Muspelheim

Character

Flame is pure, cleansing, and sterile: those who purge themselves in fire grow strong. The weak burn, the impure burn, the strong survive.

Power

Surtr. The god of the fire giants visits Muspelheim often, and the realm is on generally friendly terms with the powers of the Plane of Elemental Fire. Many mature conduits lead from Muspelheim to the plane of Fire: the most commonly used conduits lead to the Smoking Hammer Shrine of Sunr in the City of Brass and to the Suhkteh Albarrana (Burnt Fortress), an outpost on the frontier of the efreet empire where fire giants often serve as mercenaries.

Description

Muspelheim's ground rolls toward a ridge of fiery mountains at the highest point of the earthberg. This range is called the Serpent's Spine, for the earthberg does snake through the sky like the World Serpent. The Spine is home to most of the clans of the giants, and few of its passes are unguarded. There's dozens of watchtowers and citadels that defend choke-points, such as passes and narrows, against other giants. Just below the highest point lies the land of the Golden Mist, one of the few fertile grounds in Muspelheim. The giant farmers (if anyone can believe such nonsense) are said to cultivate the Golden Mist valley, growing fireweed, verdobba, and a variety of black, edible wood. A few knights who say they've seen the inside of the Serpent Spine halls and towers say that the mountains are the homes of all giantish riches, and the Throne of the Gods, as well. Don't believe it, berk.    The only liquid in Muspelheim is the "water" of the Lake of Lead, a dull silvery body of molten metal where the giants drown their criminals. How the giants determine which of them are criminals and which are innocent is their business, and confusing business, surely.    The Spire of Surtr is a towering needle of dark stone supported more by giantish magic than by stonecraft. The Spire is tended by soft, devout giant maidens from Muspelheim and elsewhere. The maidens are often the targets of bridal raids, when fire giants seek to steal brides by force, and the Spire's called the Wedding Spire as often as not. Some giants go recruiting leatherheaded primes to help them in their raids: these gulls usually wind up dead and rarely get the riches promised to them, since the giants are quick to blame their volunteers if anything goes wrong.

Principal Towns

Njarlok is the only town of any size in Muspelheim, a small village of gigantic huts and carefully shaped lava. The town is ruled by Svaling-Oren the Fair, a vain fire giant hardened by the struggle to hold onto his power (Male fire giant/Cleric 7). Svaling-Oren's bearded face is lined with cunning; greed has replaced bloodlust in his heart. Njarlok's primary goods are obsidian jewelry, a form of volcanic aquamarine found nowhere else, and a stone plow much admired by the giants in Jotunheim. More often, though, the giants go raiding into Asgard. Vanaheim, or Alfheim for what they need, rather than going through all the trouble of working, haggling, selling their wares, and then buying what they need.

Special Conditions

Visitors suffer fire damage as they would on the Plane of Elemental Fire, though Muspelheim does have breathable air. The flames of Muspelheim come in a wide variety of colors corresponding to their general heat and damage potential. Black flame is mild, causing a mere 1d6 fire damage per round to an unprotected visitor. Red, orange, and yellow flames are the most common regions, and inflict 2d6 fire damage per round. Blue and purple flames inflict 3d6 fire damage per round, and the rare green fire does 4d6, though it also hardens the skin of any creature that can stand its tempering flame for one hour, increasing it's unarmored AC by 1, up to a maximum of 14. White flame does 7d6 per round and blinds creatures without adequate protection from its searing light (a darkness spell or the equivalent).    The effects of fire aren't all bad. Weapons of wounding and sharpness don't function here; the wounds they inflict are cauterized as soon as they are inflicted, so their magic is nullified. Frost Brands are likewise useless.    Spells that create any amount of water act like combined fireball and shatter spells, releasing concussive blasts of supercharged steam in a 10-foot radius per spell level. The noise can be heard for miles, and often brings packs of hell hounds or a patrol of fire giants to investigate.

Principal Non-Player Characters

Fire giants are the only Norse race that much care for the burning land, so they are its undisputed rulers. Travelers can reach Muspelheim by passing through interplanar corridors in certain volcanic regions in Asgard.    Crazy Ingmar is a barmy frost giant who thinks he's a fire giant. He's also convinced that all Muspelheim is an open book of arcane secrets, and he hopes to wrest the knowledge of the fire giants by watching the flames to divine the secrets. Ingmar wears a ring of fire resistance that keeps him comfortable, and he wears a perfect bearskin cloak of white polar bear fur. He is always accompanied by an old and loyal wolf named Rednose. The wolf is still tenacious, suspicious, and stubborn. He's old enough to have lost his howl, and he mopes when he hears a pack howling in the distance. At all other times he is alert for danger to his master — without Rednose, Ingmar would have perished long ago.    The Forges of Surtr are the largest, loudest, and most important blacksmithing site in Muspelheim. The Forges themselves are enormous, with bellows the size of taverns, anvils the size of oxcarts, and entire forests turned to charcoal to feed the flames. All the giantish races depend on it for weapons and armor. The Forgemaster of the Surtr's Beard Foundry is the overseer of a huge contingent of slaves, most of them taken in raids against Asgard, Nidavellir, or Arborea. His name is Glammad the Noisy, and his task would be overwhelming for any lesser creature. To meet the demand for armaments. Glammad rules with an iron fist, breaking new slaves to his will with a combination of fire, broken bones, and rings of regeneration. Disobedient slaves either learn quickly or die under his hand.

Services

Other than cheap cremation, Muspelheim doesn't offer much. Its obsidian is first-rate, its fires are useful to a few mages and smiths, but most of Muspelheim is abandoned because it has few veins of workable metal, little arable ground, and almost no game. Despite all this, the giants somehow cling to life, forging weapons for Ragnarok, raiding their neighbors, and waiting for the onset of Fimbulwinter and the day foretold for them to storm the walls of Asgard. They've settled in for a long wait, so they don't do much in a hurry. Even Ysgard's most bloodthirsty bashers are content to let them keep their chunk of burning rock.