The Mountain Realm Sourcebook/Guidebook/Artbook is now out on Cryo Crypt:
Audio: Mountain Realm - A Song for Reading (you can grab this track for free on the Cryo Crypt Bandcamp)
Our guide Orlan takes us on a trip through the Mountain Realm.
Towering mountains pierce the sky, their peaks hidden in clouds, while below, dense forests and frozen plains stretch into the horizon. It’s a place where survival is earned, not given. Winds tear through the valleys and snow blankets the land in an endless white that devours both sound and color.
Each corner of the realm tells its own story, carved into the mountains, the trees, and the ice. And though the land itself may seem desolate, it has never been truly empty. The goblin-kin, dwarves, orcs, and elves have called this place home for centuries, each adapting to the challenges of the region, and each fighting for survival.
This is a sourcebook, guidebook, artbook and commentary on the Mountain Realm, told through the eyes of a former librarian from the southern kingdoms. In his own words:
"I was sent here to document the Mountain Realm, but I won’t be returning to the libraries of the south to hand over some sterilized, censored version of what I’ve seen. No more red pens scribbling over my work, turning real dangers into convenient footnotes. The reality of this place is brutal, messy, and uncomfortable—and that’s exactly why it needs to be told.
If the scholars don’t like it, too bad. Let them hide behind their thick walls and books that haven’t seen a real winter. I’ve walked through the white silence of the Frozen Wastes, felt the eyes of the forest watching me, heard the whispers in the ruins below Thrakos that no one should ever hear. And I’ve lived to tell the tale.
If you want safe stories about noble Elves and the ‘glorious’ tribes, go read someone else’s account. If you want the reality, warts and all, you’re holding it in your hands. You won’t like everything in here. Some of it will keep you up at night, trust me—I know, because it keeps me up too.
And to those down south who will no doubt be frothing at the mouth once they get wind of this—too late. I’m done playing by your rules. I’ve spent enough time in these lands to know the Mountain Realm doesn’t care about your comfort, and neither do I anymore.
This is the real Mountain Realm, and it’s not waiting for permission to exist."