The World Spine

Ancient authors write of this area as a vast forest and this is corroborated by the bits and pieces of information that can be extracted from the older elven tribes. The elves contend that the mountain range is the creation of humans.
It is unclear what they mean by this and human scholars have thrown out a multitude of theories to explain this assertion.

1. Creation of the Human Gods - A less literal explaination could be that the human gods expanded an existing mountain range, creating the large mountainous expanse whose foothills spread further than any current empire. The elves often speak of all humans as one homogeneous group so it is possible they do the same to our gods.
2. Portent of the Rise of Humanity - The long lives of elves give them a fluid understand of time and of cause and effect. The growing mountains could have pushed back the forest, signaling and end of elven dominance giving way to humanity.
3. Human Magic - Human tribes littered the area even during the dominance of the elves. LIttle is known about them but it is possible that they had access to powerful nature magic. Bit by bit the tribes could have spread the mountains as a means of protection. This could also explain why the dwarves sided with the Hyperboreans as they invaded the lands from the north.

One thing remains clear, that to have any hope of learning the secrets of the World Spine, it will require on-location exploration combined with powerful divination magic. Attempts to use scrying and crystal balls have revealed only surface level views. Great vistas but no deeper answers. Even the gods have been silent.