Icereach Locations
The region to the far south of Ansalon is known as Icereach, a vast icy wasteland sparsely populated by civilized races and avoided entirely by the unprepared. Once the lands to the south were known as Kharlan, and were surrounded by the Shipwreck Coast which led out into the South Courrain Ocean which wrapped around the south of the entire continent. Summersbane Island hosted the lighthouse that guided ships through the area, and the polar region of Icereach lay 200 miles to the south. Now Icereach is right on the southern border of Ansalon, and all of the lands that used to be the southern coast and Summerbane have been overtaken by a mountainous glacier of ice. Most of what has been Icereach for three hundred years is Icewall, the glacier that has overtaken the southern sea and stretches from the west to the east coast of Ansalon. Its peak rising 1000ft above sea level, the top of the glacier is much like the lands at its feet – frozen wastes as far as the eye can see with very few features breaking up the landscape or offering shelter from the relentless snowstorms that batter the area.
Prior to the Cataclysm, much of this area was the southern coast of Ansalon, and in it stood Summerbane Castle, the home of the elven mage Feal-Thas who had been exiled from Silvanesti for choosing the black robes of Nuitari. When the Cataclysm struck, the continent shifted south and the waters of the Turbidus Ocean washed over the region and froze, creating the great Icewall Glacier and lifting Summersbane Castle up onto it’s high ridge. The Kharolian people who once lived on these lands slowly retuned after, and became the Ice folk known as the Arktos. Feal-Thas was in his castle when the Cataclysm struck, and managed to keep it and himself intact. Having arrived bearing treasures from the Tower of High Sorcery that he charged with protecting from a foreseen disaster, Feal-Thas rode out the Cataclysm, and then continued to reside atop the glacier until the rise of the Dragon Empire, at which point he allied himself with Emperor Ariakas and the Dragonarmies. Promised a chance to avenge himself against the Silvanesti people, Feal-Thas became the white wing Highlord, and white dragons started to move into the region.
More commonly known to other peoples of the north as the Icefolk, the Arktos are the more friendly of the two human societies who make their home in Icereach. They tend to be red haired, short in stature and fairly stocky in build, their skin quite often weathered from long days in biting colds and strong winds. They are primarily a nomadic people, establishing camps and moving with the seasons to find betters places to catch fish either along the shore or through cracks in the ice. The Arktos Icefolk are known to be brave and valiant warriors, famed for their blades of magical ice and the swift ice-boats they use to sail across the ice and snow of the southern lands. They are generally thought to be unwelcoming of strangers, but some claim to have met them peacefully and traded for fish, furs and weapons, though the primary resource the Icefolk seem to have is peat, mined from beneath the ice. This can act as a reliable fuel, so traders sometimes make the trips down to barter for some as it can fetch a decent price in the north. The Icefolk also trade away a powerful spirit they brew from potatoes that is as clear as water. Each tribe lives in easily collapsible huts of animal skin and furs, and is governed by a singular powerful chieftain by inheritance, advised by a revered cleric who also holds the secret of crafting the Frostreavers.
The second human population of Icereach make villages in the glacier itself, carving structures out of the side of the ice wall. Culturally they are very similar to the Arktos, except that rather than moving in nomadic groups, these peoples establish permanent villages These groups are far less friendly than the Arktos however, and keep all outsiders away, refusing to meet or to trade. As such their true name is not known to the outside world.