A name older than any map Korone still has of it.
The central hub of trade and travel for the northern wastes, half above the ice and half carved into it.
Located at the geographic center of Korone, Beornan Oerthe stands as the primary metropolis across the frozen expanse of the great ice shelf. The settlement blends surface encampments with deep subterranean engineering, serving as the central hub of trade and travel for the northern wastes.
The surface settlement hosts a population of roughly two thousand permanent residents. Dwellings and communal halls are constructed to withstand extreme sub-zero conditions, built from dense hide, bronzewood, bone, and packed rime. Below the open tundra, the city descends through five distinct tiers carved directly into the shelf ice. These lower levels sprawl outward as they go deeper, housing residential quarters, workshops, and storage vaults sheltered from surface blizzards.
Heat and light throughout the city rely primarily on mundane fire. Iron braziers and pitch torches line the thoroughfares, providing both visibility and the steady warmth required to keep the living spaces habitable. In wealthier quarters and key municipal sectors, ambient magical lighting casts a steady glow across the carved ice walls.
Travelers reach Beornan Oerthe through several distinct routes:
Wind-driven and runner-mounted ice skiffs regularly travel across the plains, skimming over the hard crust to connect surface camps with the central docks.
Sub-glacial rivers cut through the lower ice shelves, allowing small craft to enter the lower levels directly by water.
A network of naturally heated subterranean magma tubes and lava channels cuts beneath the frost layer, offering warm, sheltered pathways for underground transit.