Shiverpeak Mountains

Shiverpeak Mountains

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Map of Shiverpeak Mountains

Levels

1–60, 70–80

Type

Region

Within

Tyria

Connects to

Ascalon
Kryta
Maguuma Jungle
Ruins of Orr

Image(s)

Click to enlarge.

The Shiverpeak Mountains, also simply called the Shiverpeaks, rise up over ten-thousand feet above sea level and are a vast mountain range spanning most of Tyria, running north to south and dividing it in two. To the east of the mountains lie charr territories, and just to the west lies the human kingdom of Kryta. There is a known bloodstone in a cave in the south-western area of the Shiverpeaks, though that area may now be considered part of the Steamspur Mountains. The norn city Hoelbrak is located at the center of the Shiverpeaks.

The mountains had long been the home of the stout dwarves, who, in preparation for battle with the Great Destroyer in 1078 AE, were mostly transformed into living stone, their grand civilization abandoned in pursuit of victory. Since then, the dragon of ice and snow, Jormag, has awoken in the northern Shiverpeaks and caused earthquakes to shatter the mountains. The ravines filled with water from the northern water and created inland seas such as Frostgorge Sound within the Shiverpeaks. Jormag also forced various races from their homelands, including the norn and the kodan. In the south, the norn now do battle with the dredge, who rose from Sorrow's Furnace after the defeat of their former slave masters and now jealously guard their territories and their freedoms.

History

Long ago

Sometime in the last awakening of the Elder Dragons, one of them, the Ice Dragon Jormag, went into hibernation in the Far Shiverpeaks along with their champion Drakkar.

In the year 1 BE, the Six Human Gods dropped the fragmented Bloodstone into the great volcano at the center of the Ring of Fire known as Abaddon's Mouth before leaving Tyria forever in year 0. A few hundred years later, the volcano erupted and sent the five fragments in different directions across Central Tyria, with one of them landing in the region that would later of the Shiverpeak Mountains that later would become known as the Steamspur Moutnains.

The Shiverpeaks were the home of the dwarvess for centuries, with legends stating that upon Anvil Rock, the Great Dwarf had forged his race, and they lived through the last awakening of the Elder Dragons. All dwarves of the Shiverpeaks were united under one banner; the nation of Deldrimor. Most of the architecture in the Shiverpeaks was built during this time and reflects a time of peace and prosperity, but that was not to last. Droknar's Forge was the seat of power of the mighty nation of the dwarves, named after one of their most beloved kings.

In the year 534 AE, a hero named Lornar single-handedly stopped an invasion of hill giants at settlement known as Beacon's Perch, which would later lend his name to Lornar's Pass.

Guild Wars

In the dwarves' last generation, Thunderhead Keep became the capital of the Deldrimor nation and the home of King Jalis Ironhammer's court. The rise of the Stone Summit, a dwarf supremacist faction led by Dagnar Stonepate, resulted in a civil war within the nation. The rise of the civil war gave rise to new Stone Summit architecture to contrast their rival Deldrimor architecture; stone slabs bound with large iron chains marked areas held by the Stone Summit. The Stone Summit came to enslave many races as part of their conquest of the Shiverpeaks; the giants, dolyaks, snow beasts, humans, dredge and even djinn.

The Stone Summit took control of Sorrow's Furnace, the largest mine in the Shiverpeaks and once a sacred place for the dwarves, where they extracted metals and used dredge as slaves. During an expedition into Sorrow's Furnace led by High Priest Alkar, Alkar retrieved the Tome of the Rubicon, an ancient book written by the Great Dwarf himself which detailed the origin of the dwarven race and other such lore, before the Stone Summit could get their hands on it and rewrite and sanitize it for their own goals.

In the year 1072 AE, a group of refugees from Ascalon led by Prince Rurik crossed the Shiverpeaks Mountains to take refuge in Kryta. They stumbled into the middle of the civil war between the Deldrimor and Stone Summit dwarves, and had to ally with the Deldrimor in order to cross safely into Kryta. While most of the group managed to escape the mountains, Prince Rurik laid down his life to protect his subjects at The Frost Gate.

Some time later, a group of heroes who had just ascended, together with members of the Shining Blade led by Evennia, came to Droknar's Forge, where they went to attack the White Mantle forces backed by their mursaat overlords. There, they discovered one of the few remaining seers, who had the ability to infuse the heroes' armor to protect them against the deadly spectral agony of the mursaat. They then arrived at the White Mantle base where they found Markis, a White Mantle spy that had infiltrated the Shining Blade, and killed him.

The group later helped the Deldrimor dwarves in ending the civil war by reclaiming Thunderhead Keep which had been captured by the Stone Summit. The civil war concluded when the Stone Summit leader Dagnar Stonepate was defeated and killed in the ensuing battle. Following the near eradication of the Stone Summit, the dredge were liberated, formed the moletariate and reclaimed Sorrow's Furnace as their home, renaming it Sorrow's Embrace.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Following the death of Dagnar Stonepate and destruction of the Iron Forgeman, the Stone Summit were forced to reorganize under the leadership of Duncan the Black and resettled in the Far Shiverpeaks. While there, they searched for ancient relics and beings of great power ranging from Zoldark the Unholy, Lord Glacius the Eternal, unknown relics in the Darkrime Delves, and culminating in trying to absorb the power of the fallen Great Destroyer, the nemesis of the Great Dwarf. After the death of Duncan, the last hierophant of Stone Summit, their ultimate fate was left unknown.

In 1078 AE, the detailed prophecies of the Tome of the Rubicon were fulfilled when earthquakes shook the world and the destroyerss, minions of the Elder Dragon Primordus, surfaced, causing the Deldrimor dwarves to unite in a ritual invoked by King Jalis Ironhammer to transform themselves into stone warriors so that they could fight off the destroyers in the Depths of Tyria and prevent Primordus from awakening. Little by little over time, all dwarves turned to stone, including the few remaining on the surface.

Once the dwarves disappeared underground, the dredge emerged from Sorrow's Embrace and began taking possession of the lands that belonged to the dwarves and destroying all traces of their civilization indiscriminately, as revenge for their enslavement and mistreatment by the Stone Summit.

Interim years

In the year 1105 AE, the Durmand Priory, led by its namesake Durmand, built its headquarters within a tall mountain in Lornar's Pass and began storing all sort of knowledge and artifacts within its halls.

At some point in the following 250 years, a volcano known as Mount Maelstrom became active in the southern reaches of the Shiverpeak Mountains, causing most of the snow in that region to melt, forming what is now known as the Steamspur Mountains.

In the year 1169 AE, the Elder Dragon Jormag awakened in the Far Shiverpeaks and attacked the norn and kodan living in the region, forcing the norn to flee south where they established Hoelbrak, which initially served as the large personal hunting lodge of Asgeir Dragonrender but later became a larger community. Here, the norn built new sanctuaries and shelters dedicated to the Spirits of the Wild. Over time, a fanatical cult calling themselves the Sons of Svanir, which worshipped Jormag (who they simply referred to as Dragon) as their Spirit, arose and gained a noticeable amount of popularity.

Upon their arrival in the central Shiverpeaks, the norn often had to fight off against the dredge who had claimed these lands as their own. At the bordering lands to the Far Shiverpeaks, kodan and quaggan that had fled Jormag as well both established some Sanctuaries and underwater settlements in the arctic bodies of water.

At one time, the tengu tribe known as the Avicara inhabited the mountains, but their fate in relation to the Dominion of Winds is unknown, as none have been seen in recent years.

Living World Season 1

In the year 1326 AE, freak storms raged over the Shiverpeaks while refugee charr and norn fled from their homes in the Wayfarer Foothills and Diessa Plateau. Meanwhile, the Molten Alliance, an alliance between the Flame Legion and the dredge, formed, and began attacking settlements and taking prisoners. During this period, strange energy probes appeared throughout the Shiverpeak Mountains. A young norn named Braham traveled to the Black Citadel to request help in defending his home, Cragstead, which had fallen into the hands of the Alliance. However, he was not granted aid as the charr were already widely dispersed and could not spare any soldiers. Braham then went to Hoelbrak and asked for assistance from Knut Whitebear, and was again refused. After being refused help twice, he decided to recover his home himself with the help of the Pact Commander. Braham was able to retake Cragstead, though many of its residents had been taken to a molten facility.

The Icebrood Saga

In 1334 AE, Anvil Rock served as a notable nexus of ley lines that the Prismatic Elder Dragon Aurene and her allies used as bait to lure the twin Elder Dragons, Jormag and Primordus, to fight each other. Both were accompanied by their respective champions: Rytlock's son, Ryland Steelcatcher, and a corrupted Braham Eirsson. Primordus emerged on the battlefield by tunneling through Anvil Rock, leaving a huge burning hole in the mountain. After the death of the two Elder Dragons in the confrontation at each other's hands, the area was filled with their scattered magic following a massive explosion.

Geography and climate

With soaring peaks reaching high into the sky (up over ten-thousand feet above sea level), the ice of the Shiverpeaks never melts, and it snows year round. Because the majority of the lakes and rivers in and around the mountains are frozen most of the time, conventional ships find it impossible to traverse them, though the dwarven sled ships and the kodan sanctuaries can pass over them with ease.

Winding passes, sluggish glaciers, frozen forests, frosted plains, and snow fallen hills make up the majority of the terrain between the mountain peaks, and life can be encountered anywhere.

Jormag's magic has created corrupted ice in areas of the Shiverpeaks inhabited or assaulted by their icebrood. This blue-and-black corrupted ice is more common in regions that are further north, and often manifests in the form of spikes jutting out of the ground.

Locations

Cities

• Hoelbrak
• Eye of the North

Explorable zones

• Core Game
  • Wayfarer Foothills (1-15)
  • Snowden Drifts (15-25)
  • Lornar's Pass (25-40)
  • Dredgehaunt Cliffs (40-50)
  • Timberline Falls (50-60)
  • Frostgorge Sound (70-80)

• Living World Season 3
  • Bitterfrost Frontier (80)

• Living World Season 4
  • Thunderhead Peaks (80)

• The Icebrood Saga
  • Bjora Marches (80)
  • Drizzlewood Coast (80)

Public instances

• The Twisted Marionette (80)
• Dragonstorm (80)

Dungeons

• Sorrow's Embrace (60, 65)
• Honor of the Waves (76, 80)

Shiverpeak Explorer achievement

This achievement consists of discovering all 175 areas within the Shiverpeaks. Some commonly missed areas are as follows:

• Wayfarer Foothills – Shaman's Rookery; Doldenvan Passage; Cragstead (added March 2013)
• Snowden Drifts – Angvar's Trove (added March 2013)
• Lornar's Pass – Griffonrook Run
• Dredgehaunt Cliffs – Ulukk's Hunger; Forsaken Halls (added October 2012); Tribulation Caverns; De Molish Post
• Timberline Falls – Sector Zuhl; Tail of the Serpent; Lair of the Coil

Gallery

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  Shiverpeak Mountains

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  Shiverpeak Mountains

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  Shiverpeak Mountains

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  Shiverpeak Mountains

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  Lake of the Shiverpeaks.

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  Frozen Lake.

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  Eye of the North.

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  In the distance, the corruption of Jormag can be seen.

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  Lake Depths.

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  Skiverpeaks Forest.

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  River.

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  Waterfall.

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  Entrance to lodge Hoelbrak.

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  Hoelbrak.

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  Owl Lodge.

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  The Settlement of the Kodan.

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  Territory of the Dredges.

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  The headquarters of Durmand Priory.

Notes

• The Shiverpeak Mountains is currently the only region to have zones that count towards four mastery tracks; Central Tyria, Heart of Thorns (Bitterfrost Frontier), Path of Fire (Thunderhead Peaks), and Icebrood Saga (Bjora Marches and Drizzlewood Coast).

Trivia

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Shiverpeak Mountains.

• Internally at ArenaNet, this area was known as "Alpine."

References

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Regions

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The World of Tyria