Tannhauser Gate

Tannhauser Gate is a pass though the western Dragonspine Mountains, near the head waters of the Drakenburg River. While the pass is usable the area is almost continually covered is mist and snow flurries and is generally regarded as being fairly inhospitable.

The Tannhauser Gate is a pass though the mountains to the north of Drakenburg near the western border of Aquila. This pass is less than a mile wide but it several thousand feet lower than the surrounding peak.

Norns may also be occasionally sighted in the region.

Places of Interest

Tannhauser Gate

The pass, known as Tannhauser Gate, runs approximately north-south and it literally cuts though the mountain range, with walls over a mile high and almost vertical. The pass is little over 600 feet wide and around 800 feet long, with almost no impediments along its path, save snow drifts. To the west is a low mountain with gentle slopes and a rather flat peak, know as the Iron Mound. To the east is a much high peak, which consists of a series of black rock shards covered in ice, known as the Frozen Spire.

Yellow Mountain Lotus Monastery

Built on the eastern side of the Iron Mound, facing the pass, is a ageing fortress. Located slightly south of the ridge line, the fortress has a large tower in the middle of the western wall, with the main gate leading into a rectangular courtyard to the east. The main gate itself is in ruins and the watch tower on the north eastern corner is missing, presumed destroyed. Instead there is a tree there, its leafless branches black with veins of blue ice. It is currently the home of Yin-Tang commune, who's leader is known as Wu Fang.

Around 800WK the Monastery disappeared, leaving a swirling patch of cosmic instability that eventually evaporated into large, perfectly even, bowl. Over time this filled with water that eventually froze solid. Then in 817WK the Monastery reappeared on the peak of the Iron Mound. The plane of origin of the Monastery and the surrounding gardens is that of the Monastery of Ying-Tang.

Trying to enter the area by any means other than the mundate is considered to be suicidal and it rumoured to result in being trapped, fatally, in a zero width dimension. Any magic, especially cast, is subject to random effects across the the boundary of the plane, but stored magic, provided it is not animated in any way, will be left unaffected.

The Monastery plane shifts, appearing on Alusia for two pulses only, just before midday until just after midday. The remaining time it exists on the plane on Kanlaoise near Highvale in the Steel Mountains. People sufficiently Astrally Aware can see its alternative shadow and with enough Awareness can enter or leave whenever the please.

Spire Palace

Built into the western face of the Frost Spire is a palace of fluting towers and minerettes. Seen from across the pass, its base is at the top of the pass and it climbs high into the misty peaks, with delicate ramps and bridges leading from piazzas to gardens. The entire palace is currently entombed in ice.

Headstreams Valleys

South of the Frost Ice is a series of shallow valleys, each with a stream running down the centre of them. The streams join together in a series of bifications to form the head waters of the Drakenburg River. The shallow nature of the valleys enables their slopes to receive considerable sunshine. In recent years a number of adventurous human families have migrated into the valleys, and there is now a small village, locally known as Seven Streams Village.

Seven Streams Village

This small wooden walled village is little more than an extended collection of farmsteads and has very little in the way of hospitality, with no inn and no local shops. The village does however have a blacksmith, who also is an adequate leatherworker.

Inhabitants

Bitter Chill Ogres

• Ranging over the Iron Mound are the Bitter Chill ogres. Adapted for the cold, these ogres are known to be mildly hostile but limited in number. They often raid the foothills for food but generally do not range than a day's march from the pass.

Cold Steel Dwarves

• The Cold Steel dwarves have a number of settlements around the south slopes of the Iron Mound. They are not immediately hostile to travellers, and will trade with people, but are extremely unwelcoming and do not allow visitors to stay in their villages.

Frost Bite Spiders

• The Frost Bite Spiders also inhabit the region, mostly around the Frozen Spire. These transluscent white/blue creatures can grow to around six feet wide at the body, giving a total width of almost 20 feet. The often weave webs across the pass and the Frozen Spire is roped in webs. However the largest of these spiders are rarely seen.

Myafin Norns

• The Norns of the North are occasionally seen in the area, and are known to be on good terms with both the dwarves and the ogres, but rarely visit the Headstream Valley.

Frost Drakes

The only known sighting reports them to be around 20 feet in length with a flying movement of over 15 miles per hour. They are long lived sentients and known to cast at least some Ice college spells.