Point Nor
Point Nor is a sharp, solitary mountain rising from the barrow-strewn hills of northern Brannach, visible from miles across the lowlands like a stone spear thrust toward the sky. It is not the tallest peak in Othvarand, but it is heavily feared. The surrounding hills are known to locals as the Winding Bones, a name drawn from both their shape and the remains often found within them.
The mountain has long been quiet, cloaked in mists and ancient superstitions. Shepherds and hill-folk tell stories of doors appearing on the stones, laughter in the wind, and lights that dance along its slopes during stormless nights. The old road that once led to its base has been swallowed by thorns.
But in recent months, Point Nor has begun to smoke. Faint plumes drift from its jagged crown, grey by day and ruddy by night. No tremor shakes the valleys, and no fire spills down its flanks, yet the air around it has grown warm and bitter, and birds no longer nest in the eaves of its cliffs.
Duke Mernac has issued no formal decree, but local knights have been seen riding patrols near the old boundaries, and scribes have begun collecting testimony from villages nearby. Gossip in Cenmarche speak of ancient treasure, forbidden rites, and something waking from within the mountain.
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