Dunhart Range
The Dunhart mountain range sits in central-west Vorago, and is home to the dwarven nation of Dunheim.
While the mountain range is steep, dry, rocky, and relatively inhospitable on the outside, it houses multiple massive cave systems which the dwarves use as the basis for their kingdom.
Geography
The Hollow Peaks are a very steep family of mountains in a roughly circular cluster. No glaciers (but some seasonal snow) cap their peaks, and while small rivers do run along the bottoms of the valleys the mountains are mostly rocky and dry.
The natural cave systems inside the mountains often have high ceilings with multiple levels of stone ledges along the sides, but there are plenty of smaller winding systems which connect them. Most explored caves and tunnels have been significantly widened, lit, and decorated with dwarven stonework, but there are plenty of insignificant unexplored caves, especially as one descends further down.
The central mountain, Moradin's Heart, is an active volcano.
Ecosystem
The Dunhart range sports sparse temperate forests through its valleys, but is mostly short grass, shrubs, and lichen on the actual mountain slopes. Animals here are similar to those in the Rocky or Andes mountain ranges on earth; bighorn sheep, wild pigs, mountain lions, and many other mammals. The apex predators are the various winged monsters, from giant eagles (most common), to griffins and perytons, to even a few Roc (very rare).
The ecosystem in the caves has mostly been squashed by Dwarven expansion, but river-fed cave ecosystems (and their predators) remain conserved in the deeper caves).
Climate
The weather in the Dunhart range is harsh but predictable. It's cold and snowy in the winter and dry and hot in the summer.
Sandstorms will occasionally roll in from The High Desert in the east, but the will usually weaken significantly by the time they reach the mountains.
Natural Resources
The Dunhart mountains are rich in iron and precious stones.
They are also rich in energy sources: magma from the volcano, wind for windmills on the slopes, and fast rivers to power waterwheels in the valleys.
History
The Dunhart range, despite being a nearly perfect home for many dwarven cultures, was not settled by them until just before the rise of the Erythraean empire (~500 TE).
There is much scholarly debate about the origin of the mountain range; geology estimates it to be as old as the other large range on Vorago (the Mak'ik Mountains), but some clerics claim it was formed recently as a gift to dwarvenkind, and still others suggest the whole range was once a single massive mountain which only recently "collapsed".
Alternative Name(s)
The Hollow Peaks
Type
Mountain Range
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Related Ethnicities
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