Etc 1 is a broad, sparsely settled mountain borderland where frozen passes connect distant peoples and strange lights ripple across the winter sky. Its scattered valleys support herders, miners, and devout communities centered on the Lantern Covenant. High magic makes the landscape both useful and treacherous: old shrines can shelter travelers, while auroral storms twist familiar paths. Whoever controls the passes can influence trade, faith, and the uneasy peace between neighboring powers.
Cultures
The Lantern Covenant blends communal worship with strict winter survival customs.
Ridge households preserve kinship law and seasonal herding traditions.
Border traders carry customs from the warmer southern valleys.
Places
4 settlements
Large · Pass townMarket Station 4Primary trade hubA busy exchange post where caravans hire guides and negotiate passage.
Medium · Mining campPass Camp 9Mining and supply centerA rough, expanding camp split between miners and merchants.
Medium · Fortified villageValley Post 2Food store and refugeA walled community that stores grain and shelters travelers through winter.
Small · Shrine settlementShrine Station 6Religious and travel stopPilgrims maintain its lanterns, while wardens watch the surrounding trail.
How they spread
PatternMost communities occupy sheltered valleys, warm springs, and defensible approaches to the passes. Isolated camps appear seasonally near mines and grazing grounds.
The Southroad climbs from the foothills to Market Station 4.
The Glacier Track links northern camps to the eastern passes.
The Three-Fork Trail follows waterways between herding valleys.
Dangers and hooks
3 threats
Most dangerous · SevereAurora WraithsSupernatural predatorsThey appear during magical storms and stalk isolated travelers.
Whiteout PacksHighWildlife
Predatory beasts roam the high passes through the long winter.
Pass RaidersModerateHuman raiders
Small bands exploit closures and disputed patrol boundaries.
Hazards of the land
Avalanches triggered by noise or unstable magic
Thin ice over deep crevasses
Sudden auroral storms that distort direction
Plot hooks
1
The Moving TrailMystery and explorationA marked route has begun shifting each night, and caravans vanish near a familiar ridge.Starts: The gatehouse at Market Station 4Reward: A reliable pass map and a Covenant favor
2
Below the Eighth MarkDungeon investigationSurvey Company 8 has uncovered a sealed chamber beneath its newest mine, and the workers refuse to return.Starts: The mine office at Pass Camp 9Reward: A share of recovered ore or a magical crystal
3
The Unlit ShrineReligious crisisA shrine lantern has gone dark, weakening the protective lights that guide travelers through a blizzard-prone pass.Starts: The Lantern Covenant's nearest valley shrineReward: Sanctuary rights and a warding charm
4
A Pass DividedIntrigueA rival council accuses the Pass Wardens 3 of secretly selling safe passage to raiders.Starts: A public hearing at a valley council hallReward: Local allies and authority to cross guarded routes
The land
Climate and ground
ClimatePolar and severe, with long dark winters, brief bright summers, and sudden whiteouts.
TerrainA rugged mountain borderland of steep ridges, glacial basins, narrow valleys, and high passes.
Biomes
Alpine tundra, Glacier fields, Wind-scoured pine stands, Subarctic scree slopes
Waters and borders
Waterways
Meltwater Run, Coldglass River, Three-Fork Torrent
Borders
A southern forested foothill belt
The western frost plain
The eastern Crown Range
A northern ice shelf and broken highlands
On the road
Passes may close without warning under drifting snow.
Covenant shelters offer warmth but expect service or offerings.
Magical lights can reveal safe routes or lure travelers toward crevasses.
Landmarks
A ring of standing stones that hums beneath auroras
A blue glacier containing visible ruins
A hot spring terrace used as a neutral meeting ground
A pass marked by hundreds of weathered lanterns
Landforms
Knife-edged mountain ridges
Glacier-carved basins
Basalt cliffs
Sheltered hanging valleys
Resources
Iron ore
Hardwood from sheltered pine stands
Fur-bearing game
Glacial crystals with magical properties
Power
Rule
GovernmentA loose league of valley councils, pass wardens, and influential Covenant assemblies.
SeatAuthority rotates among the largest valley councils, with Covenant elders holding a separate voice.
StabilityUneasy but functional, threatened by rival claims to mines and sacred ground.
Laws
Travelers must register weapons and cargo at guarded passes.
Breaking a marked sanctuary seal is treated as sacrilege.
Any community may demand labor for emergency snow clearance.
Factions
Lantern CovenantReligious order
Influence: Strong in valley communities and spiritual sites.Maintain shrines, control access to high-altitude rites, and expand the Covenant's influence.
Pass Wardens 3Border militia
Influence: Respected among local councils and guides.Keep the passes open while limiting taxes and outside military interference.
Survey Company 8Merchant consortium
Influence: Growing near mine camps and trade posts.Secure mineral rights and establish a permanent route through the northern heights.
Faiths
Lantern Covenant
Influence: Dominant in settled valleys and respected by travelers.Communal lantern rites, protection from winter spirits, and guidance through darkness.
Stone-Breath Tradition
Influence: Strong among herders and isolated ridge families.Reverence for mountain ancestors and the endurance of the living landscape.
High Sky Observance
Influence: Small but influential among scouts and pass guides.Austere devotion to the stars as witnesses and navigational guides.
People and trade
Who lives here
How manySparse overall, with concentrated communities in sheltered valleys and defended passes.
WealthPoor in most upland communities, with modest prosperity at the main passes.
Work
Metal mining, Herding and woolwork, Passage guiding
Exports
Iron ore, Furs, Salted meat
Imports
Grain, Lamp oil, Medicinal herbs
Markets
Market Station 4, Pass Camp 9
History and secrets
Etc 1 has long served as a difficult crossing between colder highlands and southern valleys. Small communities endured through herding, mining, and mutual aid, while the Lantern Covenant grew into a regional force around its shrines. Recent surveys revealed valuable ore and mapped safer routes, drawing merchants and prospectors into old disputes over land, sacred places, and control of the passes.
Key events
Early settlement
The First SheltersSurvivors from the southern valleys established winter shelters around naturally warm springs.
Covenant era
The Lantern OathsA series of strange auroras inspired the Covenant's rites and united several isolated communities.
Recent decades
The Eighth SurveySurveyors mapped the principal passes, prompting a rush for ore and a dispute over local rights.
Secret 1 · GM only
The Covenant's oldest sanctuary was built over a mechanism that shapes the region's auroras.Found by: The blue glacier reveals a doorway during brief summer melt.If found: The buried structure contains an ancient device that can redirect magical storms.
Secret 2 · GM only
The original map records a border that predates the current valley councils and grants the Covenant broad rights.Found by: Compare the survey marks with the stones surrounding the hot spring terrace.If found: The councils may lose their claims to several mines, while an old boundary dispute reignites.
Secret 3 · GM only
Something ancient is trapped below the standing-stone ring and answers the Covenant's rites.Found by: Listen for a second heartbeat beneath the humming standing stones.If found: Waking the presence could provide a powerful ally or unleash a threat beneath the ridges.
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