Shatterspine Mountains

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[Valan Nonesuch]

Overview

The Shatterspine Mountains (Also occasionally “M’roscal” M’rotha’s Daggers, in classical R’unorian) are the largest range of mountains in the R'unorian Isles, located north-west of Nybelmar. Not mountains in a conventional sense, the near impenetrable Shatterspine range is a maze of brutal limestone daggers, filled with unusual flora and fauna. Recent innovation has allowed limited exploration of the interior, but the range remains largely unmapped and unknown.

Description

The Shatterspine Mountains do not resemble those of mainland Nybelmar, or Sarvonia. While most mountains have a comparatively gentle slope that one could actually stand on, the Shatterspine range is a series of knifepoint spikes with razor sharp edges, ranging from the height and breadth from a small house to pinnacles several dozen peds in height. Individual spikes stand apart from tall and narrow ridges of limestone, all clustered together in alleys so that when seen from on high it resembles the streets and byways of a city.

While generally narrow in some places the spikes are placed wide enough apart to allow whole trees to grow between them, excepting cases when time has caused them to topple over. The action of one of these spikes tipping is no small matter, and can knock over neighbouring spikes.
The effect this creates is one of a vast maze of knife edged spikes, put together in such a way that it is all but impossible to approach anywhere much beyond the edge without flying. Most creatures cannot even begin to climb the "mountains" of the Shatterspines without somehow protecting themselves, as there is rarely such a thing as a safe place to place one's hand.

In some places, shallow depressions, or cracks in the spires have been filled with dirt and allowed plantlife to flourish there. Entire trees have been found clinging to the rocks, or growing in the avenues giving a curious contrast between the white of the limestone spires and the green of the local flora.

It is possible, at the edges of the "mountain" range, to penetrate into the rocky snarl that is the interior but this is generally not advised. The ground around the base of the mountains is mostly a scree of pebbles, sticks and leaves, where it is not entirely choked with the resilient foliage that manages to take root there. Footing is poor and the edges of the rocks have been known to tear gashes as though they were knives.

Extensive exploration of the Shatterspines as has been made has only been done recently. Aided by a curious contraption that has enabled him to ascend, a small basket attached to a large floating bladder, R'unorian explorer Adma'Nsun Rol'id recently managed to achieve a view of much of the southern portion of the range from above.


Location:
The Shatterspine Mountains are located in the Isles of R'unor, on the island of R'unor itself. The Hylphan'xan'ian'krois are located in the northern half of R'unor itself due west of the capital, and almost directly north of the town of Stone-Shallow. They are separated from a smaller range of mountains by the Black Fields in central R'unor.

People:
The nearest habitation to the mountains is the town of Stone-Shallow, which quarries limestone. Stoneshallow is one of the larger settlements on the Isle of R'unor, and is actually built around (and out of and upon) a trio of fallen spikes at the edge of the mountains. These spikes are among the smallest in the range, even before the quarrying began. Two of the smaller spikes have been largely consumed, as paths have been cut out of them, homes and shops built into them and around them while quarrying of the third and some of the neighbouring spikes within the range provide industry for the town.

Flora
The native flora of the Shatterspine Mountains is hardy, there is very little soil and water is absorbed quickly. Cactuses, such as one might expect from an outright desert, thrive in nooks and crannies in the rock. Incredibly tall trees manage to thrive in the alleys between spikes, clogging the passage with roots and branches. The curious creeping leaf vines have been observed colonizing the upper reaches of some spikes. During the early autumn their seeds are carried aloft by the strong winds and scattered to grow elsewhere, where they are considered a troublesome form of weed.

Fauna
The lack of solid footing, the cramped spaces and natural hazards combine to ensure that any sort of terrestrial fauna quite rare. Notable residents include the three-limbed ateline simians, and wide variety of scaly creatures. In the air however, a wide variety of raucous birds of assorted colours have been known to make their nests in the mountains. Insect life is quite abundant, providing food for these birds, including the massive R'unorian rook.

Climate
The climate of the Shatterspines is largely arid. While it does experience copious rainfall, throughout the spring and fall, the porous limestone of the spikes and the scree floor quickly drink it up, leaving little to no standing water. The summer and winter months are both quite dry, during which much of the avian life of the mountains departs in search of food.

Mythology
The peoples of R'unor claim that the Shatterspine Mountains rose up overnight after the people living there angered M'rotha, goddess of the earth and harvest. Because of this M'rotha forbade any creatures to dwell there. She drove the mountains up out of the ground, and made them as sharp as great knives, so that the land would only belong to the birds.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/stone-forest/alvarez-photography

[Shabakuk Zeborius Anfang]

By my troth! I want to go there. It's not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately, although much sooner than I'll learn to memorize the name. The R'unorians devise their place names on the principle of bestowing maximal confusion upon foreigners, I presume?

[Valan Nonesuch]

Some days. I'll have to work on the entry a little more. It (loosely) means "gazing longingly at the method of our destruction" in Styrash.

[Athviaro Shyu-eck-Silfayr]

So you can't get in? Do the spikes form a wall around the edge then? How do we know what the inside is like?

Sorry - that's just been bugging me a bit.

Ath

[Valan Nonesuch]

There's some flying involved.

[Valan Nonesuch]

Fairly basic, but it's done at least.

[Artimidor Federkiel]

Ah yes, very good, Valan! This entry should help us to integrate the Stone-Shallow pic you've reserved in the Faugar thread, eh?

- The Overview is a bit basic, could have some more details for sure! Like size, approximate height, a reference to the M'rotha myth etc.

- Question: Is there any special meaning associated to the strange name of "Hylph'xan'ian'krois"? Looks somehow elven, and would mean something like... uhm... "stare - long - method - war"? Hmm... So who thought that up with what exact purpose in mind?

- In Myth you mention M'rotha - you might want to explain her function a bit, because nobody who's not proficient with R'unorian Gods will know that it's a her and what function she has...

- Your explorer still needs a name!

- Compared to the National Geographic link your provided in mini-size the Stone-Shallow pic looks not that extreme. So maybe you could explain this a bit better that it's somewhat away from the main spikes. The picture would then be one which is associated with the village, put in the People section, but a main pic would still be cool to have eventually.

- Some things to fix:

... ranging from the height and breadth from a small house to to pinnacles several dozen peds in height ...

It is possible, at the edges of the "mountain" range, to penetrate...

Footing is poor and the edges of the rocks have been known to tear gashes as though they were knives.

...some of the neighbouring spikes provide industry for the town.

During the early autumn their seeds ... (This is the last sentence in the Flora section and it ends just this way. Looks like something's missing!)

R'unorian rook (it's a location reference, so capital letter there)

The summer and winter months are both quite dry.

Okeydokey! Well, the entry focuses on the basics, so could surely use some more flesh here and there, especially the Overview is a typical candidate. Make sure to fix the small problems and maybe add a bit more details, then you'll also receive a well deserved aura from here!    

[Valan Nonesuch]

According to the original entry "Hylph'ian'xan'kroi" is supposed to mean "Gazing Longingly at the Method of our Destruction" but it's not exactly conjugated, and I can't really change it since it's on the map.

[Artimidor Federkiel]

Well, I guess it's only on the R'unorian map (which is not shown as part of other maps) and mentioned only once in the R'unor entry. So I'd say it's fine if you have a better name - shouldn't be a problem to change this map

[Mina]

Perhaps the Styrash-looking spelling is a result of early scholars misinterpreting a R'unorian name as a Styrash one?  Although it doesn't really seem to sound much like any of the other R'unorian names mentioned so far either, so maybe not. 

Also, does this mean that the other names on that map could potentially be changed as well?  I don't think most of those names are mentioned elsewhere either. 

[Artimidor Federkiel]

Should be possible with this map still, yup. Though some names might be mentioned elsewhere as well.

[Valan Nonesuch]

@Mina: I tried to work out a better reasoning for the name than that, and since I've done quite a bit of work with it in mind I'll stick with the work I've got done. R'unor's rulling caste/tribe is comprised of hemi-demi-semi-elves descended from some rogue Kayrhem. In the end I hope that "Old R'unorian" before the adoption of any sort of lingua franca, will be a pidgin of Styrash and Kh'omch'rom.

@Art: I've been working (probably quite poorly and inconsistently) on a larger scale map of the island of R'unor, so that's a great help to know. Some of the naming feels just... badly inconsistent.

Edits made though, in Red

[Mina]

Orcish tribes outside of North Sarvonia don't speak Kh'omchr'om, I think.  Aside from that, I guess the pidgin idea is plausible.  Aren't the R'unorians also part human though, if I'm remembering correctly?  Perhaps there should be a human language or two in the mix as well. 

[Artimidor Federkiel]

"Shatterspine Mountains" is a pretty cool name as far as I'm concerned, definitely rolls much better from the tongue than "Hylph'xan'ian'kroi"... So yeah, let's go with that. And in case you can put together a map with adjusted names of what is shown on the current map on site, let me know once you have it, then this map can be replaced.

This sentence in your edits puzzled me a bit, Valan:

While generally narrow in some places the spikes are placed wide enough apart to allow whole trees to grow between them, excepting cases when time has not caused them to topple over.

Shouldn't it be more like

While generally narrow in some places the spikes are placed wide enough apart to allow whole trees to grow between them, except in cases when time has not caused them to topple over.

Would make more sense methinks. Unless I missed something...

[Valan Nonesuch]

Yeah, what happens when you start writing a little too late at night I think.

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