Mount Nyid
Mount Nyid and its sister Mount Nirka are sprawling volcanoes that lay within the land of Arak, Mount Nyid at its centre and Mount Nirka on its northern frontier with Darkon. They and their land were subsumed by Darkon as part of the Great Upheaval in 740 BC. The mountains rumbled back to life from presumed extinction in 750 BC at the moment of the Requiem - the destruction of Il Aluk, the decapitation of Darkon, and the 'birth' of Necropolis - whether in celebration or sympathy. Activity thus far has been limited to minor tremors and sulfurous plumes of smoke. The risk run in exploring the many lava tubes, mine tunnels, and mine shafts that riddle the two mountains has no doubt increased tremendously. The peaks used to stand side by side, but they appear to have grown apart, with the Mountains of Misery being anchored by Mount Nirka in the southeast and Mount Nyid in the northwest. Mount Nyid soars to a tremendous height of 9530 feet. Perhaps Mount Grysl and Mount Makab once rivaled Mount Nyid for the title of the highest peak in the Land of Mists. But they and the land of Bluetspur have vanished. Mount Nyid is the source of the Dnar River.
All life on Mount Nyid and indeed all life across the face of Arak was eradicated in 588 BC by a sandstorm of unprecedented ferocity that scoured the land clean in an event recorded as the Scourge of Arak. A century and a half later Mount Nyid and its environs remained a blasted, rocky wasteland. Even today no trees are to be found on the mountain. At lower elevations tenacious grasses, spike plants, and low shrubs have made some inroads. As for fauna mundane and monstrous, it consists chiefly of vast swarms of bats, spiders of all sizes, and ettercaps.
The proof that the surface of Mount Nyid and its environs were inhabited by civilised races prior to 588 BC are the mines. There are also dwarves in Tempe Falls and gnomes in Mayvin whose fathers left to carve out those mines over a century and a half ago after Darkon appeared on Arak's northern frontier in 579 BC. Miners returning to Darkon brought stories of strange temporal fugues. One might spend a week underground and return to the surface to discover that only a day had passed. Stories were also told of the native inhabitants of Arak. The Arakians were humans who herded sheep and goats, but were also themselves miners. They warned the dwarves and gnomes not to dig too deep. Equally, they tried to impress upon their northern guests their abject fear of the hours of the night when the Sneeuane Feallagh ("Gossamer Folk") would swarm up from the kingdom of Niurin Scaa ("Shadow Nether") to devour the souls of mortal men. The dwarves began to believe in the existence of these beings whom they took to be a race of dark elves.
The Scourge of Arak did not harm life far beneath the surface of the land. Yet when the shadow fey emerged from their hidden kingdom of Niurin Scaa it was to survey their loss. The surface dwelling Arakians, who had been an excellent diversion from the ennui of eternity, were no more. Fortunately, others came to the land of the Arak. There were dwarves and gnomes seeking lost kin. There were looters and treasure seekers too. Those who failed to quit the land before dark risked being carried off as play things of the Arak. As the flow of visitors to Arak shrank, a visitor's risk of being buried alive under miles of stone grew. Until it became accepted wisdom in Darkon and later in Nova Vaasa and Tepest that anyone who dared the hours of the night in their unwanted neighbour would end up entombed without a trace beneath its stone.
In 740 BC, as part of the Great Upheaval, Niurin Scaa and the Sneeuane Feallagh were dragged away to the southwest by Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend. The land of Arak ceased to be and the Land of the Mists tore open beyond Tepest. The Shadow Rift, sealed by roiling black mist, was the new land of the Arak. The old land of the Arak was annexed to Darkon, a fact of which perhaps only its Darklord, Azalin Rex, was initially aware. But the consequences could not go unnoticed for long. Desperate men discovered that to spend the night in the Mountains of Misery was dangerous but no longer tantamount to suicide. Individuals who returned told tales of having been beset by things other than fey creatures. Shadow fey incursions into the countryside beyond the frontiers of their former home all but ceased, which did the Tepestani no good at all for the most trustworthy fracture from the Shadow Rift proved to be in Tepest. The reputation of the Mountains of Misery for being haunted by the fey was gradually eclipsed by a reputation for being haunted by the dead. The bravest of dwarven and gnomish miners return to Mount Nyid and her sister. Darkon began work on the Strigos Road which will start just east of Tempe Falls, cut through both the Mountains of Misery at the foot of Mount Nyid's western flank and the Forgotten Hills, and reach its terminus in Liara. And the Mountains of Misery became a hideout for the most wanted or reclusive of men.
In 752 BC, Mount Nyid became home to the shadow dragon Ebb. Her departure from Avernus, which she had guarded in the absence of Azalin Rex, could not have gone unmarked. And her presence about the Mountains of Misery would be remarked soon enough. She focused her efforts then on a deadly deception. Mount Nyid is home to not one but rather two shadow dragons. It may be presumed that they made short work of the dwarves] and gnomes.
Mount Nyid has also become a favourite haunt of the Dark Delvers in their quest for knowledge hidden beneath the earth. The organisation has managed to negotiate a constructive relationship with Ebb whom they mistook briefly for their Hated Mother. Perhaps she finds them amusing. Or perhaps they are as children to her and she is feeling motherly.
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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Ravenloft Third Edition - p116 | |
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Realm of Terror - poster map |
