Earn your character's Queen victory before exploring the Ashlands.
Your own Queen progression unlocks the Ashlands for your character. Entering the biome before you have that credit causes an escalating heat penalty, even if another Viking in the world has already defeated her. Fight the Queen with your character close enough to receive the victory, then prepare for the Ashlands' normal dangers.
Stone portals inaccessible
In order to use stone portals, typically placed in Portal Hub for destinations to Ashlands, you need first to have explored Ashlands and learned the crafting recipe yourself.