Vesta Hollow

A sheltered depression between two dormant vents where hot springs have created an unexpectedly lush pocket of ferns and moss. Vesta Hollow is the Ashen Spine's only place of genuine comfort — travelers from Taldrin Pass and Cinder Vale alike detour here to rest and heal. Within the Ashen Spine, this site is part of the long chain of forge-towns, quarries, and iron-vein settlements that work the world's oldest forges from Ironmark down to Old Varr. The smoke is the climate. The Fray here is physical — cracks open in the rock, tunnels appear that were not there the day before — and the Cleaved is the regional consequence. Forge guilds keep their own records, and they keep them close.