Göttdonnersbirgen

Thunder God's Mountain Range

"Up there, on the highest slopes, live only the Kaiser Drakes and the few beasts they allow to share their mountainsides. Stay off the mountain, my love, lest the mountain keep you." - Common Warning to Children of Franzburg

Göttdonnersbirgen, more commonly referred to as the Thunder God's Mountain Range, is the large span of mountains that runs the center length of Das Konigreich. Many believe them to be a split continuation of the Worldspine to the Northwest. There are nine major peaks currently charted alongside a collection of smaller mountains and rolling foothills. Similar to the Worldspine, no active volcanoes have been identified, yet ancient records tell the presence of at least two buried within the mountain range with their exact location lost to time.
The mountains are often harsh in their landscapes, which are only exacerbated by the presence of the Göttsturms. Forests are few and far between with wooded areas rarely rising above the feet of the mountains. The rocky climbs offer few shelter areas outside of the rare overhang or lightning crater. Even the few established mines within Göttdonnersbirgen often lose their trails and shelters through the combined wrath of the storms and local fauna.
Many varieties of Drakes and tunneling Wurms can be found on the mountain, alongside the occasional Roc. Perhaps more famous than the mountains themselves would be the legendary beasts that call them home, the Kaiser Drakes. Known and feared throughout the entire world as the deadliest Magickal Beasts on land, their nests are believed to be hidden amongst the peaks of the mountains, where the Göttsturms strike hardest. Many powerful adventurers come to venture into the mountains and achieve the title of Kaisermörder only for their bones to be scattered amongst the rocks.
There is virtually no flora to be found throughout the Göttdonnersbirgen beyond the forests at the base of the mountains. The most notable, and perhaps the only flower worth noting, would be the Blitzbluhme. These flowers have long stalks that can reach several feet in the air and are adorned with brilliantly blue petals. They can absorb the lightning from the storms directly and channel them through their long, shallow roots. These electrical pulses have been found to foster the growth of a variety of mushrooms in the Blitzbluhme fields which are considered a delicacy in town and a lifesaver on the trail.
Despite all of the dangers present throughout the Göttdonnersbirgen, adventurers still find themselves drawn to the mountain range, in search of fame, knowledge, or just the thrill of death within.

Effects of the Göttsturms

Although the terrible tornadoes that often accompany the storms can not make their way up the mountains, this has not stopped the storms from making the Göttdonnersbirgen an even more perilous place. The lightning bolts strike with such intensity upon the mountain that they can leave veritable craters pock-marked across the landscape. Torrential deluges of rain cause false rivers to form and erode long fissures through the sides of the mountains. Ancient texts have revealed that the peaks used to be among the highest in the world, even contending with those in the northern end of the Worldspine, but the severe erosion after millennia of the Göttsturms has left them as a shadow of their former selves.

Profitable Veins

The few mines established within the mountain range have led to the discovery of huge veins of copper within the mountains. This material, while still valued highly for its use in making bronze throughout the rest of Nora, holds extreme value to the craftsmen of Das Konigreich. Copper is one of the main materials in the magickal apparatus used to combat the Göttsturms. The most notable of these apparatus would be the lightning rods found throughout all major cities in the country. Although magickal enchantment is still necessary for their production, copper and its wonderful conductivity form the core of each of these.