The Black Mountains

The countries of Opron and Stale sit only a few dozen miles apart from one another, and are each defined by the massive mountain ranges that define the lines between them.

The range which defines the border of Stale, a typically rocky and cold country in the north of the continent of Rethium, is known to the public as The Black Mountains.

These mountains tower thousands of feet into the air above sea level, and are properly named because of the color of the stone and other minerals that make up the surface of the lengthy mountain ranges. From a great distance, they appear black in contrast to the pure white snow that eternally blankets the upper reaches and the peaks of the mountains from one end of the range to the other.

This range of mountains sits adjacent to the Minorian Mountains, named after the Kitsune adventurer who first walked them and charted the pass into Opron. This adventurer was named Michi Minori, which roughly translated to "Pathway of Truth; A happenstance name for such a trustworthy and able adventurer who was the guiding force behind the coming inhabitance of the great grassland country of Opron.

But the difference between the Black Mountains and the Minorian Mountains is very noticeable, in part for the vegetation - or the lack of vegetation - that existed on one over the other. The Black Mountains are notable for being hostile, bleak and not as protected by vegetation and greenery as the Minorian Mountains, but there is a notable stretch of woods that crowns the foothills of the mountains along almost the entire length, shrouding them in a skirt of dark, desolate green for as far as the eye can see. These mountains begin at the edge of the borders of Stale and Athad where, when entering the latter they are known as the Black Wall and the Grey Wall on the eastern region and western region respectively.

There exists one mountain peak which crowns higher than all others, and this peak is called Unione's Rest after the deity which is believed to take residence there inside a large cave that they had found many millennia before, during the historic period of time known as the Pantheonic Age, which was akin to the biblical ages of the world before the official writing and publishing of the holy texts that the people of Rethium would come to use in worship of the many gods and goddesses who were known to have come to power to form and control the world.

This peak towers some twenty-five-thousand feet above sea level, and is located within the lowest reaches of the planet's stratosphere, meaning that the peak of the mountain resides in the planet's "Death Zone", where oxygen is severely limited and even the most hardened of species and humanoid races may not survive for long periods of time. Over the centuries that have passed, hundreds expeditions have sought to reach the summit of the mountain in order for members of the various races to make the claim that they have done their race an honor by ascending the great mountain and seeing the very top of the world near one of the most revered and holy pilgrimage sites on the planet, amongst others.

Type

Mountain Range