The Steadfast Mountains form the western spine of Thorum, the northernmost of the Widebarrow states. More severe than the central section of the range—which belongs to Dern—the Steadfast peaks rise steeply, hold snow well into summer, and offer few reliable crossings. Travelers approaching Thorum from the west must find one of a handful of narrow passes, all of them weather-dependent and none of them comfortable.
The name is old and its origin debated. The most common account holds that early settlers, who had survived a crossing that destroyed half their party, named the range for the quality they believed had saved them—steadfastness, in the face of stone that refused to yield. A drier tradition says the mountains were simply never observed to change, unlike the shifting lowlands further north, and the name stuck as description rather than tribute.
Below the permanent snowline, the Steadfast slopes yield a grey-veined stone common throughout the Widebarrow but especially dense here. Small quarrying operations work the lower faces; the material goes into construction across Thorum's highland towns, and the dark grey stone is a recognizable mark of the region's buildings.