Hellfurnaces
The Hellfurnaces are a vast and hostile range of volcanically active mountains that form a searing spine between the Crystalmist Mountains to the north and the Sea of Dust to the south. Jagged, ash-choked, and treacherously unstable, the Hellfurnaces are among the most dangerous regions in all the Flanaess. Few venture into them—and fewer return.
The Hellfurnaces are a land of fire and fury, shaped by titanic forces and ruled by creatures of flame and wrath. They are both a testament to the power of nature and a beacon for those who seek strength through fire. To enter the Hellfurnaces is to gamble with death—but also with untold arcane and elemental secrets, waiting deep in the molten dark.
Geography
The Hellfurnaces are unlike most mountain ranges in the Flanaess. They are dominated by volcanoes, lava flows, sulfuric vents, and shattered craters. The air is heavy with smoke, ash, and heat, often making breathing difficult for the unprepared.
- Rivers of molten rock crisscross the blackened slopes.
- Tremors and eruptions are frequent, causing rockslides and explosions of toxic gas.
- The sky above the range is often veiled in dark clouds, glowing red with the light of active calderas.
There are few natural passes, and those that exist are often unstable or guarded by dangerous forces.
Fauna & Flora
The Hellfurnaces are home to some of the most fearsome creatures in the Flanaess, many of them drawn to the region’s intense heat and volcanic power.
- Fire giants are a dominant force here, ruling from fortresses carved into calderas or beneath smoldering peaks. These giants maintain slave mines, forges, and warbands.
- Red dragons, ancient and powerful, claim high volcanic lairs. Their territorial disputes are brutal and often reshape the land around them.
- Salamanders, efreeti, magma mephits, and elementals of flame are frequently encountered near active lava flows or within rifts that connect to the Elemental Plane of Fire.
- Drow and derro from the Underdark exploit the range’s lower reaches for rare ores and magical materials, sometimes allying with or enslaving fire-dwelling creatures.
Natural Resources
While nearly impassable, the Hellfurnaces form a natural barrier between the central Flanaess and the desolate Sea of Dust. They are also a source of rare metals, gemstones, and magical components—when miners and prospectors survive long enough to recover them.
At times, incursions of giants, dragons, or even planar entities from the Hellfurnaces spill into the surrounding nations, particularly Keoland, Geoff, and the Ulek states, posing grave threats.
History
The Hellfurnaces are steeped in primordial magic. Ancient texts suggest that in ages past, forgotten gods of fire and earth walked these lands or were imprisoned beneath them.
- Strange ruins of pre-cataclysmic civilizations, blackened and broken, dot the cliffs and lava plains—silent witnesses to a time when this land may have been part of a greater empire or magical catastrophe.
- Some craters are said to be portals to other planes, or sites of divine wrath, where the gods once struck the earth.
Few scholars dare study these sites firsthand, though rumors persist of powerful relics hidden deep within the burning range.
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