Surtland

Surtland  is one of the ten realms of the plane of Kaldheim.

Description
Wintry Surtland is a realm of constant turmoil. Volcanoes burst through snow and ice to form new mountains as the bitter cold freezes steaming geysers into sprays of ice shards. Earthquakes and eruptions reshape the landscape almost daily. Avalanches of snow and broken rock tumble down mountainsides and change the course of half-frozen rivers. The ice palaces of the frost giants dot the high mountain peaks and glacier fields. The crude shelters of the fire giants lie in the lowlands where deep lava fissures carve paths through wide fields of snow.

What little grows in Surtland grows to enormous size. Trees are scarce, but they grow as large as the ancient trees of Skemfar. The beams of Kaldar's Hall, home of the fire giant king, are cut from these enormous trees to make a shelter worthy of the massive giants. Animals, too, tend toward great size; herds of mammoths and giant goats provide much of the giants' food. Surtland's terrain is so changeable that few features last long enough to be named. One notable exception is the Vela Heights, a series of mountain peaks and glacier fields where a group of frost giant wizards, ordinarily solitary beings, have formed something akin to a community. The Vela giants join their magical powers to create defenses that ensure no fire giant ever enters their Heights.

Know locations

 * The Kaldar's Hall.
 * The Vela Heights.

Trivia

 * Surtland is based on Jötunheimr, the realm of the jötnar in Norse mythology.
 * It is also a reference to the Ginnungagap, the primordial void where the meeting of the primordial realms of Muspelheimr and Niflheimr created the cosmos in Norse mythology.
 * The Kaldar's Hall may be a reference to Útgarðar, a stronghold in Jötunheimr said to be connected to Musphelheimr and Niflheimr in some myths.
 * The name Surtland is a combination of Surtr, the name of the ruler of Musphelheimr, and the word land.