Revenant's End Mountains
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Las Ondas: The Mountain Regions
They say the mountains were created by the Dusk. As to how, or by whom, the stories are too conflicting to make out, even by the most practiced scholars. Blanketed by trees on gentle slopes, rocky scree on their harsh faces; the peaks are reminiscent of waves cresting, moments before they break and crash down onto a beach. Local bloodlines claim to have lived here long before the Dusk, stubbornly refusing to leave their homes even as the earth erupted underneath their feet. Whether surviving by miracle or magic or if these are nothing but tall tales told to outsiders, Las Ondas and the people of this place stubbornly refuse to be understood.
Far to the North lies the Caldera, the once-largest city of the mountains near a noteworthy volcanic peak that powered productive mines, providing natural heat and fire necessary to process metal. But against all expectations and hopes, the volcano’s activity has abruptly come to an end, cooling. As it dies, so too do its mines, and its city; leaving the able-bodied and wealthy to seek better opportunities further south.
The place most open to outsiders and other newcomers, the regional capital of Torncliff, is nestled within a valley surrounded by metalworking factories and lumbermills, which have denuded the local landscape of the easily accessible timber. Most lumber is allocated to construction and furnace-fuel for Torncliff’s many mining companies. Heavy metal ingots and bags of minerals are carted from these, through the passes, to the main roads. There, the coaches are besieged by gangs of bandits, targeting gold and silver and even the unwary traveller. The remoteness, rough terrain and seasonality of roads make it difficult for law-folk to respond to these crimes. Unable to track bandits through the remote and difficult terrain, and treated with suspicion by locals, much of Arc’s protective forces have withdrawn to dedicated stations in main towns, leaving transport of goods a time-consuming, dangerous, and expensive process for mine owners.
Perhaps it is for this reason that rogues, rebels, and other troublemakers have made the mountains their home. Or perhaps they follow hopefully in the footsteps of a sect of religious separatists from Arc who settled here many generations ago, quietly assimilating into the towns. As Las Ondas local leaders face scrutiny from Arc over their affiliations, the city of Torncliff faces a retributive pinch; Arc’s railway west, bypassing Torncliff completely, excluding them from the most important new trade corridor of the century.
These are worrying times for the people of Las Ondas, even if they claim to have survived worse. Where can the young folk go for a better life outside of the suspicious grip of Arc, but west…?