Escarian Mountains

The Escarian Mountains is in reality an extensive ridgeline that juts out in a southwesterly direction from the Abjurer Mountains. With an average height of four-thousand meters (4,000 m ~= 13,000 ft) the peaks of the mountains consist of snow-covered rock. Stripped of all trees and covered with only the most bare of grasses the mountain range appears to rise up, stripped, from the jungle and savanna at its base.

The mountains of the Escarian Ridge sharply rise to peaks with extensive cliff sides. These mountains did not rise from lowlands, surrounded by a network of hills and valleys. Instead it appears as two hands crashing together and forcing everything between out and up from them.

Unlike the most of the mountains in the Abjurer, there is no volcanic activity in the Escarian. There is evidence of past activity, including a blown-top event, but the ridge shows no signs of reawakening.

Like the rest of the Abjurer Mountain range, the Escarian holds large deposits of salt and ore. Copper and Tin are ores mined in these mountains. There is a large vein of coal, but something lives there and even taking from the surface rouses its wrath. Nobody knows what it is only that “stealing” from its vein means a horrific death - the local rathari just refer to it as the Night Serpent.

Even among the lower peaks the land of these mountains provide poor soil and dangerous rock slides. Most of the rock is flinty and when it breaks an entire slab can tumble down crushing all in its way. Pock-marked with crevices and caves there are places to seek shelter from the winter storms, but few places that are not prone to collapse. The rathari say the surface of the mountain is always changing always speaking with a new voice.

Called Ouderling by the rathari that live in the peaks this is the highest peak in the ridgeline. Topping out at fourty-two hundred meters (4,200 m) even its shoulders are higher than anything around it. The rathari also say the mountain is cantankerous and spiteful most days. Large storms seem to gather about the peak several times a years. These are always the worst storms of the region, pelting the land with ice balls and covering the ground with a dense fog. The temperature can drop ten to twelve degrees (10-12^oC = 15^oF) in less than an hour when the Old Man is roused.

The Voë'wye among the rathari is actually nearly a dozen small peaks at the very end of the ridgeline and splays outward. When seen from above it looks a majestic bird with its wings spread wide. Over generations rathari artists have carved away the stone around the mountain making it appear even from the ground as a great bird. The copper in the rock has colored the rock a brilliant green making the entire sculpture seem that much more alive.

The Jukka bird is the most holy place among the followers of The Wind.

There are three distinct season among the peaks.

The Spring Season is marked by frequent and heavy rains. Most of the rainfall on the mountain happens during this season. Streams and filled and the mountain marked with hundreds of new rivers running for the savanna below. The rock slides of the previous winter creates new waterfalls and stream beds.

The Summer Season is marked by the cessation of the near daily rains and explosion of color among the newly grown grasses. The mountain is not warm over the summer, it is never warm, but it warm enough for the animals to exit their caves and burrows. The Summer is the longest season lasting over half of the year.

The Winter is the season to hide. Cold storms brew over the Old Man and lash the mountain with ice and near freezing rain. Thunder shakes the ground and lightning breaks apart rocks. Animals only come out when forced or to grab the last of the food that remains. Thankfully this is the shortest season lasting typically only two and a half months (2½ months).

The few plants and even fewer trees that live among the rocks are little more than thin bushes and grasses. During the spring and early summer the grasses can grow high enough to hide the taller animals, but the harsh winters strip the lands. Those few plants growing here spread out during the few pleasant months among the rocks and poor soil.

Unlike the flora the number of animals that live in the mountains is more numerous, but not more diverse. Small rodents and the things that feed on them make up the largest segment of population. Mos of the species will hibernate during the winter or at least seal themselves up in burrows. The rathari have bred both mountain goats and alpaca that can survive in these conditions, but even they must be taken further down the mountain during the winter.

it is said the creature that lives in the coal of the mountain is a night serpent. The coal vein serves as both its burrow and food source. Unlike the venom of other serpents the Night Serpent has a mouthful of fangs that burn as hot as any volcanic rock. It is the smell or gas or rotten meat that first alerts someone the Night Serpent is near - hopefully slumbering. Fiercely territorial the rathari of Y'bome know its grounds and respect them.