Hey @TheEdVerse, quick question. I'm going to run King Lareths council in the Galena Mountains on the 14th of Marpenoth, 1372 DR In around 12 hours. How tall are the Galena Mountains, and what temperature would it be around that time of year?
Thanks!#Realmslore #dnd— Alex McClay (@AlexMcclay2000) September 20, 2020
1)
So Marpenoth is the Torilian equivalent of October, and the Galena range (named by TSR, by the way, after a resort they used to go to on retreats, which was of course named for the mineral) is roughly as northerly as… 2)
…“halfway north up Canada” in climate terms. The Galenas themselves are tall, jagged fangs of very sharp, rugged rock, tall enough to be permanently topped with ice and snow (which at that latitude means they must all be over…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 20, 2020
3)
…8,000 feet in elevation; my notes have them as around 11,000, with the tallest summits being just over 14,000). The range is only about 25 miles wide, with nigh NO level ground, and cascading streams and rivers rather than…
#Realmslore 4)
…navigable ones (the Galena Snake being the most well-known named river), plus of course lots of hostile resident giants, orcs, hobgoblins, and goblins. There are rich iron, silver, and bloodstone deposits (and heck, to make…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 20, 2020
5)
…the name fit, lots of galena). So in October, daytime in-sun temperatures would be above freezing in the lowest reaches of the mountains only. At night, particularly with windchill, “deep freeze” indeed. Yes, exposed PCs… 6)
…could readily freeze to death. PCs in caverns would likely be okay, but not comfortable. The Galenas are not known for gales or frequent high winds, though.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 20, 2020
Speaking of the Galenas, the map on p.9 of Elminster’s Forgotten Realms shows that your home Realms had only a few mountains east of Thar. Is there a mountain range north of where that map cuts off, as in the published Realms, or was that added along with the Bloodstone Lands? That map is just part of one 8.5"x11" map panel (out of 55 of them). There is a mountain range north of that, and glaciers, and lots of rugged frozen country, stretching north and east (if you go far enough east, you reach Sossal).#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 21, 2020