Caislen Campaign Notes

The Cloudfire Mountains are what boxes in the Havenspass region to the East. Access from Havenspass is the most common route. The mountains take their name from Cloud Giant and Fire Giant lore.

• There is a significant Mountain Goat population on these mountains.
• The Cloud Giant Shrine & Fire Giant Shrine are somewhere in these mountains for pilgrimage purposes.
• A right of passage for young Goliath involves trekking a mountain path to a shrine based on their giant kin lineage dedicated to their ancestors, which is usually a fairly grueling task and subject to monsters and other issues.
  • It may seem cruel, but the Goliath community in Havenspass doesn't discuss their pilgrimages with the younger generation, intentionally leaving the mountains as a mystery. This is because the entire point of the rite of passage, a very literally phrase in this case, is to give the younger generation a proving ground for making proper choices.
  • These choices can come at great peril. Goliath families do not coddle their young much though, so this is normal and expected.

It is said that the Goliath tribes were first brought to the Havenspass area at the will of the Giants. The giants lived in the mountains, in huge fortresses, built for their size, instead of the size of mere mortals. There's a lot of mystery surrounded the Why, the When exactly, the How, and the Current Status related to this. The Cloudfire Mountains are supposedly where Cloud Giants & Fire Giants primarily existed, and as a result is where the supposed shrines to both kinds of giants are in the present.

The Path Of The Shrines begins at the far eastern edge of the giant gorge that is the Havenspass region, in The Mistwood, perfectly aligned on a horizontal plane with the city of Havenspass itself. From there is begins an up mountain hike, starting with switchbacks. This is as much as young Goliath know, and are told to head up and seek out the related shrine using their own judgement. The expectation is that it will take an exhausting full day just to get up the switchbacks and end with camping at top before moving on to the next challenge.

After a young Goliath arrives on top of the mountains they find well marked signs indicating that there are 3 choices for how to continue their journey to a place called Graveyard Camp. They must chose wisely.

1. “Here There Be Goblins And Goats” Tunnel - Taking this route leads to a tunnel system controlled by goblins who also raise mountain goats. The goblins are dangerous, have many traps, and are well aware that young Goliaths will try to come through their tunnel from time to time.
2. Wyvern Ridge - Taking this path is the shortest route to get through the immediate area but involves dealing with Wyverns on a ridge without any cover to hide under.
3. “MAGNETO” Elemental Tunnel - A tunnel passage with elemental monsters to contend with. The name alone should be a hint as to how it would go for any players reading this.

Graveyard Camp is a very literal name for a commonly used resting point, which is also a graveyard. The graveyard itself is full of undisturbed final resting places of giants of old, and very likely a lot of Goliath that trace back in the history of Havenspass. There are headstones that are hard or impossible to read, a few trees in this area to provide shade, and lots of evidence that camping happens here. It should be noted that the word “graveyard” implies affiliation with a church or place of worship. This spot may have that status due to the Cloud Giant Shrine & Fire Giant Shrine located in these same mountains.

• While camping here The Party met an undead bard named Preston, a seemingly friendly entity, that has been stuck up in the mountains for a long time, looking for an escort down into the region below.

Sneaking through the lair of a Blue Dragon is the only way to proceed in the Cloudfire Mountains between Graveyard Camp & the next valid location known as the High Peak Of Views. This particular Blue Dragon lair was originally a fortress belonging to long deceased giants, which makes it a great fit. It is full of vast amounts of treasures, oversized doors, and the resident dragon is very aware of and amused by constant attempts to slip by it unnoticed. It usually notices and takes actions to size up visitors before taking any actual actions. The wise visitor will not steal anything.

• While The Party snuck through the lair, they noticed what looked like, against all odds and probability, the Shovel Of Alden sitting in a giant pile of gold. They did not try to take it.

The High Peak Of Views is literally the highest peak in the entire Cloudfire Mountain range. When someone reaches it they gain new perspective on where they are and what else is around them. Already knowing the section of mountain they came from, this is where it is revealed that ahead there are two paths. At he peak there are marker posts naming these spots. The two paths lead toward the two shrines. One toward the Fire Giant Shrine and the other toward Cloud Giant Shrine. A unique and noteworthy observation from this peak is that to the east a desert region is visible, in contrast to the cloud covered Havenspass region to the west.

• Toward Fire Giant Shrine / Southwest
  • “Spring Of Purity”
  • “Korst's Hole” - Some sort of hole that may lead back down to the Havenspass area.
  • Fire Giant Shrine

• Toward Cloud Giant Shrine / Southeast
  • Landslide area.¹⁾
    • “Sarcophagus Tunnel”
  • Abominal Yeti Cave
  • Cloud Giant Shrine

The observed landslide on the eastern side of the Cloudfire Mountains is fairly recent. Suspiciously close to when Phoebe passed through, and not long after was followed by The Party looking for her. This landslide exposed a previously unconnected tunnel which may, or may not have been where Phoebe's time traveling with the Alternate Animal Party parted ways.

• The Party entered this tunnel just long enough to learn a few things.
  • It was likely a very secluded end of a cave before the landslide exposed the end of it and reclassified it as a tunnel.
  • That cave at the end was hiding a Sarcophagus…
  • The rest remains a mystery as The Party continued on their quest to the Cloud Giant Shrine.

Most likely an Abominable Yeti lives here to be marked as such. This is down a side path and has not been tangled with as of yet in this campaign.

See: Cloud Giant Shrine

This is the end of the path for those on a rite of passage from Havenspass. To get back off the mountains one must turn around.