Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder or 5e for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This time we head to the mountains and the Cragcrown Pathway, and discover something unusual.
Cragcrown Pathway
The Cragcrown Pathway is a group of 4 mountains that reach far into the sky, well beyond the ability of mortal eyes to see, stretching seemingly infinitely into the heavens. Of course, people know that this can’t be true and that they’re only 6 miles tall. Impressive and majestic certainly, but not unnaturally so.
However, that is not the case.
The beautiful, if desolate, mountains are home to all manner of strange creatures that keep the casual observer from checking them out in detail. However, even from a distance, the russet-and-rust-colored mountains stand out from the area around them, exuding a majesty that far exceeds other mountains. Importantly, there is no snow capping the mountains, despite the impressive height.
Lay of the Land
Cragcrown Pathway is not a group of 4 mountains, in spite of their appearance. They are in fact, gigantic roots from the world-tree Yggdrasil — so massive that it is impossible for mortal minds to comprehend them as anything other than a group of mountains. The roots are made of stone, just like a mountain would be, as the extraplanar material of the tree is affected by the shared beliefs of mortals of your world. They’re filled with iron and easily mined by those willing to brave the dangerous creatures of the place. However, to those who know the truth, the Cragcrown Pathway is far more important for where it leads, as those who can climb the mountain can make their way up to the tree itself, and from there, they can make it further into the Planes, and from there into infinity. Of course, it’s dangerous to travel in this manner, but to those who are powerful enough, but who don’t have access to the planar-travel magic, this is a great option.
Dangers
Any extraplanar creature can be encountered in the Cragcrown Pathway area, but they’re usually under an illusory disguise created by Yggdrasil itself. This isn’t always the case, and no one knows what determines if any particular creature will be covered in a disguise or not, but for the most part, it is safest to assume that anyone you meet on the Cragcrown Pathway is more powerful, bigger, and meaner than you. Beyond that, the barriers to the other planes are thin, so thin that you could pass through them by accident, and not realize you have done so until it is far too late. Many are the people who have been lost, wandering through a random portal, and finding themselves on an inhospitable plane like the Elemental Plane of Fire, Hell, or worse.
See you back next time. 😊
Kim Frandsen
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