The Tower of Wailing Winds
The Tower of Wailing Winds is a huge rock which rises out of the stone wall. The core of the rock is hollow and in the outer wall are many openings. Whenever the wind blows through these holes it creates an eerie howling noise, hence the name. Both at the summit and base are caves which are connected by a tunnel in the side of the mountain.
At first, people thought that these caves had a natural origin, but some courageous adventurers who dared to sneak inside found ancient stone tablets and vessels. The news of this discovery lured many scholars to the Harf Trading Post. Now they are hiring mercenaries to explore this place full of monsters and to obtain more artefacts.
But the mystery of who left these things behind and why they are still here is yet to be solved.
Frostwood Valley
After stepping out of the connecting tunnel and turning east along Khazor's Mountain Road, a snow covered forest comes into sight. This forest is located in a relatively low-lying area which is called Frostwood Valley.
The Valley is mainly an important hunting ground and agricultural area in the Ystra highlands. Many tribes come here to hunt and the Barbarians, Cyclopes, Minotaurs and other monsters often ambush humans and their caravans.
Since the Order of Dark Glory built defences along Khazor's Mountain Road, these incidents have slowly been reduced, but there are still many adventurers who enter the woods for curiosity’s sake.
Snowhorn, the Mountain City
The area South of Frostwood Valley is surrounded by high mountains, but not exposed to the cold winds blowing down from the mountain peaks. It is a relatively warm area and this is the home of the Minotaurs. They have dwelt here since time immemorial and even though the inscriptions in the stone walls might look crude to humans, they do proudly tell the history and culture of the Minotaurs.
The Minotaurs are a race of giant humanoids that live off hunting and some agriculture. But even though they possess a highly developed culture, scholars presume that the civilization of the Minotaurs can be traced back nearly to the time of the ancient civilization. That makes it older than the civilization of most of the Barbarian tribes, and this is the reason that there is this spectacular cave city.
The cultures of the Minotaurs and the ordinary Barbarian tribes are quite similar. These societies are governed by tribal chiefs and priests. They admire courage and fighting power, and unlike humans are not able to use runes. But there are also differences between the Minotaurs and the Barbarians. In their legends they often refer to “men with power” and “sons of the creator” and apply these names to statues and wall paintings. Since these depictions have characteristics that humans would attribute to demons, the Minotaurs are believed to worship demons.
Many people also believe that since the Minotaurs have lived such a long time on the Ystra Highland, the key to many of the riddles in the legends of Ystra lies with them.
