The rocky Skaag Hills lie to the west of the River Bögen and run along the southern bank of the Reik before falling beneath the trees of the Duchy of Gorland. Near the centre, the Reikwald recedes from the stony crags and layers of stratified rock rise to the scree-laden highlands of the Prie Ridge. A single road crosses the gentler slopes of the Skaag Hills to the south, starting at Trosreut in the shadow of Castle Grauenberg and wending its way through to Holthausen, but many minor tracks and trails also cross the region, most of which started as goat tracks.[1a][1b]
Once, the hillsides were bustling with small mines boasting rich veins of silver and iron. Down through the centuries most of these played out, leaving many abandoned settlements, many of which the forest reclaimed. Locals now approach such ruins cautiously, for hunters, outlaws, and far more sinister folk are said to make use of what intact buildings remain.[1b]