Great Glacier

The Great Glacier, also called Pelvuria was a large mass of frozen land in northeast Faerûn.

"When traveling in the Great Glacier; it is better to eat the food of the natives than food from home. Native food is filling, better prepared, and best suited for the nutritional requirements for life in extreme climates."

- Palus Frohm

History
The Glacier was created in when the god Ulutiu laid himself to rest in his ice barge in the Cold Ocean, a favorite inland sea of his. The barge sank soon after and the Necklace of Ulutiu, an artifact that he wore, encased his body in ice when his divinity had departed to the Astral Plane.

The Cold Ocean became completely frozen by the necklace's magic over the next seventy five years then, due to a lack of interference from the giant kingdom of Ostoria, encroached upon the land as well. The glacier eventually destroyed the remains of Ostoria (the city of Gharreil was a testimony to its former existence) By the year, the Great Glacier had covered the Cold Lands of Vaasa, Damara, and Narfell with thick ice, driving out the inhabitants, but the expansion was held in check by the High Magic of the elves of Lethyr in.

Some rumors credited the extremely old gold dragon Protanther the creation of the Glacier, as one of his plans to get rid of the evil from Vaasa. Although there was no absolute proof of this, given Protanther's outstanding magical abilities, such a feat was not impossible for him, giving credence to this rumor.

Three thousand years later, in the, the Ice Queen Iyraclea was granted the power to overcome the High Magic by Auril and the glacier began to grow larger once more.

In the, a slight shift in the rotation of Toril caused minor changes to weather around the world. In the Cold Lands, the Great Glacier began to melt and retreat, and the lands of Vaasa, Damara, and Narfell became free of ice for the first time in ages. With the subsequent death of Iyraclea in the, there was nobody to reverse the process, and the Glacier continued to retreat more and more.

In the, one of the great explorers of Vaasan history, Palus Frohm, set out on an exploration of the Great Glacier that lasted for 20 years. Upon his return, he wrote the definitive guide to arctic regions, 'Blood and Ice: Survival in the Great Glacier'. In the a distant descendant of Paulus, Sharra Frohm, set out to follow up her ancestors work with a book that would focus on the perilous Nakvaligach region, which was an area that Palus had been unable to explore fully in his time. Sharra began her solo mission by climbing onto the the Great Glacier approximately 100 miles northeast of the Frozen Forest.

By the late 15 century DR, the melting of the Glacier had begun to reveal monster and undead infested caverns and ruins, the inhabitants of which began to plague northern Vaasa and Damara.

Inhabitants
As of the, Pelvuria hosted several distinct societies in Alpuk, Angalpuk, Nakvaligach, and Novularond. This included three of the four Ulutiun peoples: the Iulutiun people of Alpuk, the Angulutiun of Angalpuk, and the Nakulutiun people of Nakvaligach. In addition, white dragons and frost giants were known to live there.

Regions

 * Alpuk:Also called the Central Basin, Alpuk was the largest of the three regions of the Great Glacier. Mostly an open, vast tundra, it also included the Novularond mountains and the Lugalpgotak Sea and the Nakalpgotak Sea within its borders. The Uppuk River formed its northern border, the Tuutsaas Chain in the west, and the Lugsaas Chain in the south and east.
 * Angalpuk:Another tundra basin, Angalpuk was smaller than Alpuk. It was east of Alpuk, separated from it by the Lugsaas Chain, and bordered in the south and east by the Angsaas Chain. Angalpuk was also home to several forests.
 * Nakvaligach:Sometimes called the "Northern Barrens", Nakvaligach was covered in rocky, mounatinous terrain and icy crevasses. It was located north of Alpuk across the Uppuk River. Its western and eastern borders were Tuutsaas Chain and the Angsaas Chain, respectively.

Mountains

 * The Tuutsaas Chain:One of the three great mountain chains that form the borders of the Great Glacier, the Tuutsaas Chain is the western border of both Alpuk and Nakvaligach. It meets the Lugsaas Chain in the southwest.
 * The Lugsaas Chain:The longest and tallest of the three mountain chains, the Lugsaas Chain forms the southern border of Alpuk and the Great Glacier.
 * The Angsaas Chain:The eastern border of both the Great Glacier, Angalpuk, and Nakvaligach, it overlooks the plains of Sossal to the east.
 * The Novularond:A massive mountain range in the northeastern corner of the Alpuk basin, the center of the Glacier.
 * The Surykyk Range:A small mountain range in south Alpuk.
 * The Lugalpgotak Range:Another small mountain range in Alpuk, the Lugalpgotak Range was situated on the northern shore of the sea of the same name.

Seas

 * The Lugalpgotak Sea:The largest body of water in Pelvuria, this inland sea was located in the middle of Alpuk.
 * The Nakalpgotak Sea:The second-largest body of water on the Glacier, it was located in northeastern Alpuk between the Novularond mountains and Nakvaligach.
 * The Lugotak Sea:An inland sea located in western Alpuk.
 * The Igotak Sea:A triangular-shaped sea northeast of the Glacier of Ulutiu, in western Nakvuligach.
 * The Ahtahqugotak Sea:The smallest inland sea in the Glacier, it was located in the Ibelgrak Valley in south Angalpuk. Notably, it was surrounded by forests.

Other Locations

 * The Glacier of Ulutiu:A 1,000 foot high wall of ice covered in glowing runes created by Ulutiu. It was located just north of the Uppuk River in southwestern Nakvaligach.
 * The Uppuk River:The longest river on the Glacier, it formed most of the boundary between Alpuk and Nakvaligach.
 * Ibelgrak Valley:A forested valley in south Angalpuk, it was avoided by the Angulutiuns despite the abundant wildlife.
 * Iyraclea's Castle:Formed from magical ice, it was occupied by Zaol, an outcast angel, after the Ice Queen's death.
 * Vaalathrim:A lost city, freed from the Glacier by its retreat, full of undead that feed on the heat given off by the living.

Settlements

 * Jukum
 * Lilinuk

Portal to the Ruins of Gharreil
A featureless sheet of ice deep inside a crevice in the Great Glacier marked the entrance to the ruined city of Gharreil. In shadow and darkness, the ice appeared black, but when directly illuminated by the sun overhead, it appeared bright blue and an inscription was revealed. This inscription was written in a large circle on the smooth ice wall, in characters of the ancient giant tongue.

"The city of Gharreil, seat of the Satrap of the Great Glacier, loyal servant of the Emperor of Jhothûn. May the qorrash smile upon it and nurture its mighty works, and continue to favor all of Jhothûn. Let no thieves or heretics enter this gate, for both suffer death in this city."

Rumors & Legends
Some believed that aasimon began construction on an empyreal citadel underneath the ice of the glacier in response to events triggered by the ruins at Hellgate Keep.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Ring of Winter (novel)
 * The Ring of Winter (novel)