Blakkgaarde
The largest island of The Nevermelt is also its most desirable destination for miners. Mithral can be found in abundance in its mountains and valleys.
Geography
Blakkgarde is a mostly mountainous island, with a forested southern peninsula, and a large tundra plain that splits it down the middle. Like the rest of The Nevermelt it is an arctic region, prone to sub-freezing temperatures and whiteouts. It is the largest island of the chain, and thus has the most permanent residents.
The island itself has four major distinct regions. The southern peninsula juts off from the western end of the isle, and it is the most heavily forested region. Svalshøm , the largest permanent outpost in the area is located here. It is also home of the Thinveil, a large lake permanently isolated under year-round ice cover.
The main section of the island is made up of two mountain ranges which are separated from each other by a narrow tundra plane. The western mountains, called the Icespears, are craggy and tall and the peaks are covered in permafrost and icecaps. The eastern mountains, known collectively as the Vastfreeze, tend to be smaller and less rugged by comparison, but the area is largely covered by a glacial ice shelf which makes the area practically uninhabitable, except to creatures born of cold and ice.
The tundra plain that splits the Icespears and Vastfreeze is a more forgiving environment than that of the mountains, but it still is a frozen wasteland given to blizzards and other polar hazards. The plain lies north of Bowhead Bay, a large inlet that lies just north of the island of Ekulhoff. Most mining expeditions that don't begin in Svalshøm, begin somewhere off of Bowhead Bay.
Fauna & Flora
Blakkgaarde is teeming with arctic wildlife, particularly megafauna not found anywhere else in the known world. Some of the more recognizable species of this type include:
- Brantas: horselike creatures with long necks and thick, powerful legs. The top of their heads end in two parallel nose-horns. Its neck and shoulders are corded with muscle.
- Glyptodons: enormous armadillo like creatures—if armadillos were the size of a small wagons. Their tails end in a heavy spiked club of bone.
- Megaloceroses: large, powerful deer, standing up to 7 feet tall at the shoulder with 100-pound antlers spanning 12 feet.
- Smilodons (Sabre-toothed tigers): twice as large as a lion, skilled in deadly hunting tactics, and equipped with murderous fangs, these great cats are lords of the ice.
- Tlalusks: these horselike creature have six strong legs and are covered in short white fur. A pair of curving horns and two razor-sharp tusks jut from their fearsome heads.
- Woolly Mammoths: covered in brown, shaggy fur, these elephantlike creatures have two huge, curving tusks and tower almost 15 feet tall.
- Yetis: standing taller than a hill giant, these hulking, white-furred beasts have a reputation as sinister, supernatural creatures, but they are actually little more than large carnivorous apes.
- Zeuglodons: these massive, almost serpentlike whales lurk in the Shiverwave Sea, and have been occasionally sighted between Blakkgaarde and Aetremøt .
Natural Resources
Mithral is the primary resource of Blakkegarde, and the mineral is prized by Avateynian, Ehrish, and Stoneclave smiths. Miners from all these areas and more are drawn to both of Blakkgarde's major mountain ranges, hoping to strike it rich.
History
Blakkgarde is an island of contradiction and duality. The island itself is split in half, by two distinct mountain ranges. Similarly, Blakkgaarde's history is a world of split in two. It is an ancient, prehistoric world that has been preserved into modern times, but it is concurrently seeing the dawn of a new era, of foreigners flocking to the island, drawn to the region by the promise of wealth.
Blakkgaarde was long considered a wasteland, better left to native neanderthal tribes and the dangerous wildlife of the island. In ancient times the island was visited by Frost Giant explorers, who created outposts across the Vastfreeze, in an attempt to colonize the area. These fell into ruin when the overall Frost Giant dynasty collapsed, several centuries ago. Until recently, the only non-native dwellers on the island were the Monks of Far Abbey. But when mithral was discovered in the Icespear Peaks, the course of history changed on the island forever. Miners from across Ehrethir, Avateyne, and the Stoneclave all converged on the island looking to strike their claim on the riches of the mithral deposits. Currently none of these nations have laid claim to the island, but it is likely only a matter of time before the area is contested by the great southern kingdoms. Ehrethir/Avateyne seems to have a leg-up on the competition, having established the first permanent settlement of Svalshøm on the southwestern peninsula.
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