Ulvarad

Introduction

Ulvarad is a region of dense mountains far to the north of Linea. The region played host to the culmination of the War of Liberation, which saw Olsted Albasra and his force of merchant company crew members and allied native Linean dwellers fight bravely against the tyrants that once held dominion over the continent. Since the war, the area has been irreparably damaged. This damage has given rise to its more colloquial name, the Shattered Cliffs. In modern day Linea, some dwarven clans have begun to reclaim the land as their own, using their advanced understanding of stonemasonry to fortify crumbling mountainsides and halt rockslides.

There is hidden or undocumented  knowledge to be found

In History
Much of the historical record of Ulvarad has been lost to time, but many historians agree that in the final days of the War of Liberation, Ulvarad was the final bastion of the tyrants that once ruled Linea before the Albasran Landings. The allied army of Albasrans and native dwellers swept up from the south, killing or capturing anyone who swore allegiance to those who were in power. It is said that as the allied army moved up through tyrant controlled territory, they gained more and more supporters and able fighters to their cause. By the time they reached the foothills of the peaks, they were a formidable force. The mountains themselves proved to be more dangerous than the forces that opposed the allied army. There are many stories of whole squadrons losing their lives to collapsing pathways and dangerous cliff faces. The final moments of the War are, at this point, subject to myth and legend but what is clear is the final battle caused Mount Sivned, the highest peak in Ulvarad, to completely collapse. An event which changed the landscape forever.

In the years shortly following the war, Ulvarad was too dangerous to enter. The land had become lifeless, blighted and bleak. Many Pathfinders attempted to trace the route taken by the allied army only to lose their lives as they approached the remains of Mount Sivned. Some of these early maps still survive but many are in private collections or are on display. Olsted Albasra, having named himself King by this time, established a blockade at a safe distance from the region, denying entry by anyone for their own safety.

The blockade was not always respected, with some enterprising groups of adventurers attempting to explore Ulvarad. Many of them lost their lives or simply fled, claiming they had seen horrors beyond their imagination. This only added to the mythic status that Ulvarad had earned.

The Ulvarad blockade remained until the region had been deemed safe by the Pathfinders in 28 AL. By this time, there was documented evidence of new plant life returning and some wildlife had begun to re-enter the region. As the Albasran forces abandoned the blockade, Ulvarad became a tantalising opportunity once again.

Many groups, including some Qey, attempted to reclaim Ulvarad once the blockade had been abandoned. While many groups who attempted either lost their lives to the dangerous environment or decided that the risks were not worth the reward, it was the Dwarves who proved to be resourceful enough to reclaim the land.

Dwarves
The first of the Dwarf clans entered the region in 35 AL. They possessed more skills to survive in mountainous places and this gave them the edge in retaking the region. They began by establishing bases of operation in the smaller peaks at Ulvarad’s southern border, It was in these smaller peaks that they discovered a myriad of tunnels that interlinked the mountains and made for faster transit, provided they stabilised the tunnels first.

As more tunnels were made safe, so did the Dwarves’ confidence in claiming the Shattered Cliffs as their own. Homes were built, carved into the mountainsides, families grew and cities formed. As the decades passed and the cities grew larger and more powerful, the prospect of reclaiming Mount Sivned has come into view. Up to the present day, this work remains difficult and unfinished.