Icasz’s Range
Located to the northeast of Viremar, Icasz’s Range stretches fifteen hundred miles across the province in a long curve ending near the northern edge of The World’s grave. The Icasz’s are deadly cold, characterized by slate grey rock, snow, and ice. Taller than the Skirhem and far less habitable, the Icasz’s begin in cold foothills that border Viremar. These hills are the most settled area in the range. Although incredibly cold and with little sun year-round, most flora and fauna exist in the tundra below the range. At the base of the mountains, many bogs form via runoff from glaciers far above. These spring and summer bogs host plant life: moss, lichen, tall grass, and even stout little trees. However, once fall hits, frost kills off the undergrowth and the winds rend leaves from the trees.
Farther up, the vegetation is smothered in snow and ice. Here the only colors are grey and white, and the land is barren and lonely, save for strange howls on the wind and claw marks on stone. There are precious few hamlets that battle the elements up this high. These are the most devout followers of Icasz. They weather the storms just as Icasz did, in an effort to be closer to their hero. They take his word as gospel and live as the original followers of Icasz did long ago.
The highest peak of Icasz’s Range is Icasz’s Hand. At eighteen thousand four hundred and ninety-two feet, Icasz’s Hand pierces the clouds, a spire of rock and ice towering above its sister peaks.
Icasz’s Range sits far to the north of Viremar. It stretches fifteen hundred feet to the west, parallel to its sister range in the south.
History
The Icasz’s are named after the legendary folk hero Icasz. The Book of Icasz holds most of his tales, and tells of how he led the first settlers into Norgas.
In the book, Icasz is beloved for kindness and perseverance. Legend has it that he did not stop walking until all of his followers were safely settled. This endeavor led Icasz from the southern border to the western grasslands and back around the desert into the east. Finally, he traveled through the northern mountains and, seeing that not one soul remained on his heels, trudged into the northernmost reaches of the province and finally lay down to rest. While this tale is not universally accepted, those of the northern mountains take the book as gospel and attempt to follow Icasz’s proverbs and teachings to the letter. Thus, they named the range after him.
The Icasz hold little to no importance historically save for some small footnotes. The Icasz have always been nigh uninhabitable. When the first wave of settlers came up against the mountains, their only accounts depict a treacherous and deadly crossing. Nevertheless, the last of Icasz’s followers settled farther down the range, attempting to brave a thousand storms just as Icasz did. Past this, there is extensive documentation of the destruction wrought by Kirgas against the smaller villages in the north. Particularly the rout of Hielmer, where villagers and soldiers from the capitol slaughtered each other deep in the mountains. Firsthand accounts of the few soldiers that survived, stumbling back into Kirgas months later, illustrated a horrid wasteland of frost and stone. Most notably, although accounts from the soldiers were at best rambling and opaque, all of them share the same description of something in the mountains. A gray shadow that crept just under the cliffs and corners of the mountains. A pair of long arms hidden in the snow that took their comrades screaming into the fog.
This monster is referred to by the locals as Icasz’s Bane. However, no accounts of any such beast appear in the Book of Icasz. Sightings of this beast only surface centuries after the first crossing. Curiously, some renditions of the monster place a Kiroc skull atop or around its head. Kirocs are only native to Viremar and Icasz’s Bane has never been sighted outside of the range.