Crystal Caverns

Below Ry'gorr Keep is the entrance to the ancient caverns. Much of the caverns is formed of Velium, which is said to have been created when Veeshan breathed upon Velious. The snow orcs occupy the upper reaches and have built fortifications in the caverns to prevent attack from below. Even so, orc guards commonly disappear without a trace. Horrors unknown lurk below in the unexplored areas.

When the Frost Giants began their conquest of Velious, the Coldain were one of their primary targets. After a long and bloody siege, the Frost Giants broke into the fortress of Froststone and almost succeeded in wiping the Coldain from the face of Norrath.

The dwarves that escaped fled in the only direction they could, deeper into the earth. While hiding in the frigid caverns, a Coldain miner by the name of Glight Snowchipper received a vision from Brell. The vision consisted of a labyrinth of ice where the dwarves could hide from the Frost Giants. All of the walls in the maze would be translucent so that the invading giants would become easily disoriented and fall into the many death-traps the dwarves would implement.

These caverns of crystal would be the salvation of the Coldain race. And so Glight presented his idea to Dain Frostreaver IV and construction began. The Crystal Caverns were completed in a little under half a century's time. The timeliness of the project alone was proof to the Coldain that Glight had indeed been inspired by Brell. The true test of the cavern's effectiveness came thirty years later, when, by following a trade caravan of Coldain, the Frost Giants discovered the location of the Crystal Caverns.

Slagd Frozentoe of the Frost Giants led an invasion force of 250 warriors to the cavern, hoping to wipe the hated Coldain from Velious once and for all. Glight Snowchipper himself spearheaded the defense of the Coldain, leading the Frost Giants deep into the confusing caverns. His magical pickaxe, aptly named Snowchipper, felled many a giant's kneecap as the dwarves struck repeatedly from hidden passages and around hard to see corridors.

Despite losing more than two-thirds of his forces, Slagd and the remaining giants had almost made it to the Coldain city in the center of the caverns when Glight pulled off his greatest and final trick. Thirty thousand tons of ice and stone crashed into Slagd and the remaining giant troops after Glight and a few of his brave miners led them down a false passage. Unfortunately, it was an act of self sacrifice, as the dwarf and his fellows were also buried in the caused avalanche. To this day the cavern is known as Glight's Fall both for the blessed miner and because the appearance of the cavern now looks as if a giant waterfall has been frozen over it.