MEGAMOUNTAIN DEATHCRAWL

300 years after the Great Procession, the Chynar Authority realized that their colony maps were sloppy and based on bad intel. The steppelands of Uzubek held more nuance than the Imperial eye had originally discerned.
In 513 IE, the Chynar Authority funds the Great Trigonometrical Survey, spearheaded by Katzi Chango, a former Imperial General and surveyor. After 18 gruelling months, Chango finally begins cataloging the so-called Perfidious Peaks. It would be another 6 years before he would finish his survey.
Chango eventually sends word of the significance and magnitude of the Colossal Three, and shortly thereafter confirms one as the tallest peak in the world. Dubs it Mount Eternakill.
The name entices great explorers and mountaineers of the world. The highest peak, brushing the heavens, was simply too sweet of bait for those poor fools.
In 519 IE, retired soldier and mountaineer Shep Ziol Jr. embarks on the legendary Eternakill Reconnaissance Expedition to map potential routes to summit the mountain. The race to the top of the earth begins in earnest.

The natives of Uzubek became slowly accustomed to Imperial Adventurists. The Bukhars and Shaymars knew what Imperial military might had done to the lowlanders, but local traders believed that these explorers were nothing more than a harmless nuisance. Many guides, porters, and mystics of the trade-towns found themselves in a position to profit from ignorant Imperials.
The Omok, Kharzir, and other highland nomads found little reason to allow Imperials to encroach on their mountains, even if it was just for sport.
No matter their opinion on the foreigners, most natives new, or at least suspected what truly waited for those naive enough to enter the Tombs of the Gods.

The year is 522 IE. Since the establishment of Base Camp 1, 51 world-class mountaineers have visited in an attempt to summit Eternakill. There have been 32 reported deaths. 8 by falling, 6 by avalanche, 4 by exposure, 3 by altitude sickness, 3 by murder, 2 by heart attack, 2 by suicide, and 4 unknown or unexplained. Another 11 mountaineers are currently listed as M.I.A.
Of the 8 known survivors only Shep Ziol Jr. and Barukho Bram remain at Base Camp 1. Despite a furious letter-writing campaign, I was unable to contact any of the remaining survivors, although I've heard rumours of many returning to their homelands with extreme nervousness and strange maladies.

It is for this reason that tomorrow I set off for Base Camp 1, for my research has exhausted all resources attainable from the comfort of a library. I expect to face much trial and tribulation, but perhaps with a bit of luck I shall speak with the legend Shep Ziol Jr. himself and see if the whispers of porters and guides are true. Oh, to see the Throne of Gods with my own eyes! I hear the Mountain's Siren Song clearly in my mind! Though the thought of reaching the mountain is awe-inspiring, I must retain clarity of thought and keep my hubris in check.
There's a poem, an ancient Omok herding tune, that I've found comfort in reciting over the last few days of travel preparations. Though I expect the translation to Imperial Chynar is quite barbaric, it is nonetheless a necessary reminder of the peril that waits for me in the Perfidious Peaks:

The God Sleepeth, and Shall Remain
Unto the Winter Storms Do Cease
In Shadow'd Die, the Dreamer Grows
Ensures the Winter Storms Do Feast

-Percelium Kyodar, MP



MEGAMOUNTAIN DEATHCRAWL is something I've been quietly working on for a while.

It's an inverted dungeon crawl. A pathcrawl up the giant, treacherous, fantastic, and horrible Mount Eternakill.
Inspired by early mountaineering, the golden age of exploration, and the first Antarctic and Everest expeditions.
Expect avalanches, lonely cave trolls, living icicles, snowstorms, sensual heat-seekers, and for your friends to freeze to death.
Expect grueling climbs and perilous paths. Strange factions, sabatoge, and icy elixirs.


Thanks for reading!
(more to come soon)