> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # Northern Reaches > [![[Northern_Reaches_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](Northern_Reaches.webp) > ###### Location Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Type | Region | > Continent | [[Valtorra]] | > Defining Feature | Remote island chain in the frozen north-east | > Capital | [[Val Noren]] | > ###### Status > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Status | Active | The Northern Reaches is the scattered island chain in the far north-east of [[Valtorra]], where the continent's coastline frays into rocky, tree-dark islands before giving way to open frozen sea. The chain's largest island is home to [[Val Noren]] — the ancient ore-city and the northernmost stronghold of human civilisation on the continent — and the islands between it and the mainland form the winter corridor known as the [[Frostway]]. ## Geography & Landscape The Northern Reaches extend north-east from [[Valtorra]]'s coast in a ragged arc of islands separated by cold, ice-prone channels. The largest island rises to a range of forested mountains in its interior; smaller islets to the south and west serve as waypoints and occasional shelter for those crossing the sea. In winter, the channels between the islands freeze into the [[Frostway]], the only reliable route to [[Val Noren]] when sea travel becomes untenable. The crossing is treacherous, managed primarily by the [[Frostwardens]], and takes the better part of a week under good conditions. The climate is harsh throughout the chain. Winters are long and punishing; summers are brief, grey, and wet. The forested hillsides of the larger islands are dark with evergreens that grow low and wind-bent, and the exposed coastlines are raw stone worn smooth by ice and tide. The sea is seldom warm even in high summer, and the prevailing winds blow cold off the open ocean to the north. ![[Northern_Reaches_Location_small.webp]] ## Settlements & Sites - [[Val Noren]] — the region's sole major settlement, an ancient walled city built at the base of the mountains on the largest island, and the seat of the Noren dynasty. ## [[The Bloody Nails|Campaign: The Bloody Nails]] #### [[Session 35 - The Frostway]] The party crossed the Northern Reaches on the final leg of their [[Frostway]] journey, arriving at the outskirts of [[Val Noren]] after surviving Yeti ambushes, an avalanche, and the loss of two Frostwarden crews to the Empire's advance. They approached the island's southern shore and observed the city from a distance: high walls, thousands of Imperial tents encircling it, and a column of black smoke rising from within.