The Hibestian Range is a mountain range of cold and ice that lies east of the Glass Mountains, and west of the Northern Sea[1]. It is one of the ranges that make up the Great Mountains. It takes hearty people to live there. It is the home to a race of giants that includes Dunstan and mountain trolls.
Background[]
The Hibestian Range is a range on the continent of Serenia, that lies just beyond the Glass Mountains. The land rises again beyond a valley between the Glass Mountains and the Hibestian Range, not nearly as tall as the glass peaks, the cluster of dark mounts are blunt, rough affairs of black stone and twisted trees. Great boulders lay in heaps about their base, and on several slopes are the openings of caves. They were a cluster of strange broken peaks. Just beyond the dark peaks is the hidden valley once known as the Kingdom of Sorrow. The valley has since returned to being just another valley with a cave opening.
The Hibestian Range is a fierce cold spot. Even the giants can find themselves turned into an icehogle when the wind comes down from the peaks. For those living there, it pays to have a way of making fire in a pinch.[2]
Dunstan was living high in the mountains when he was discovered by Kuzgu.[3] He was lead by the creature down to the Sorrowing Court. He later marched for his own home after the Sorrowing Court was destroyed.[4] Giants from the Hibestian Range have a unique ability of creating sparks by rubbing their beards between their hands useful for making fires in such a cold climate. The Vale of Obscurity is a valley in the Hibestian Range, and was the former home of Ice Fairies.[5]After the faeries left no one ever visited the vale again (or at least it is believed no one had ever been there again). It was supposed to be a difficult place to find in the first place.
It appears to be one of the lesser ranges that make up the Great Mountains and which separates the continent into three parts. It is said that giants live in the Great Mountains above the clouds. The Hibestian range may include the Land of the Clouds (where Graham once encountered a giant), the Frozen Reaches a land on the top of an ancient volcano known for its cold and ice (as the highest elevations on the continent), and stretch as far north into Icebella's realm as well... A hidden and mysterious valley with strange huts can be found to the east of her realm, near where the Rocs dwell (which could be the potential location of the Vale of Obscurity or the Valley of Diamonds where the diamond hunters live).
The Hibestian Range lies about three thousand miles east of the coast of the Sea of Barnacles, where the Ice Fairies moved to after their vale was destroyed.
Behind the scenes[]
It seems that Dunstan's home is the mountain ranges surrounding the Kingdom of Sorrow, in context we learn that he was lead into the valley where the Kingdom of Sorrow from the mountains above it. When Dunstan separated from Graham's group to return to his home high in the mountains; the Hibestian Range, Graham's group went south and skirted the southern edge of the Glass Mountains to avoid crossing the dangerous mountains. This would suggest that Dunstan must have headed in the opposite direction (or remained in the mountains) or he would have remained in Graham's group. He probably didn't have to go very far. Based on the noticeable topography on Derek Karlavaegen's maps, he could have travelled north (it is not likely he would have traveled into the glass mountains, as no life grows there), though he could have traveled to the western peaks between the Glass Mountains and the Sorrow valley, and less likely he have traveled too far east as that would have brought him to the sea.
It seems likely, that the black mounts beyond the Glass Mountains that lie both before and beyond the valley where Kingdom of Sorrow was located are the Hibestian Range. He had to come down from those peaks into the valley, and later climb back into the peaks. Suggesting that his home in the high mountains of the Hibestian Range are not very far from the valley.
There are hints that the dark mounts and peaks surrounding the Kingdom of Sorrow are generally much colder, but at the time the Fairy Queen's magic was affecting the region somewhat (she was also leaving a trail of green foliage and flowers for Graham to follow).
It is possible that the Kingdom of Sorrow was built in the remains of the destroyed Vale of Obscurity.