Caenan’s Mine (flooded)

Posted on February 15, 2025 in Steel-Realms

Caenan’s Mine is part of the abandoned area of The Maithen Plateau. It is a Kaolin mine used for healing properties and ceramics, it was a small load and the easily accessed materials were played out within a few hundred years. There was enough so that locals still delved into it to make local pottery. Here there is actually two mines, one was producing the kaolin and the other, still productive, coal.

The south fork of the High Mathien Road runs from Angan Rock, through the town of Saevrin, and on to Caenans Mine and Sifters Gap and finally to Greyskar Mine.

Encounters: It has the encounters common to all Places on the Maithean Plateau.

History: Riverdans (History of Dovender Valley and The Dog Fort)

Caenan’s Mine

The mine was flooded when the controls for White Lake above it were broke by the druids and disaster happened.

Mining Camp (ruins)

The mining camp has long been stripped of anything of value. There is no organic material left, just foundations of buildings, paths, and mining structures that were flooded over and destroyed.

Mine Trail

Washed out and covered in rubble – much like the entire area.

Mine Entrance

Washed out and covered in rubble – much like the entire area.

Mine Upper Reaches

Mostly flooded.

Mine Lower Reaches

Flooded

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The Sagilcrest Coal Mine

The coal seam that the kaolin ran through continued to be worked as a local heating source up until the area was abandoned. The mine was flooded when the controls for White Lake above it were broke by the druids and disaster happened.

Mining Camp (ruins)

The mining camp has long been stripped of anything of value. There is no organic material left, just foundations of buildings, paths, and mining structures that were flooded over and destroyed.

Mine Trail

Washed out and covered in rubble – much like the entire area.

Mine Entrance

Washed out and covered in rubble – much like the entire area.

Mine Upper Reaches

Mostly flooded.

Mine Lower Reaches

Flooded

Town of Saervin (ruins)

Posted on February 15, 2025 in Steel-Realms

Town of Saervin is part of the abandoned area of The Maithen Plateau. This was the largest settlement on the plateau when it was active, with a population of about 700.

The south fork of the High Mathien Road runs from Angan Rock, through the town of Saevrin, and on to Caenans Mine and Sifters Gap and finally to Greyskar Mine.

Encounters: It has the encounters common to all Places on the Maithean Plateau.

History: Riverdans (History of Dovender Valley and The Dog Fort)

Mathien Plateau (abandoned)

Posted on February 15, 2025 in Steel-Realms

The Mathien Plateau is in Hopalen Mountains – a spur of the Hawktail Hills – in the Riverdan of Tuflim. The plateau is about 1400′ up (approx .5km). It runs vaguely NW, for about 4km, and is about 1.8km wide, tapering on both ends.

Mathien Road: The long Mathien Road stretches as a spur of the Hopalen Road in the base of the mountains of the same name. It has a long, slow rise that goes south, then switches then NW. It takes about 5 hours of travel to get to the plateau from the base… hours longer now that the road is in disrepair. It is not safe to gallop a horse on, and without clearing, not suited for carts or wagons. Evidence of small washouts and rubble dumps exist at various points.

Traveling to/through:

The road up is desolate, long abandoned. At the top of the road is an area obviously once rubble chocked. It has been cleared sometime far in the past to allow passage on foot. The plateau has a palpable air of loneliness and the wind whistles mournfully through the hills and ruined settlements. A road once meandered across the plateau lengthwise, connecting mines and settlements, but there is little left to mark its way once the plateau itself is reached. There is still the slight remnants of north and south spur roads the lead along the edges of the plateau.

Encounters: It exposes travelers to the encounters (or lack of!) common to all Places on the Mathien Plateau.

Barden Stretch

Posted on February 15, 2025 in Steel-Realms

The Barden Stretch is an open area of the Riverdan of Tuflim that bordering Cerrans Grant to the North. On its western edge is the Hopalen Mountains. It is mostly farmsteads and hamlets.

Ruins of Barden

The area was once home to the town of Barden. This town was a point of gathering and local market. Its population was about 900. Once the Nanford River changed course and Cerrans Grant was put in place, it became a frontier watchpoint and trade post. Eventually, other trade routes took its place and the town was abandoned. Some of its stones have been used in farmsteads in the locale, but for the most part nothing above 6-8 feet walls remain, and most are only 2-3 feet. Anything of value was scavenged long ago.

Hopalen Mountains (Hawktail Hills spur)

Posted on February 15, 2025 in Steel-Realms

The Hopalen Mountains are a spur of the Hawktail Hills in the Riverdan of Tuflim. It consists of three large peaks and several smaller ones, and the now abandoned Maithen Plateau that was once a thriving set of settlements. The three main peaks cradle the plateau to the south and east. It runs into a smaller spur that becomes the Hawktail Hills to the west.

The mountainous area once supported a few different mining operations, but with the decline of the Riverdans, Coal and a small amount of iron is all that’s taken from a few small veins in their lower reaches… these supply local needs only, and are not commercial grade.

Hopalen Road: The Hopalen Road winds around the base from the north in Barden Stretch, along the base of the three peaks area and eventually diminishes as it goes SW and the road runs out. The Mathien Road is a spur that leads up to the The Maithen Plateau.

Traveling to/through:

The base of the Hopalen Mountains rises sharply on its eastern edge. The three peaks rise up over 1500 feet each. The area seems to be a natural wonder, the peaks themselves resembling spires at their tops, and the last hundred more so of each almost form a spire. Nothing else recommends the area – there is expected wildlife, and a few agricultural farmsteads along the Hopalen Road where streams come from the hills. The base of the mountains has a population of no more than a couple hundred on scattered farms, including workers.

Hopalen High peak: The highest of the three peaks of the ‘Hopalen Mountains’. It rises some 2200 feet. A lot of fog forms on the north face, dropping down onto the plateau.

Hopalen Shoulder Peak: It rises about 1800 feet.

Hopalen Overwatch Peak: It rises about 1600 feet.