Nardweg

The Country
Nardweg is the northern most country on Issylra, mostly inhabited by Goliaths. More than half of its landmass consists of mountains, and the only flatlands is a valley that spend the entire center. It houses both its official capital, Vinterloft (also called Winter's Reach), as well as the unofficial capital of the orcs Gratz. It is also home to the only known city on Exandria to primarily be inhabited by devils, Xiphos, which mainly serves as an embassy between the material plane and the nine hells.

The climate is one of perpetual winter, with frequent storms and heavily snowfall, forcing its inhabitants to build its cities in the mountaints or near moving water unable to freeze. There are very few large settlements, and only its capital boasts more than 100.000 people.

The land is rich in natural ressources, primarily various ores, but the harsh climate makes farming and regular sources of food hard to come by. Instead the native Goliaths have cultivated plants that are able to live in the rocky terrain of the mountains, and mantain enormous wildlife reserves for them to have a steady source of meat.

Because of its climate and impassable terrain most official trade routes end at Frostwolf Port, and as such Vinterloft do not get many visitors. This makes its citizens weary of outsiders, but otherwise they are usually welcoming. Reflecting the nature of the land, they are a hearty folk, where your skills in labor are higly valued.

The former High Chieftan of Nardweg attempted to expand their territories several hundred years ago, in order to claim farmland for the country, but ended up defeated and forced into a truce, where they were tasked with keeping the border to Othanzia safe from devils and orcs.

Notable Locations
Dreadhowl Isle - A large island north of Nardweg, which used to house a human mining settlement, but has since fallen to undead corruption. So far it has been left alone, in the hopes that it would be quarantined to the island.

Frozen Planes - The enormous valley with vast frozen lakes. It is usually recommended to stay on official traderoutes that are patrolled by Vinterloft vanguards, since all manners of beasts and creatures inhabit the planes. Anything that can survive the climate is usually not to be tampered with

Crystal Chasm  - A maze of connecting tunnels under the ice of the eastern most frozen lake, Frostmirror Basin, leading to the city of Xiphos, which lies under the ice nestled under the roots of the mountain range.