This entry establishes the large-scale doctrine governing the mountains, highlands, valleys, basins, passes, and other major elevation systems of Eldarûn.
It follows from:
and provides the physical terrain framework upon which:
- rivers
- watersheds
- climates
- biomes
- roads
- kingdoms
- mines
- settlements
- and military geography
depend.
The central principle is:
Elevation is not decoration. Mountains divide water, climate, travel, ecology, and civilization.
A mountain range changes everything around it.
It determines:
- where rivers begin
- which direction water drains
- where rain falls
- where rain does not fall
- where roads can cross
- where settlements form
- where snow persists
- where resources become accessible
- and where political borders become difficult to ignore
The mountain geography of Eldarûn therefore follows coherent physical structure unless specific canon establishes a supernatural exception.
1. Mountain Formation
Most mountain systems on Eldarûn arise through ordinary geological processes.
These include:
- continental collision
- tectonic compression
- subduction
- volcanic uplift
- faulting
- crustal extension
- erosion of ancient plateaus
- glacial carving
A mountain range may combine several of these processes across its history.
Ancient mountains are generally:
- lower
- broader
- more eroded
- more rounded
than young actively rising ranges.
Younger mountain systems may be:
- sharper
- steeper
- more earthquake-prone
- more geologically unstable
Volcanic mountain systems may contain:
- active cones
- dormant volcanoes
- extinct volcanoes
- calderas
- lava plateaus
- basalt highlands
Mountain type must eventually correspond to tectonic history.
2. Continental Mountain Architecture
Every major continent of Eldarûn possesses multiple mountain systems.
These systems should include a mixture of:
- major continental ranges
- secondary ranges
- isolated massifs
- volcanic chains
- uplifted plateaus
- highland systems
- coastal mountains
- foothill belts
Not every range must be:
- enormous
- snow-covered
- impassable
- culturally famous
Some may exist primarily as:
- watershed divides
- mineral regions
- local barriers
- forested uplands
- old eroded ridges
The final master map will determine the complete global mountain inventory.
The currently established ranges described below are hard geographic anchors of the Primary Continent.
3. The Svartrheim Mountains
The Svartrheim Mountains are one of the major established northern mountain systems of the Primary Continent.
They form an extensive inland highland region associated particularly with:
- Durnhollow
- Hrukenn dwarven stronghold traditions
- northern uplands
- snowfields
- high valleys
- glacial and snow-fed drainage
The Svartrheim are large enough to function as a major continental watershed source.
3.1 Durnhollow
Durnhollow lies within the greater Svartrheim mountain country.
Its location reflects the established Hrukenn relationship with:
- mountain fortresses
- stone roads
- highland passes
- mines
- upper valleys
Durnhollow is not a lowland city with mountains painted behind it.
It belongs physically to a mountain system.
3.2 The Svartrheim Headwaters
The Svartrheim collect substantial cold-season precipitation.
Their highest regions support:
- seasonal snowpack
- persistent snowfields
- alpine lakes
- glaciers in favorable high-country zones
Snowmelt, groundwater, springs, and glacial runoff create numerous:
- rills
- creeks
- mountain streams
- tributary rivers
that descend out of the range.
Several of these northern watercourses ultimately combine into the headwater system of the Ashrun River.
This makes the Svartrheim not merely a cultural homeland but one of the major hydrological source regions of the Primary Continent.
4. The Bladewind Mountains
The Bladewind Mountains are an established mountain system associated with Branloch and Thunderdelve.
Branloch lies against or within the western valley-and-foothill structure of the range.
Thunderdelve lies deeper within the eastern mountain country.
The established local relationship is:
Deran's farmstead → Branloch → Bladewind mountain country / Thunderdelve
from west to east.
4.1 Branloch Basin and Foothills
Branloch occupies lower terrain at the transition between:
- rolling country
- foothills
- mountain valleys
This allows the settlement to function as:
- agricultural town
- mining community
- trade stop
- gateway to upland mineral country
The Bladewind foothills must therefore descend gradually toward Branloch rather than rising as an impossible vertical wall immediately outside town.
4.2 Mineral Character
The Bladewind system contains established mineral resources including:
- copper
- silver
- iron
and deeper or unusual deposits associated with the Thunderdelve narrative.
Its eventual geology should support sustained mining without making every mountain in the range uniformly mineral-rich.
5. The Ashfang Mountains
The Ashfang Mountains, commonly called the Ashfangs, are one of the most important established mountain systems in current narrative geography.
They lie east of Roaringwater and form the mountain-country environment containing or associated with:
- Grimvale
- Lorchel approach country
- Daybreak Pass
- Dawnwatch Hold
- the Ashfang Region
- Ashfang foothills
The names:
Grey Peak
and:
Greypeak Mountains
are not current Eldarûnian names for this range.
The controlling names are:
Ashfang Region
and:
5.1 Western Ashfang Foothills
Travel east from Roaringwater leads into progressively narrower terrain.
The sequence includes:
- settled Ashrun valley
- Shimmerbrook corridor
- narrowing foothill valleys
- Grimvale Run
- higher Ashfang country
The transition is gradual.
Farms and ordinary settlement become less common as:
- elevation rises
- valleys narrow
- slopes steepen
- mountain weather becomes more influential
5.2 Ashfang Meltwater
The western face of the Ashfangs contains cold highland drainage.
This water descends through the Grimvale system.
In the upper valley, the principal watercourse is known as:
Farther west and lower in elevation, the same drainage continues as:
the Shimmerbrook
before joining the Ashrun at Roaringwater.
This naming change reflects geographic reach rather than the existence of two unrelated rivers.
5.3 Daybreak Pass
Daybreak Pass is one of the major established crossings through the Ashfang mountain system.
Its known terrain includes:
- ridgeline
- forked approaches
- descending clefts
- western bluff
- springs
- old cairns
- benches
- dwarven stonework
- older sealed structures
The main Daybreak road is physically capable of carrying:
- pack animals
- mules
- carts
- wagons
where condition and security permit.
The party's travel on foot during BONDS does not make the pass universally impassable to wheeled traffic.
5.4 Dawnwatch Hold
Dawnwatch Hold lies hidden within the Ashfang mountain system.
Its existence requires:
- defensible mountain terrain
- difficult approaches
- commanding elevation
- access to water
- ancient travel routes
- concealed or restricted passage
Its final map position must remain compatible with:
- Daybreak Pass
- Lorchel
- Parthal
- Elarisel
- and the surrounding mountain route network.
6. The Ashvault Peaks
The Ashvault Peaks are an established named mountain system.
Their exact continental placement and complete geological relationship remain unresolved.
Known geographic references include:
- Vowcradle
- high mountain or peak terrain
The Ashvault name is hard geographic vocabulary.
Its exact placement should be determined during continental cartography rather than assumed from name similarity to the Ashfang Mountains.
The two ranges are not automatically the same mountain system.
7. The Tempest Horns
The Tempest Horns are an established mountain system associated with the Storm Horn Foothills.
Their source-control position is now fixed within the cartographic registry.
Their complete range envelope, ridge geometry, pass network, climate integration, and geological relationship to surrounding terrain remain map-dependent.
Their naming implies a region strongly shaped by exposed high ground, severe weather, and prominent peaks or ridges, but exact local expression must follow final topography rather than the name alone.
8. Mountain Ranges Yet to Be Mapped
The currently named mountain systems do not represent every mountain range on Eldarûn.
A seven-continent world requires many additional:
- ranges
- highlands
- plateaus
- volcanic chains
- isolated peaks
- upland provinces
Future mountain systems should be created as consequences of:
- tectonic structure
- continental shape
- climate
- hydrology
rather than simply to fill empty portions of the map.
9. Highlands
A highland is elevated country that does not necessarily form a single mountain range.
Highlands may consist of:
- plateaus
- rolling uplands
- dissected tablelands
- ancient eroded mountains
- volcanic plateaus
- broad elevated basins
- moorlands
Highlands strongly influence:
- river sources
- grazing
- settlement density
- road gradients
- climate
- agriculture
They may support large populations where:
- soils are fertile
- water is abundant
- slopes remain manageable
Elevation alone does not make a region barren.
10. Foothills
Foothills form the transition between mountains and lower country.
They may include:
- rolling ridges
- wooded slopes
- narrow valleys
- farms
- mining towns
- pasture
- small rivers
Foothill zones are often economically and strategically important because they contain both:
- upland resources
- lowland access
Branloch and the western Ashfang approaches demonstrate how foothill geography can influence settlement and travel.
11. Valleys
Valleys are among the most important inhabited mountain landforms.
They may form through:
- river erosion
- glacial carving
- faulting
- tectonic subsidence
Mountain valleys often determine:
- roads
- rivers
- settlement chains
- invasion routes
- trade corridors
A valley may remain narrow for many miles and then open suddenly into:
- basin
- plain
- confluence
- lake country
Existing narrative examples include:
- Ashrun valley
- Grimvale corridor
- Whispering Vale
The exact relationship among every named vale remains cartographically pending.
12. Basins
A basin is a region toward which surrounding terrain drains.
Basins can be:
- open
- closed
- river-drained
- lake-filled
- desert
- volcanic
- tectonic
- high-altitude
Open basins drain outward through rivers.
Closed basins do not possess an external surface outlet and may contain:
- salt lakes
- marshes
- playas
- seasonal water
Basins are essential to realistic hydrology.
The map must identify drainage divides before major river systems are finalized.
13. Passes
Mountain passes are lower crossings through major ridges.
They commonly determine:
- roads
- trade
- political borders
- invasions
- military forts
- seasonal closures
Major known passes and mountain routes include:
- Daybreak Pass
- Ancient Pass
- Rocky Pass
- pass west of Ashaford
Not every pass must remain open year-round.
High passes may close due to:
- snow
- avalanche
- landslide
- flood
- warfare
- road failure
14. Mountain Weather
Mountains alter weather.
They can produce:
- orographic rainfall
- heavy snowfall
- rain shadows
- valley fog
- downslope winds
- thunderstorms
- rapid temperature change
These relationships belong principally to Climate & Weather, but mountain placement must make them physically possible.
A major range cannot be placed without considering what happens to rainfall on both sides.
15. Glaciers and Snowfields
Glaciers exist where:
- elevation
- latitude
- snowfall
- long-term temperature
permit snow accumulation to exceed melting.
They are especially appropriate in:
- Svartrheim high country
- polar mountains
- very high temperate peaks
Glaciers create:
- meltwater
- carved valleys
- alpine lakes
- moraines
- fertile downstream sediment
They are significant contributors to major river headwaters.
16. Mountains and Settlement
Mountain settlements generally develop where geography provides:
- water
- workable terrain
- defensibility
- mineral access
- pass control
- valley agriculture
- trade access
Large populations should not be placed arbitrarily on inaccessible slopes without logistical explanation.
Mountain civilization may nonetheless become extremely developed when:
- roads
- tunnels
- engineering
- terracing
- river access
support it.
Dwarven-kind are especially capable of sustaining major mountain civilization through engineering that other peoples may find impractical.
17. Mountains and the Rootveil
Mountain systems interact strongly with the Rootveil.
Faults, fractures, caves, mines, and ancient uplift can create:
- natural entrances
- deep chambers
- mineral corridors
- subterranean rivers
- pressure zones
Dwarven delving does not create the Rootveil.
It accesses a preexisting physical deep-world system.
Mountain regions may therefore possess unusually numerous points of contact between Surface and Rootveil.
18. Mountains and Ley Lines
Ley Lines may pass through:
- ranges
- valleys
- faults
- mineral systems
but do not normally create mountains.
Long-term interaction between geology and ley may produce:
- unusual mineral growth
- magical ecosystems
- ritual sites
- instability
The Ashfang Mountains contain an established significant ley nexus.
This does not mean the entire Ashfang range is supernatural.
19. Mountain Hazards
Ordinary mountain hazards include:
- avalanche
- rockfall
- landslide
- flash flood
- glacier collapse
- severe weather
- altitude exposure
- earthquake
- volcanic activity
The risks vary according to the geology and climate of the specific range.
20. What Is Fixed
The following mountain geography is established.
Svartrheim Mountains
- major northern Primary-Continent range
- associated with Durnhollow
- major Hrukenn homeland
- snowfield and glacial drainage exists
- source region for tributaries feeding the Ashrun watershed
Bladewind Mountains
- associated with Branloch
- Thunderdelve lies within eastern mountain country
- Branloch occupies lower western valley/foothill country
Ashfang Mountains
- east of Roaringwater
- contain Daybreak Pass
- contain Dawnwatch Hold
- associated with Ashfang Region
- Grimvale/Shimmerbrook drainage descends from western Ashfang high country
Ashvault Peaks
- established mountain name
- exact placement unresolved
Tempest Horns
- established mountain system
- associated with Storm Horn Foothills
- source-control position fixed; complete range geometry pending
21. What Remains Map-Dependent
The following remain unresolved:
- exact shapes of ranges
- peak elevations
- continental tectonic relationships
- exact locations of Ashvault Peaks
- complete range envelope and ridge geometry of the Tempest Horns
- full pass network
- every highland
- every plateau
- exact snowline
- complete glacier distribution
- every watershed divide
These should be solved as part of the master topographic map.
Summary
Eldarûn possesses a physically coherent system of mountains, highlands, foothills, valleys, basins, and passes shaped primarily by ordinary geology.
The currently established major mountain systems include:
The Svartrheim Mountains form a major northern highland and hydrological source region containing Durnhollow and important Hrukenn strongholds.
The Bladewind Mountains rise east of Branloch and contain Thunderdelve.
The Ashfang Mountains dominate the eastern Roaringwater-Daybreak corridor and contain Grimvale, Daybreak Pass, and Dawnwatch Hold.
Their meltwater descends through Grimvale Run into the Shimmerbrook.
Mountain placement determines:
- river sources
- watersheds
- climate
- settlement
- roads
- passes
- natural resources
- and political geography
The governing principle is:
A mountain is not merely somewhere characters climb. It is a physical structure that reshapes the world around it.
Mountains, Highlands & Basins
Full supplied entry, including any stated canon limits and open questions.