Deathsmog Mountain

 

History

 

Reign of Fire

In a time when elves were newcomers, the great dragons were staking their claims to the world. It is said that the dread wyrm Ivrumitxeros was spawned in the heart of the mountain, that he began his ambitious career by eating each of his clutch mates, and that every fire drake from the Smoking Peaks to the Northrange mountains was of his lineage. The old dragon gathered treasure by tribute from ancient tribes and his own offspring. That which wasn't given was taken by force, and he is known to have devoured his own descendants, taking their hoards for himself, when they displeased him. Throughout this time, it is believed that the Red Tyrant kept several lairs, and despite no credible record of ever lairing in Deathsmog Mountain, he is said to have suffered none to approach it.  

The Dragon Crisis

According to legend, when the Chromatic Dragon sends an avatar to Esweon, it erupts forth from Deathsmog Mountain in a cloud of fire and toxic gas. It may be then that some village near the Smoking Peaks was the first to see her return to the world at the beginning of the crisis. Sadly no such village remains, if indeed if ever existed. Instead, it was the Stonehome dwarves who reported sighting the queen of dragons in the mountains, sending word to their kin in the Hammerfist Holds and Vor Daruhl to the south, and Ostwild and the Dwarfmarch to the east. From this, historians can roughly date the beginning of the crisis to 956 SA 5, but it's likely that the plot had been in motion for quite some time before the dwarves had their sighting.  

The Battle of Deathsmog Mountain

The Mountain has of course solidified its importance in modern memory as the infamous site of the climactic, battle against the cult and armies of the Chromatic Dragon. It was in this battle that the Dragonguard had proven their quality to the world, for with their allies, they had slain more than a dozen dragons and pressed the attack against the assembled hordes of cultists, orc mercenaries, and the warriors of the Dragonbrood Isles whose clans had given themselves over to the service of the cult's ambitions. Among their triumphs were the destruction of the great wyrms Ivrumitxeros and Caludaarum the Younger. Though the battle was tremendously important and the largest of the entire crisis, it was not the end of the conflict, as the intervening years were spent hunting down and bringing to justice the cult's remaining leadership, allies, and powerful servants.