The poles of Eberron are almost as mysterious as Argonnessen. Some dwarves believe that their ancestors originally came to Khorvaire from the Frostfell, but there’s been no contact with Frostfell dwarves in modern times. Legends speak of undead hordes, free-roaming fiends, and terrifying monsters in these arctic lands.

The northern continent called the Frostfell sits astride the top of the world like a brooding storm cloud. The people of Khorvaire, in addition to using its descriptive proper name, call it Winter’s Home, the Source of Winds, and the Icy Heart of Winter. Only one expedition has made landfall on the Frostfell and returned to Khorvaire to tell the tale. The journey was led by Lord Boroman ir’Dayne of the Wayfinder Foundation, who is said to be very interested in mounting a second expedition to the frozen land he visited long ago.

The Frostfell is a continental landmass, with a variety of terrain features providing diversity despite the unending cold. The Iceworm Peaks, a mountain range cloaked in great glaciers, bisects the continent. Barren plains of everfrost nestle in mountain valleys where snow rarely falls, while ice sheets cover hundreds of miles on either side of the mountains. Near the coast, tundra prevails, and in the summertime, lichens grow as the ground thaws briefly before plunging back into frigid winter.

The frost-covered lands closer to Khorvaire are slightly more accessible, particularly in the summer. The northernmost islands of the Lhazaar Principalities at the eastern end of Khorvaire are draped in perpetual winter. Similarly, off the northwest coast of Khorvaire lies Icewhite Island with its three children—Tlalusk (the southernmost, nearest the Demon Wastes), Qorrashi, and Icegaunt (the northernmost, between Icewhite and the Frostfell proper). Mapmakers consider these islands part of the Frostfell rather than Khorvaire. All are tundra, though more vegetation grows on Tlalusk and the southern end of Icewhite.


The Frostfell is thought to be the original homeland of the dwarves, and some believe that an ancient nation of dwarves still thrives under the ice. Others say that the Frostfell was once a verdant realm until the dwarves uncovered the prison of an archfiend, which buried their nation under endless ice. These scholars warn against disturbing this overlord, lest a new age of ice be unleashed across the entire world.

Frostfell's Influence on Khorvaire

In Khorvaire, you might …

  • Clash with a cabal of winter warlocks serving a sinister power stirring in Everice.
  • Encounter a group of frost giants or Frostfell dwarves establishing a foothold in Khorvaire.
  • Discover a journal from a Frostfell expedition that reveals a horrifying threat.

The people of Khorvaire have no commerce with the arctic regions and no certainty about what lives there. If a threat comes from Everice, it might take time for people to identify its origin.

With this in mind, relics from Everice or the Frostfell could take any form. Are these treasures created by giants, fey, or dwarves? Are they carved from eternal ice, or are they forged from dwarven steel? If the civilization of the dwarves truly began in the Frostfell, did it fall into ruin, or are there progenitor dwarves who possess spells and weapons beyond anything known in Khorvaire? And how would these ancient dwarf lords react to their Mror descendants?

Trinkets

d8 Trinket
1 A small prism carved from ice that doesn’t melt
2 A rusted iron coin, depicting a dwarf lord and the worlds “Five Rex Undra”
3 A pair of eight-sided dice carved from ice that doesn’t melt
4 A swatch of silvery fur that’s cold to the touch, possibly from a winter wolf
5 A snowball; it doesn’t melt and can’t be compressed into ice
6 A tiny white dragon sculpted from ice that doesn’t melt
7 A key carved from ice that doesn’t melt
8 A single scale from a white dragon

Keith

Source: Patreon December 2022 Questions Thread

I see no reason NOT to have a magnetic north in Eberron, given that we’ve used cardinal directions on maps and a compass is a simple tool. On the other hand, like telling time, direction-finding would be a trivial cantrip. I’d definitely make it a function of Druidcraft, and I’d consider saying that anyone with an appropriate background and Survival proficiency might just know that specific cantrip (not Druidcraft, just direction finding); I could definitely see saying that a typical ranger or outlander knows Detect North.