Named for the large carvings of five dwarven kings sculpted into five passes flanking some of the range’s highest peaks, the Five Kings Mountains run from the southwest to the northeast and form the northern border of both Darkmoon Vale and Andoran. The Five Kings Mountains boast 17 peaks classified as fourteeners (a mountaineering term meaning mountains above 14,000 feet in elevation), a few of which stand in Andoran.
Only one of the five kingly carvings stands near Darkmoon Vale—that of King Taggun, founder of Taggoret. The massive carving, standing more than 150 feet high and portraying the king from the waist up, looms over Kingtower Pass between Droskar’s Crag and Mount Gustus. King Taggun’s carving shows the powerful and popular monarch wearing an elaborate crown at least as tall as his own head. His wellgroomed beard bears several braids, with numerous bands and trinkets. King Taggun’s depiction holds a massive hammer in such a way that its immense head is “resting” on the floor of the mountain pass. The other four kings have larger but equally elaborate representation, and all four stand within strategically important passes on some of the range’s highest mountains.
Ten Peaks of the Five Kings
The ten tallest peaks of the Five Kings Mountains, by elevation, are as follows.
1. Emperor Peak, Druma, 18,365 ft.
2. Mount Langley, Druma, 17,400 ft.
3. Mount Mist, Druma, 16,237 ft.
4. Mount Arugak, Andoran, 15,638 ft.
5. Mount Carissa, Andoran, 15,126 ft.
6. Queen Peak, Druma, 14,831 ft.
7. Mount Gustus, Andoran, 14,806 ft.
8. Mount Onik, Druma, 14,714 ft.
9. Mount Soryu, Druma, 14,603 ft.
10. Mount Kla, Andoran, 14,411 ft.
Thousands of miles of caves, caverns, tunnels, and abandoned mines are believed to lie beneath the Five Kings Mountains. Prior to the Rending, dozens of entrances to these underground passageways existed all around Droskar’s Crag and Darkmoon Vale. As a result of the Rending, though, many tunnels and caves collapsed or were sealed with magma, making entries more difficult to find in the last 800 years.
Broken Tower: Clearly an engineering marvel when it stood, the broken tower lays strewn in eight pieces across the southwestern flank of Mount Gustus, about 2 miles up the road from Kingtower Pass. Each immense piece of the square tower measures at least 25 feet long, and current estimates put the tower’s overall height at around 210 feet, with a base width of 100 feet. Only one piece of the tower remains standing, which rises to around 20 feet at its highest point opposite the buckled side that collapsed and brought down the whole tower. The dwarven architect and sage Garson Felskran identified the architectural style as that of the dwarven empire under the rule of King Sidrik III, who reigned 3919 to 4111. Explorers at the Broken Tower’s ruins have uncovered evidence of a tunnel complex beneath the structure, the entrance to which has long-since caved in.
Eye of Droskar: This squat, three-story square tower rises only 30 feet from the alpine meadow in which it stands. Clearly built by dwarves during the height of their laborious toils (some call this the low-point of dwarven craftsmanship), the plain, uninspired tower appears on first glance to deserve no mention. Inside, however, the tower’s top floor bears a peculiar magical occurrence. Set firmly into the stone floor in the exact center of the tower is a 4-foot-tall jagged green crystal with a triangular base. The roof of the tower directly above the crystal bears a triangular hole of exactly the same dimensions as the crystal.
Within the crystal burns a bright green-white flame that does not react to any mundane or magical stimuli. Known as the eye of Droskar, this large crystal, as well as the hole in the roof and the intricately carved runes in the flagstones at its base, all look as though they were added long after the dwarves evacuated the tower. The runes in the floor look like random symbols and do not contain letters or pictographs of any alphabet known in Avistan or Garund.
Hexagonal Tower: Built at the height of Tar Khadurrm’s control over the region, the hundred-foot-tall Hexagonal Tower survived the Rending mostly intact. Four of its six sides and two of its three lesser corner towers still fully stand, and even the walls and tower that have partially collapsed are more damaged than destroyed.
Despite the strength of the tower (even in its partially ruined state), no creature resides within it. Beneath it, however, the Dragonclaw Tribe of kobolds calls home the vast network of tunnels and chambers that delve into the ridge on which it stands. The kobolds mostly ignore the strong fortifications above them, although on occasion they try to coerce some kind of dangerous (but not kobold-eating) creature to live in the tower and act as a guard. Three days after these “guards” take up residence, however, the kobolds return to drag their corpses below ground, their intact bodies showing no obvious signs of harm. The Dragonclaw Tribe considers these events as excellent excuses to hold feasts (with the “guard” as the main course).
Torag’s Breath: A strange river floats lazily among the many peaks of the Five Kings Mountains. It finds its source at Torag’s Mouth—the smaller of Droskar’s Crag’s two craters—and winds once around that mountain before flowing northeast into the heart of the mountain range. Torag’s Breath flows for almost 250 miles before ending at an alpine meadow low on the flank of Mount Mist in Druma.
Like normal rivers, Torag’s Breath contains eddies and swells (but not “airfalls” or rapids) and comes with the additional navigational danger of being difficult to see. Unlike normal rivers, this one floats 10,000 feet above sea level and is comprised exclusively of magical winds from the Elemental Plane of Air. The magic of these gentle winds allows the air to hold aloft a ship or boat (or really, anything that can float on water, including tree branches and other flotsam). In 3997, dwarven volcanologist and explorer Rinehardt Morotok accidentally discovered the air river while studying the aftereffects of the Rending and the long-term stability of Droskar’s Crag. Since then, experimentation has shown that the air river provides exactly the same amount of buoyancy as a waterway of similar size and depth. Indeed, shortly before the collapse of Imperial Cheliax, the empire managed to build a large sailing ship (largest ever to navigate Torag’s Breath) near the river and put it afloat. That ship, the Chimera’s Wing, rests at anchor within the air river along the flank of Mount Visoka in Druma.
Thanks to its remote location and inhospitable elevation, Torag’s Breath never became an important route for trade or military uses, and remains to this day little more than a curiosity. The air river’s popularity waxes and wanes among those who live anywhere near it, and as a result dozens of boats and ships of various sizes wait in anchor along its course (or lie smashed to bits on mountain sides). Gnomes in particular seem to enjoy navigating the air river, and most craft still active on it belong to or are crewed by gnomes (who seem nonetoo- skilled at sailing).
Daralathyxl: Somewhere in the foothills between Droskar’s Crag and Mount Gustus lives the magnificent red dragon named Daralathyxl. This grand terror is sometimes called the Sixth King of the Mountains, and most people who interact with him (and somehow survive) wisely address him as a king, if not “emperor” or “god.” Daralathyxl is one of the oldest, largest, and most powerful dragons in Avistan, and his influence is felt as far away as Tamran in Nirmathas. At least a dozen other evil dragons are known to live within the area Daralathyxl claims, and all but one refer to him as their liege.
In the past century, Daralathyxl’s appearances have declined, leading some to wrongfully speculate that he has died. Every time such rumors begin circulating, though, Daralathyxl reappears to exert his undeniable influence and command over the region. These reappearances lead many to speculate that Daralathyxl controls a network of spies in Darkmoon Vale, for his return always seems coincidentally linked to rumors of his demise. When he does deign to appear within the vale, Daralathyxl stays only long enough to terrorize his “subjects” and acquire proper tribute, usually in the form of food, treasure, and beautiful young human or elven women. The king’s last visit came in 4699.
Although less active in recent memory, Daralathyxl proved a far more dynamic menace several centuries ago. At the height of his activity, roughly between 4200 and 4500, Daralathyxl appeared in Darkmoon Vale almost every year, demanding his customary tribute. Reports of Daralathyxl go back even further, though, and some stories put him at the mouth of the volcano—swimming through the lava with glee—when Droskar’s Crag erupted in 3980. A few surviving dwarven records even speak of a powerful young red dragon who took up residence in the southern end of the Five Kings Mountains around 3000. Some scholars debate as to whether that dragon could be Daralathyxl, but references to a distinctive hooked chin horn and dark red stripes along his forelimbs seem like fairly strong evidence that the dwarves encountered Daralathyxl some 1700 years ago. Certainly, his size and power lend credence to such tales of his age, and it seems likely that Daralathyxl has lived for more than two millennia.