The Severed Tops

Thanks to Surgey Kuydin for the gorgeous cover art!

The dense mountain range that divides eastern and western Iotura, the Severed Tops are a beautiful, broken remnant of the world before the Obsidian War. Rather than reforging the mountains of this unique range during the Reshaping, the gods left them as they were, a monument to Emaxus' survival. Tall, snow-capped peaks of grey and white stone, several significant portions of the range have been collapsed or shattered, the mountain peaks giving way to long-settled piles of rubble from destroyed mountains.
In these valleys and divots in the otherwise treacherous mountain range, life flourishes. Run off from the surrounding mountains allows for small lakes, ponds, and streams to form, and the reduced elevation and flattened land creates a hotbed for grasses and shrubbery. In some places, these little valleys are the nests of sentient life, whether it be a civilized settlement, or various harpy camps and giant villages. Even some dragons make the peaks their lairs, dominating swaths of the vast mountain range and fighting over the pockets of life and arable territory within, usually through their hobgoblin, dragonborn, or kobold servants.

The Frozen Summit

The Frozen Summit is, perhaps, inadequately named, as it is actually several peaks and even a small valley combined into a glacier-covered hellscape, forged by the frozen breath of Zerudyss himself. The region of the Severed Tops ruled by Zerudyss and his giant-reinforced armies are unwelcoming to most life, and the Frozen Summit itself is treacherous and near inhospitable. The whitish-blue, magic ice encasing the multiple square miles of mountain that encompasses the Frozen Summit is unnaturally cold, and travelers (those few who survived) describe the temperature as dropping to a numbing cold, even relative to the freezing mountains surrounding. The only break in the seemingly impenetrable ice encasing the Frozen Summit is that tunnel which leads to Gladrevan, though rumors abound that other tunnels are hidden through the Frozen Summit, created by Zerudyss should he ever need to escape his lair rapidly.

Gladrevan

Small City <> Population: 3,812 (45% dragonborn, 26% kobold, 18% half-dragon, 6% giant, 5% other)
Throne of Zerudyss, a powerful white dragon who rules a significant portion of Iotura's eastern coast, Gladrevan is a citadel built into the Frozen Summit. Zerudyss, as a white dragon, is not too keen on being a "ruler," and in fact, all of his followers which have built Gladrevan around him were not forced into servitude, but willingly offered themselves, as a means to not be hunted and butchered by the terrible scaled predator. Accessed only by way of a gaping tunnel in the heart of the valley that is central to the Frozen Summit, Gladrevan is frankly quite mysterious. Few have been bold enough to go into the heart of a white dragon's territory, especially one that has unintentionally built an empire around himself, and those few that do rarely survive, and those even fewer survivors seldom wish to speak of whatever they endured in the frozen citadel.

Government

In lieu of a true government, Gladrevan is essentially a meritocracy, albeit a primal one. Those giants, dragonborn, or other inhabitants who prove themselves as exceptional hunters, warriors, or leaders are granted special privileges by Zerudyss, who is technically the ruler but has no interest in running a city, much less an empire. And, due to their relative strength to Zerudyss' other followers, and their heightened intellect and charisma, a trio of giants have distinguished themselves as the long-time "rulers" of Gladrevan and its surrounding territory, known as the Council of Frost, which can be found described in detail in the Factions of Iotura. This Council maintains a strict grip on Gladrevan and its people, coordinating military actions, hunts, and running the city's business. Rarely does Zerudyss' wrest control from the Council, and even then only for an organized hunt he wishes to lead.

Society

Steeped in warrior/hunter culture and brutally cutthroat, the diverse creatures that constitute Gladrevan are in constant competition for everything from food and unfrozen water to prestige and honor. The easiest (and yet still brutal) path to guaranteed survival and perhaps even glory are hunts, in which bands of warriors ranging from stone giants to kobolds head out into the Severed Tops to gather food and tribute for Zerudyss. Hunters, when out and stalking, will often betray and kill one another to "bring back as tribute" for the hopes of garnering respect from Zerudyss and striking fear into any would-be betrayers themselves, but often find a knife in their back just as quickly. Because of this strength-proves-strength and blood-secures-blood mentality, giants take the top of the totem pole in Gladrevan, being the hardest to kill and the most naturally strong. It is only thanks to their rapid breeding and incredible numbers that the dragonborn, half-dragons, and kobolds of Gladrevan eke out their existence, though members of those species do, occasionally, garner a position of power within Gladrevan, usually due to cunning over brawn.

Geography

Gladrevan is entirely subterranean, buried deep beneath the Frozen Summit and the Severed Tops. Accessed only by tunnel, the entire city varies from small tunnels in which only kobolds find refuge, to vast, chiseled caverns of stone and ice in which giants carve homes into the walls while the kobolds, dragonborn, and half-dragons create vast spawning pits.

The Pools of Life

The most welcoming locale in all of the Severed Tops, the Pools of Life are the springs from which the beginnings of the Iotruyla River sprouts. Nestled on all sides by the mountains of the Severed Tops save a small crevasse through which water flows out, the Pools of Life are a sacred grove of small trees and brush crisscrossed by small streams and pools. The pure, cool water that flows from the dozens of springs condensed in the Pools of Life is considered among the strongest bases for healing potions in the world, and many druids consider it essentially a holy water. No permanent residency is allowed in the Pools, for fear of tainting that which feeds the many settlements along the Iotruyla River, including Yathra Silthame itself, but a small group of druids known as the Eldar maintain vigil over the Pools, to ensure they are protected from those who would seek to poison them.
Healing potions brewed from water obtained in the Pools of Life have their potency increased by 50% and its rarity increased by a tier. For example, a potion of healing crafted in the Pools of Life would instead heal for 6d4 and have a rarity of uncommon.

Religions:
Majority: Isael, draconic idols
Minority: Yamma

Imports: Cloth, timber, grain
Exports: Stone, precious metals, rare ores

Type

Region