View source for Glacier of the White Worm

{{Location
| image              = File:The Glacier of the White Worm.jpg
| caption            = A map showing the location of the Glacier of the White Worm.
| name               = Glacier of the White Worm
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| type               = Glacier
| region             = [[Earthspur Mountains]], [[north Faerûn]]
| size               = {{SI|1200|sq. mi|k|long=yes}}<ref name="tBSL-p33"/>
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The '''Glacier of the White Worm''' was a glacier situated high in the [[Earthspur Mountains]] in [[north Faerûn]], lying between the [[Moonsea]], [[Damara]], [[Impiltur]], and [[the Vast]].<ref name="FRCS1e-p45">{{Cite book/Cyclopedia of the Realms|45–46}}</ref><ref name="FRCS2e-p73">{{Cite book/Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised)/A Grand Tour of the Realms|73}}</ref><ref name="FRCS3e-p107">{{Cite book/Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition|107}}</ref><ref name="tBSL-p33">{{Cite book/The Bloodstone Lands|33}}</ref>

==Geography==
The glacier was a great river of ice that weaved between the tallest mountains of the Earthspurs.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/> On the north-west side, it flowed over a high cliff and spilled into the [[Moonsea]]. In the east, it flowed into [[Lake Icemelt]], which lay in the mountains between Damara and Impiltur.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/> The ice covered an area of approximately {{SI|1200|sq. mi|k|long=yes}}.<ref name="tBSL-p33"/>

As old histories and maps recorded, it was once a part of the [[Great Glacier]], the much larger ice-sheet that lay some {{SI|400|mi|k|long=yes}} to the north.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/><ref name="LEoF-p49">{{Cite book/Lost Empires of Faerûn|49}}</ref><ref name="tGHotR-p45">{{Cite book/The Grand History of the Realms|45}}</ref> Curiously, the Glacier of the White Worm survived at a much lower latitude than its altitude allowed, suggesting that magic or some other force might be involved.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/>

A little-known, hazardous pass on [[Mount Aergurl]] led from near [[Maskyr's Eye]] in the Vast to high chilly valleys and ultimately the Glacier of the White Worm.<ref name="Poly55">{{Cite polyhedron/55/The Everwinking Eye: A Closer Look at Maskyr's Eye|25}}</ref>

==Notable Locations==
The [[Monastery of the Yellow Rose]], also known as the Citadel of the White Worm, lay east of the Glacier of the White Worm.<ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/> Overlooking the glacier, it was built into the rocky side of a jagged mountain peak, one of the tallest in the Earthspurs,<ref name="tBL-p41">{{Cite book/The Bloodstone Lands|41}}</ref><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/> and upon a high plateau.<ref name="RotK-p198">{{Cite book/Rise of the King/Hardcover|198}}</ref>

[[Barroch's Hold]] was a citadel located in the Glacier of the White Worm. This was the fabled lair of [[Barroch]], said to be the first great bandit lord of the [[Inner Sea]].<ref name="FRCS1E-p40">{{Cite book/Forgotten Realms Campaign Set/DM's Sourcebook of the Realms|40}}</ref>

==Inhabitants==
The glacier was inhabited by a great many polar beasts, thanks to its former connection to the Great Glacier.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/> As well as many lesser creatures,<ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/> there were said to be enormous—and dangerous—[[snow spider]]s.<ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/>

Most notably, it was home to a variety of pale, albino [[remorhaz]], which was unique to the region. These "white worms" gave the glacier its name.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/><ref name="tBSL-p22">{{Cite book/The Bloodstone Lands|22}}</ref> Herds numbering a dozen or more could be seen roaming the ice.<ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/> The remorhazes were said to be led by a giant-sized "king" worm that laired in the very center of the ice.<ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/> Adventurers also reported seeing (usually in retreat) unusual remorhazes with heads frilled with long, grasping tentacles.<ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/>

The monks from the Monastery of the Yellow Rose lived near the glacier.<ref name="tBSL-p33"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/>

Some mountain [[barbarian]] tribes lived around the area of the glacier, in particularly the [[White Worm]] tribe.<ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/>

[[Silver dragon]]s laired in the mountains surrounded the glacier, while [[red dragon]]s were also sighted in the area.<ref name="Draco-p36">{{Cite book/Draconomicon (1990)|36,37}}</ref>

==History==
Old maps, such as those made in [[-626 DR|Year of Oaths Forsaken, −626 DR]], showed the Glacier of the White Worm had once joined the greater ice-sheet of the Great Glacier.<ref name="LEoF-p49"/><ref name="tGHotR-p45"/>

After they slew [[Haask, Voice of Hargut]], in [[Ironfang Keep]], [[Bhaal|the assassin]], [[Myrkul|the necromancer]], and [[Bane|the warlord]] were last seen traveling upriver toward the Glacier of the White Worm and lands beyond.<ref name="IfK">{{Cite dragon/361/Realmslore: Ironfang Keep}}</ref><ref group="note">The "Ironfang Keep" article, part of the Realmslore series published on the [[Wizards of the Coast]] website, names this the "Glacier of the White Wyrm", where "[[wyrm]]" usually refers to [[dragon]]s. This is assumed to be an error for the Glacier of the White Worm, which lies relatively close to Ironfang Keep.</ref>

By the [[1038 DR|Year of the Spreading Spring, 1038 DR]], the Great Glacier had retreated from the land of Damara.<ref name="tGHotR-p116">{{Cite book/The Grand History of the Realms|116}}</ref> This led to the separation of the Glacier of the White Worm.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/>

The local [[dwarves]] had a legend of how the dwarf hero [[Aurgus]] killed a remorhaz single-handedly in the Mount Aergurl pass.<ref name="Poly55" /><ref group="note">Although unconfirmed, this could be a white remorhaz from the glacier.</ref>

In the late 1280s DR, an explorer from [[Baldur's Gate]], [[Elbruin Hammertree]], led an expedition into the Earthspur Mountains to look for a way around the Glacier of the White Worm. There, they encountered and destroyed a large insectoid creature that walked upright and was armed with a [[spear]], which they identified as an "[[gelugon|ice daemon]]".<ref name="Poly55" />

==Rumors and Legends==
Unusually, the Glacier of the White Worm lingered on separately from the Great Glacier, much farther south than its altitude warranted,<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/> There were local legends of the glacier being maintained by fell magic and the hunters of Maskyr's Eye warned of an unnatural cold beyond Mount Aergurl.<ref name="Poly55" /> Sages of the mid-to-late 14{{th}} century [[DR]] theorized that potent cold-based [[magic]] or some other force might be the cause of this.<ref name="FRCS1e-p45"/><ref name="FRCS2e-p73"/><ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/><ref name="tBSL-p33"/> Furthermore, they warned of a sinister power at work on or beneath the ice, and that the very safety of [[Faerûn]] could depend on discovering the identity and motive of this agency. This might involve determining the true nature and powers of the so-called white worms that tunneled through the ice.<ref name="FRCS3e-p107"/>

==Appendix==
===Notes===
{{Notes}}

===References===
{{refs}}
[[FR:Glacier du ver blanc]]
[[Category:Glaciers]]
[[Category:Locations in the Earthspur Mountains]]
[[Category:Locations in Damara]]
[[Category:Locations in the Bloodstone Lands]]
[[Category:Locations in the Cold Lands]]
[[Category:Locations in Northeast Faerûn]]
[[Category:Locations in Faerûn]]
[[Category:Locations on Toril]]
[[Category:Locations]]