The Colossus Reach

To the Northern region of Sear, settled snugly between the lush Verdant Expanse and the ever dry Aru Desert sits a range of rocky landscapes, spanning miles of ravines as deep as the mountains are high. You find yourself walking the “roads” of giant kin in the Colossus Reach. Very few wildlife can be deemed small game, as a number of pronghorns and giant goats can roam the area, sometimes even herded by the mountain born Goliaths. Regular predators and scavengers alike are also not uncommon from being large-sized; bears, vultures, lynxes and even coyotes seem to grow into bigger and meaner forms. The landscapes also pose a threat, as the steep drops and chilly mountaintops could prove as fatal as any animal. It’s as if the range of mountains almost embodies the idea that only the strongest survive, and to survive is to show you are the strongest.

Geography

The mountains ranges that span the Colossus Reach climb past the sky itself, the canyons that plumb the depths seem bottomless. The rocky terrain and high altitudes host little vegetation but are draped with natural dangers. Rock slides, snowstorms, and earthquakes can ravage those who do not know the travel of mountain ranges. What's more, the caves and tunnels dig through the mountains to reveal various interiors such as mazes of earth formations and magma chambers at times. Water comes from limited, but various forms: water stored in crags of stone, underground lakes, and natural precipitation being among these. The geography is challenging to live in, a testament to the wills of the giants and the strength of the beasts who want to survive.

Ecosystem

The treacherous terrain gives way to many beasts and monsters who can manage to traverse the area quickly and efficiently; large rams capable of leaping from one cropping of stone to the next, giant eagles that soar above the natural dangers, and the predators who vary between slipping into the tiniest space to barrelling through any obstacle ahead of them on brute strength alone. While scarce, there is enough vegetation and feed to sustain the food chain at the basic level and keep the herbivores as well-fed as the carnivores, though most giant goats have turned to be omnivores at this point.

Most mountain tops stay in a cyclical snowdrift, but there are points where the sun can beat down as hot as the Aru Desert beside the range, usually in warmer seasons across Sear. Despite this, many of the animals have kept a well set migration through the year and their natural adaptations help them through the cold or darker areas of The Colossus Reach.

Other predators of course roam the mountain range in hunt of food. Be wary of remhorazz, cold elementals, and burrowers of all sorts when traversing the surface and tunnels, neither is the sky safe as large avians like giant eagles or maybe even a roc. Monsters are more ravenous and fearsome to a wandering party, especially in a land where every morsel must be savored.

Localized Phenomena

Natural disasters like snowstorms and earthquakes can be common in this terrible home. Though for its terrors, the view atop a mountain, seeing the night sky on a clear day where the mountain tops seem to touch the light of the stars makes it almost beautiful.

History

The shaping of the mountains perhaps took eons of weathering, or maybe a great flood carved the stone in one great wash. Regardless, the mountains of the Colossus Reach are packed with historical value. They show signs of life dating back to the times when the Verdant Expanse first gained its magical property. The powerful beasts and giant humanoids that began to populate the range developed the land as a prime hunting ground spanning miles where giants and beast alike fought daily for their survival against each other and nature. Mixed results have come from Giant Kin interactions in the past and have left a very wild impression of the Colossus Reach.

Alternative Name(s)

Saavuta Jättiläinen

Type

Mountain Range

Location under

Sear

Contested By

• Giants of the Colossus Reach