Antonica · EverQuest (original release)
Permafrost Keep
A ruined ice giant castle sinking into the glaciers of the far north, now a warren of goblins sworn to Lady Vox, one of Antonica’s two great dragons.
The buried castle
Permafrost Keep lies far in the northern tundra of Antonica. It was an ancient ice giant castle, now fallen into ruin and buried by the glaciers that are slowly claiming the north. What remains is the rediscovered parts of the old castle and a warren of caves dug by goblins who owe fealty to the great white dragon Lady Vox. Ice giants still live deep below in the cold, attending on their mistress.
Monsters run from about level 15 to 60: ice goblins of every caste, from mendicants and diviners to evokers, priests, prelates and elite guards; giant woolly spiders; dire wolves of every size; giant polar bears; icy terrors; and ice giants, youths, magi and priests.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Permafrost Keep · Allakhazam: Permafrost Keep (zone)
Goblins everywhere
Like other goblin dungeons, Permafrost always has a crowd of goblins standing or wandering wherever you are. That makes it very hard to solo, and many of the goblins are casters who can see through invisibility. Groups need to be ready for a constant onslaught.
Experienced groups settled in the Flag Room, named for the banner on an ancient pole in its middle, and pulled from it and the room beyond while staying against the wall, though a careless pull could bring five spellcasting goblins at once. Soloists found two safer spots: near the Goblin Alchemist, where rangers from afar waited for him to spawn, and the King’s Room, where King Thex’Ka IV holds court and a patient player could pull along the front wall.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Permafrost Keep · Allakhazam: Permafrost Keep (zone)
Lady Vox
One of the two dragons of Antonica lives in the depths of Permafrost. Lady Vox is guarded by aggressive ice giants, and her lair is protected by pit traps that drop the unwary into an underground area of dire wolves, polar bears and icy terrors. The EQ Atlas warns that killing her takes several coordinated, well-balanced groups, and notes, with some distaste, the server-wide lists kept for who got to fight her next.
Her rival in the south is Lord Nagafen; Allakhazam’s record also names the Priest of Nagafen and High Priest Zaharn among the keep’s figures. Their story is told in Nagafen and Vox.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Permafrost Keep · Allakhazam: Permafrost Keep (zone)
The way in
There is one way in and out: tunnels leading from the ancient castle ruins on the eastern border of Everfrost. There are two ways to reach them. Straight through the castle is shortest but most dangerous, because several ice giants usually stand guard in that tunnel. The other route is a small tunnel along Everfrost’s northern wall that winds through old passages and joins the main exit past the guards, through a secret door.
Despite its remoteness, the keep drew travellers from all over Norrath for rare items found nowhere else: crystalline weapons, white dragon scales, mammoth hide armour and the treasures of Vox herself.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Permafrost Keep · EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Everfrost Peaks · Allakhazam: Permafrost Keep (zone)
Lore tied to this zone
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Permafrost Keep · Allakhazam: Permafrost Keep (zone)