Western Spine // Regions // XSOULONE

Map

Regional detail

Population

About 3,800 · draft

52%

Stoneborn

Deep-hold miners, stonewrights and the old families of Varrowdeep

28%

Human

Prospectors, traders, river miners and the pass garrison

9%

Beastkin

Mountain guides and hunters who know every goat-path

6%

Construct

Ancient ore-haulers still working the deep shafts

5%

Drakari

The roost on West Peak 2; they keep apart from the lowlanders

Places

mountain range

Western Spine South

Southern continuation of western highlands.

major peak

Starter Mining Region

Starter-accessible mineral region on the Spine's eastern foothills: the first place new players dig, a short walk west of Aetherial...

About 220

pass fort · draft

Cairnwatch

A walled fort astride the only cart-road through the eastern Spine, built around a tall stone cairn that every traveller adds a stone...

About 640

lair · draft

Ossvein's Throat

A vast natural shaft that drops straight down through the middle of the Spine. The Stoneborn say the Delving Wyrm bored it, and that...

None · Levels 18+ (raid)

aerie · draft

Skyrest Aerie

A Drakari roost of open terraces cut into the cliffs of West Peak 2, reachable only by the sky-stair or on wings. The Drakari mine the...

About 170

river camp · draft

Sluice Hollow

A ramshackle mining camp of sluices and water-wheels where the Western River leaves the mountain. Crews wash river gravel for Keisai,...

About 380

abandoned mine · draft

The Hollowing

Once Varrowdeep's richest outer mine. A collapse sealed a shift of miners inside a generation ago; when the Hold reopened it, the lost...

None living · Levels 8–14

deep-hold · draft

Varrowdeep

A Stoneborn city carved down into the roots of West Peak 1, nine levels deep. Its upper gate looks east over the whole Spine; its lowest...

About 2,400

Materials

Material families →

Tetsuei — Everywhere below the tree line; richest in Varrowdeep and The Hollowing

The Spine's signature ore — dense, dark and heavy. Most of the kingdom's armour starts here.

Hakusho — High caves around Skyrest Aerie

Clear veins that carry Aether cleanly; prized by glyph-crafters.

Keisai — River gravel at Sluice Hollow

Washed down from the Western River Source; glows faintly in running water.

Denseki — Storm-struck summits of both West Peaks

Forms where lightning hits the ridge; holds a charge for days.

Kokusho — Only in the deepest seams near Ossvein's Throat

Rare and dangerous to work; miners say it drinks lamplight.

Bestiary

9 creatures

Common · Lv 1–3 · draft

Glowmoth Swarm

Clouds of pale moths drawn to Keisai veins. Prospectors follow them at night to find new seams.

Drops: Keisai Dust, Moth Silk

Common · Lv 1–4 · draft

Shalecrawler

A long, plated grazer that scrapes ore-lichen off rock faces. Harmless unless cornered, but its plates are half...

Drops: Tetsuei Ore, Shale Plate

Uncommon · Lv 6–10 · draft

Cragmaw Lynx

A big grey cat of the scree slopes that ambushes from above at dusk. Beastkin guides count its scratch-marks before...

Drops: Cragmaw Pelt, Lynx Fang

Uncommon · Lv 5–9 · draft

Quartzback Ram

Mountain rams whose horns grow out in clear Hakusho crystal. Rutting season fills the high meadows with the sound of...

Drops: Hakusho Ore, Crystal Horn

Rare · Lv 10–14 · draft

Galecrest Wyvernling

Small storm-drakes that nest on the summits and feed on lightning. The Drakari of Skyrest tolerate them; everyone...

Drops: Denseki Crystal, Charged Scale

Rare · Lv 8–13 · draft

Veinwraith

The echoes of miners lost in The Hollowing's collapse. Each one repeats its last shift — the same swing, the same...

Drops: Lantern Shard, Echo Dust

Elite · Lv 14–17 · draft

Ironhide Basilisk

A heavy lizard that eats Tetsuei ore and grows a living iron hide. Its stare sets anything it watches too long as...

Drops: Tetsuei Crystal, Basilisk Eye

Elite · Lv 13–15 (dungeon boss) · draft

Slagjaw Golem

An ore-hauler construct that went wrong in the dark of The Hollowing. It still collects ore — and anything else that...

Drops: Refined Tetsuei, Hauler Core

Mythic · Lv 18+ (raid) · draft

Ossvein, the Delving Wyrm

A colossal earth-wyrm whose tunnelling hollowed out the Western Spine. The Stoneborn of Varrowdeep do not hunt it;...

Drops: Kokusho Gem, Wyrm Scale (Tetsuei Resonant), Delver's Fang

Quests

All quests →

Lv 2

Main · Gather · draft

First Pick

Walk the west road to the Starter Mining Region and learn to read a rock face before you cut it.

Delver Tamm Orrick Lv 5

Main · Escort · draft

A Stone for the Cairn

An ore cart needs an escort up the west trade road to Cairnwatch. Cragmaw Lynx have been taking the slow ones.

Captain Ressa Vane Lv 9

Main · Story · draft

The Ninth Level

The Hold-Keeper wants to know why The Hollowing's seams started humming again — and why Hauler Nine came back alone.

Hold-Keeper Brenna Thask Lv 13

Dungeon · draft

Shift's End

Go into The Hollowing, let the lost miners finish their shift, and stop the hauler that went wrong.

Hold-Keeper Brenna Thask Lv 18+

Raid · draft

Don't Dig Too Deep

Someone cut Kokusho near the Throat. The Delving Wyrm is waking, and the whole Spine is shaking.

Hold-Keeper Brenna Thask Lv 4

Side · Gather · draft

The River Shines

Follow the Glowmoths at night to a Keisai vein nobody has claimed yet.

Foreman Odo Lark Lv 12

Side · Gather · draft

Storm-Glass

Climb the sky-stair and harvest Denseki from the summit of West Peak 2 while the storm is still on it.

Wing-Elder Saroth

Record

Type

mountain range

Parent

Western Highlands

Compass

west

Source

DT XSO MasterWorldGeography

Climate

Cold and windy on the ridges, thin air above the tree line, summer storms that strike the summits; pine and scree on the lower slopes.

Essence Affinity

FracturePulse

Landmarks

West Peak 1 West Peak 2 Western River Source Western Spine South

Routes

Western trade road: Aetherial Towne → Starter Mining Region → Cairnwatch → VarrowdeepRiver path: Sluice Hollow down the Western River into the Central River BasinSky-stair: goat-paths from Varrowdeep to Skyrest Aerie (guides only)

Hazards

Rockslides after stormsThin air above 3 km (stamina drains faster)Denseki lightning on the summitsCave-ins and Veinwraiths in The Hollowing

Allegiance

Under the protection of the Kingdom of Behemoth: Varrowdeep pays an ore-tithe through Cairnwatch, but none of the Spine's holds is one of the twelve chartered settlements.