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The underground city of Darnaiga is the most trade-oriented of the Dwarven enclaves that populate the Cairn Mountains. In other respects, Darnaiga is a fairly typical Dwarven regime, with a government encompassing both noble and mercantile blood and interest, and a renowned reputation for the quality of it's steel weapons and silver wares.

Don't get me wrong: dwarves are fine people: great smiths, good builders, and they make a fine ale when they put there minds to it, but can I just ask: "What the HELL is up with this town?" Bridges, pulleys, gates, stairs... the place is more of a maze than... well, a maze, and the guards are about as touchy as a Yeti with a rash. No sense of humor. 

Places of Note Around Darnaiga & Adventure Hooks

The Crypts

The ancient burial chambers known to outsiders only as the dwarven crypts are so ancient, they have lent their name to the mountain range in which they are located. The Cairn Mountains certainly had some other name long ago, but none now remember it.  Once, crypt was the peaceful final resting place of the the last High King of the Dwarves and his most loyal retainers, heroes of  the last great battles that surrounded the Bridge of Tears.

That was a long time ago.

People  say an evil rose up from below the Crypts and corrupted the spirits of the King and his loyal retainers... damning them to un-death in their own tombs. Whether motivated by the pious need to discover a means in which to lay the tortured Dwarven souls to rest, or by greed for the ancient treasures that the crypts hide, it takes a well-balanced and potent group to expect to survive to the Crypts that dominate the legends of this region.-- any neophyte adventurer thinking to explore here will most likely join the Dwarven specters in their eternal vigil.

Darken Woods

Stay away, just stay away.

Located in a valley north and west of Darnaiga,  this forest is place of darkness and pure rip-your-heart-out-and-feed-it-to-chipmunks evil. Even the shadows can kill you here, but don't worry: you'll probably be killed by dire wolves, corrupted ents, and a shopping list of other arboreal monstrosities long before you have to worry about the shadows.

One crazy old man I talked to claims that Darken Wood was once a golden forest: peaceful, idyllic, the home to the first human city in the area.

Goblins

Throughout the mountainous peaks near Darnaiga, small groups of tribe-less goblins hide within various small cave systems. More of a threat to themselves than anyone else, the collection of a number of goblin ears has become something of an initiation ritual among Darnaiga's young warrior trainees.

Hill Giants

Far east of Darnaiga along the High Cairn Road, this group of giants have carved out a nice home for themselves in one of the biggest caves in the area. They aren't violent, but they don't like guests either.

Kobolds

In the peaks and cliffs to the west of Darnaiga lies a system of caves that a tribe of kobolds call home. A fairly formidable group, the kobolds value their privacy and are willing to defend it.  They are led by a powerful chieftain, but much control it held by the tribe's sorcerer, who is rumored to specialize in necromantic magic.

Magi's Tower

Long since abandoned, the Magi's Tower is located north of Darnaiga in a pastoral valley on the further side of the Cairn Mountains (at the beginning of the main mountain pass leading into the Barbarian lands to the north. A place of great mystery, many claim the tower is cursed; it is certain that it is dangerous. Some claim that the Barbarian tribes that control the lands north of the Cairn Mountains avoid using the valley's easy access into the rest of the Duchy out of superstitious fear of the Wizard who once dwelt there.

Southern Cairn

South of Darnaiga an above-ground pass over the mountains (leading towards the human town of Cairun) has remained unused for over a generation. Rumors of an abandoned dwarven mine are often associated with the pass, as well as many other stories most intelligent people disregard.

White Eagle Monastery

This monastery is located far to the east of Darnaiga, near the end of the High Cairn Road where it intersects with the Great Pass Road. Within its walls dwell some of the most dangerous fighters in the land.

It is rumored that elsewhere in either the Cairn or Dragonspire mountains (accounts vary) an ancient, evil order of monks pursues their wicked calling, enslaving peasants of the region for torture and private amusements.