The Drakespire Mountains

The Drakespire Mountains are the defining geographic feature of Dracomere's interior -- a wall of stone running roughly north-south that separates the Settled Lands to the west from the eastern territories where orcs, minotaurs, hobgoblins, and the Barric peoples govern themselves. The range is approximately four hundred miles long, with peaks reaching elevations that kill the unprepared in any season.

The Blue Vale pass, controlled by the Order of Vembryl at Blue Vale Keep, is the only traversable route through the mountains at altitude. Two lower passes exist at the range's northern and southern extremes, both impassable for roughly five months each year due to weather and both frequently contested by creatures that have learned that the paths are traveled.

The mountains were named in the Age of Venn for the coloration visible at dawn -- a blue-grey cast to the stone that intensifies at high altitude and in cold weather. The name predates any significant draconic presence in the range. The current population of actual dragons in the Drakespires is unknown to the Conclave, the Blue Knights, or anyone who maintains public records. Individual encounters are reported. A census has never been attempted.

The Drakespire foothills on both sides of the range are home to goblinoid populations -- bugbears primarily, with hobgoblin encampments at the eastern base. These communities are the best navigators of the range's off-pass terrain. They do not typically share this knowledge.

The mountains contain cave systems of uncertain depth on the western face that connect, at some level, to the Underdark Fringes. The Blue Knights are aware of this in general terms and have sealed several known entrances. The number of unknown entrances is not a figure they discuss publicly.