Golden Spire (Gohl-Den Spy-R)

Golden Spire is the tallest mountain in Beland, reaching heights upwards of 22,000 ft. Golden Spire gets its name from the large gold and metal deposits in the mountain, which the wyverns on Golden Spire love to hoard. Golden Spire is the tallest mountain in Beland, which is located at the western edge of Blazing Ridge, along the Dread Tides.

There is not much life on Golden Spire, save the wyverns. The wyverns normally feed on either sandworms or Kiamacans on the southern side of the mountain or common woodland wildlife or Stabakians on the northern side of the mountain. The wyverns of Golden Spire are known for their small size and unparalleled ferocity, the equivalent of a small dog in the dragon world. Although they are small compared to other draconian creatures, they still stand at a height of six feet, with a wingspan of eight feet. They do not breathe fire, but they have varying other ranged offensive features, such as the ability to spit corrosive acid, which is especially retained in their bite. They create nests inside of Golden Spire, especially near gold deposits, which they love to hoard.

Golden Spire reaches sub-zero temperatures during the winter, and the wyverns nesting in the mountain hibernate deep inside the mountain, near the lava pools. Other wyverns head to Jackson's Volcano, where they try to nest with the red dragons, but commonly get eaten. During the spring, the wyverns awake from their hibernation and are extremely hungry. It is during the springtime that the largest amount of wyvern deaths occur, due to their increased ferocity and hunger.

Golden Spire experiences the phenomena known as mountain shifts, and also commonly experiences snowstorms during the winter. Mountain Shifts on Golden Spire are usually very strong, and the mountain moves by even a few meters, most commonly to the southeast. Scientists are still trying to figure out why this phenomenon occurs, and it seems that all the mountains move in the same direction, but to varying degrees. This phenomenon commonly makes large chasms in the side of the mountain, causing additional risk to mountain climbers. (It is unclear why mountain climbers would go here anyway- the abundance of wyverns, blistering cold, and unparalleled steepness and roughness certainly should ward them off.) During the winter, snowstorms batter the sides of the mountain, piling up snow and causing avalanches. The snow is also known to cover chasms and ravines, hiding them and making it even more perilous to climb.

Temperatures on Golden Spire are the coldest of all of Blazing Ridge, with temperatures reaching as low as negative twenty-one degrees Fahrenheit. During a snowstorm, the temperature can drop another twenty degrees. During the summertime, the mountain reaches temperatures of up to fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

There are a few biological features of the Golden Spire, such as the wyverns, trapweed, and frost wolves.  

• Spire Wyvern
Spire Wyverns are small wyverns indigenous to the Golden Spire, with a corrosive acid in their mouth. They have the ability to propel this acid from their mouths at prey, or in self-defence. Spire wyverns stand at a height of 6ft, and have a wingspan of 8ft. They have night vision and are nocturnal creatures, which is why Kiamaco has a curfew for citizens under 16. 
• Trapweed
Trapweed is a plant found throughout Beland, normally at colder temperatures. It is a type of vine, contradictory to the name, which is known to entangle people, due to its stringy nature. Although it is a thin vine, it is as strong as rope and is known to entangle people in its constraints. It is also a predatory plant and is known to eat small animals. It consumes them by using large leaves on the base of the vine, which folds out to expose spikes on the bottom, which latch onto nearby animals and drain them of nutrients. Trapweed can reach lengths of up to thirty feet.
• Frost Wolves
Frost wolves are large canines found in the northern parts of Beland, which are known to consume other wolves, deer, elk, and even people. They travel in packs of 10-30, and the alpha of the pack is usually the largest wolf, just like in normal wolves. Some of the differences between frost wolves and normal wolves are frost wolves are two to three times larger than normal wolves, with a height of 5-6 feet. Frost wolves are also found in much colder temperatures, and are much more capable of running across ice.

Some of the natural resources of Golden Spire include metals and minerals. Golden Spire has large deposits of gold, rhodium, platinum, silver, titanium, iron, copper, zinc, aluminium, and durumium. The neighbouring countries of Kiamaco and Stabaki use these metals for all sorts of industries- weaponsmithing, construction, and commercial production. Some of these metals are extremely valuable, such as gold or platinum, and are Kiamaco's main source of income. Golden Spire also has several minerals and gemstones, such as diamonds, quartz, moonstones, garnets, apatites, spinels, tanzanite, tourmaline, topaz, zircon, and tempurite. Kiamaco also sells these and gets large sums of money from these gemstones. Stabaki uses these gemstones for decorational garments and other products for the wealthy.

Golden Spire is, fortunately, almost never visited or toured. (Editors Note: At least these people have some common sense.) Due to the number of wyverns, chasms, rough terrain, and the blistering cold this mountain has relatively low visitors.