Blue Mountains¶
"Though the Blue Mountains are not very rich in precious metals, they are very rich in Iron." — Terrun Compendium (S372)
The Blue Mountains are "a region of mountain ranges in the central west" of Numenia, which "separates the Westmarches from the rest of the continent" (S387, S498, S372, S384). They are the home of the Dwarves: of "numerous clans of dwarves and the Dwarven Kingdom of Dru'Bazan" in the Age of Magic (S372), of a kingdom with high pastures and under-roads in the Fourth Age (S328), and of a people in exile dreaming of "their ancestral holds in the Blue Mountains" in the Fifth (S319).
| Entry | What it is |
|---|---|
| Dru'Bazan | The dwarven kingdom of the Blue Mountains, about twenty clans under a High King; Kaelten, Duer'allen, Cath'Bazan, Durn'kovac and Gar'Agor are sections of its page. |
| Kahun'Darahl | The great dwarven kingdom of twelve fortresses, taken in the Dragon Wars and never recovered. Its place in the Blue Mountains is inferred, not stated. |
The land¶
The ranges stand in the central west, with the Earthblighted Westmarches beyond them (S387). The Compendium's dwarves farm and ranch "in the mountain meadows" and carve "vast halls into the mountains", while hill dwarves build "into the sides of hills and mountains and open to the air"; "in some cases, such as in the Blue Mountains, Hill dwarves and Mountain dwarves live side by side in a symbiotic relationship" (S372). The Fourth Age shows the high country in use: Kaelten Meadow, "a high mountain pasture village" of Dru'Bazan, raises sheep, goats and yaks by the thousand on the slopes, and a snow-packed pass guarded by yetis and winter wolves leads down from a dwarven gate to the trappers' country below (S328).
Wealth¶
The mountains "are very rich in Iron, have several known deposits of Ferrium, and two known deposits of Argentium and one of Adamantium. There are also several silver deposits, but very little gold or platinum" (S429, S372). Their dwarves "are one of the principle suppliers of iron and steel across Numenia", with "numerous smiths capable of smelting the most complex Mithius ores" (S372). In the Fifth Age a dwarf of the Rivenlands with "family from blue mountains" was still "trying to fund the retaking of a dwarf hold" (S180).
Other inhabitants¶
"The Dwarves are not the only inhabitants of the blue mountains. Their population has been shrinking since the Shattering, allowing other races to move into their territory. Dark Elves (the Miradrim) have occupied and expanded several old dwarf holds near the surface. The Dwarves also share a border with the wild lands to the South, and Orc raids have pushed the Dwarves out of much of the southern ranges. Further, in the Underdark, their tunnels are under constant threat from Goblins, Uruks, Dark Elves and Mind Flayers" (S429). In the Fourth Age the orc clans of Val'mulrek hold the country down-mountain to the south of Kaelten (S328).
History¶
The Draconian Empire of Pherox reached "the gates of Duer'allen ... in the West" by the end of the first millennium MA, in the Age of Magic, and by the end of the second "had also been pushed entirely out of the Blue Mountains by the Dwarves" (S372). The Fifth Age Hollowing drove the dwarves from their halls; the Dru'Bazan of 704 SM "dream of returning to their ancestral holds in the Blue Mountains, but live scattered across the kingdoms", and their king-in-exile "has been organizing mercenaries and dwarves to clear out one of the most southern holds" (S319). The rest of that story is on the Dru'Bazan page.
Gap
No source names the individual ranges, peaks or passes of the Blue Mountains, nor draws their extent. The Compendium's regional entry is a single sentence, and the later sources describe the mountains only through Dru'Bazan.