A vast mountain range spanning the northern Westwilds from coast to interior, the Krenglelan forms a natural barrier between the frozen Northlands and the temperate regions to the south. Its peaks are weathered granite and dark basalt, its valleys choked with ancient forest. The range is both a border and a world unto itself—home to things that predate human settlement and prefer to remain undisturbed.
Geography
The Krenglelan stretches roughly east-west across the Westwilds, with the massive Everwood forest blanketing its southern slopes and valleys. North of the range lies scrubland transitioning to tundra; south lies the forest belt that eventually gives way to the Piktiniti Desert. Several passes allow travel through the mountains, though all are arduous and some are actively dangerous.
The western peaks are the highest and most remote, fading into coastal cliffs that overlook the sea toward the Western Isles. The eastern end descends gradually into the Tenekee Woods and the vast Walking Forest beyond.
Quiet Mountain
The central peak of the Krenglelan Range, and the one travelers learn to avoid. Quiet Mountain is unnaturally, hungrily silent.
Sound doesn't simply fail to carry on the upper slopes—it is consumed. Speak above a certain elevation and your voice vanishes mid-word. Avalanches fall in eerie muteness. Birds don't sing there; they've learned not to waste the effort.
The silence is not natural. Something beneath or within Quiet Mountain absorbs vibration—a fragment of primordial Void that fell during the world's creation, some scholars believe. The Void hungers for the energy of sound, and the mountain is where it feeds. Those who stay too long report feeling "thinned," as if their own vitality is being consumed along with their words.
The Postronamas knew about Quiet Mountain. Their pillar-network forms an arc that carefully avoids pointing toward it, and some scholars believe this was deliberate—either to avoid the Void-shard's interference or to prevent their resonance magic from feeding it further. The mountain's relationship to the maddening crystal-music of the Piktiniti remains a subject of debate among those few who study such things.
Pilgrims occasionally climb seeking enlightenment through perfect silence. Most descend changed, hollowed, speaking in whispers for the rest of their lives. Some don't descend at all.
The Everwood
A vast forest stretching across the Krenglelan's southern slopes and into the lowlands beyond, detailed in its own entry. The Everwood is a single massive organism that cannot die or decay, creating unique and dangerous conditions within its bounds.
Ipt
On the western side of the Krenglelan Range, north of the Everwood and along a major trade route, stands Ipt—a formidable fortress built for Feriptus, an extremely powerful lich. The fortress serves as his primary research facility, where he conducts necromantic experiments in complete isolation.
Ipt is built into the mountainside with tall, iron-reinforced stone walls and heavy defensive wards that notify Feriptus of any approaching visitors. The fortress is supplied through a grim arrangement: a personal Enti trader makes bi-yearly trips south to acquire slaves, delivering fresh bodies for Feriptus's dark work. Despite its location along a trade route, travelers give Ipt a wide berth, knowing that those who approach uninvited rarely leave.