter, at the heart of the Long Night, if there is a new moon, then Mount Scorshia is as it was at the dawn of days, with neither sun nor moon to rival it. At that time, a spell cast from the summit of the mountain will have its effects and range amplified in difficult to predict ways, for Mount Scorshia is the keystone of the world and to master it is to be as a god.
Connections
- The petrified giants (if they are really petrified giants) could be related to the giant who makes his home at Giant’s Lake (07.01).
- Rhyond Deismark (04.06) is planning an expedition to Mt. Scorshia.
- Strangely, the word “Scorshia” has been heard to echo through the Rift of the Great Lament (03.03).
- This mountain is associated with an ancient demigod/constellation known as the Hero (19.31.03).
- Algrael the Gelderer saw a lady in white here, who he followed to 03.02 only to find himself in the embrace of an ice mummy.
Hooks
- What befell the Dwarven monks lost on the mountain?
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If there really are slumbering giants what do they wait for?
- Is “The Shepherd” a kindly frost giant, a hill giant pariah, an angel, or a figment of the imagination?
- Who or what was Scorshia? Was some sort of massive epic memory-altering spell cast? Or is the dragon telling the truth? Where does that dragon live?
- Has anyone ever tried to cast spells atop Mount Scorshia on a Midwinter new moon? What happened?
- Who or what created the world?
