Glorstea

Glorstea is a resort town four days out from Chronwhorl. Nestled in the outer foothills of the Skyreach mountain range surrounding the capital city, Glorstea is the only significant settlement for days of travel. The town grew around natural hot springs in the region and developed into a resort town as time went by. Squat houses open to the rolling humid air draw visitors in for shelter against the regular rainstorms.

Location

On the outer edge of the Skyreach mountains, there is a narrow strip of foothills before dropping off into the sea. Being near the day-ward pole of Oabos, the warm surface water kicks up large storms which break over the foothills. While this region remains in the light for most of each day, there are short periods each day where to foothills fall into the mountains' shadow. Combined with any other storms coming off the sea, these dark periods can get cold enough to cause harsh winds at water level.

Water from these storms collects in lower areas of the foothills and pockets in the mountains. The regular light heats this trapped water, resulting in warm lakes and pools throughout the region. Glorstea is located near the end of a narrow ravine cut into the mountains by repeated storms. A dense layer of rock over a much softer one caused a natural groove running along the ravine, about halfway down the side of the cliff face. This grove is large enough on one side of the ravine to function as a narrow roadway, locally known as the Stone Path. The Stone Path runs from deep in the mountains until it opens near the coast. Similarly narrow paths climbing into the mountains form Heaven's Pass, which is the only pass to cross this side of the Skyreach mountains.

In addition to the natural pathways along the ravine, the area near the base of the ravine has natural hot springs. The hot springs have slightly less overgrowth around them naturally and make for the perfect stop between the treacherous Skyreach mountains and stormy coast.

History

Glorstea started as a small waystation in the early days of humanity on Oabos. The narrow strip of foothills along the outer rim of the Skyreach mountains are hit with regular storms and the mountains are steep and full of dead-end passes. The thinner foliage around the hot springs made settling large groups into camp easier while the increased temperature of the small zone acted as a buffer against the worst of the storms.

The expedition force remained in the foothills for several years. In that time, many people were afflicted with Water Sickness. The freshwater streams were contaminated with something from the mountains and brought on slow death of wasting away to anyone who drank from them too regularly. In time they were able to purify the water by infusing it with Radiance after collecting the water, but much of the population became sick and died first.

To find a safer home, scouts were sent out to find some way to cross the mountains. Once the scouts found the Stone Path and its connection to a narrow pass through the mountains, most of the humans left. Those who stayed behind were mostly families with members too old or too young to survive the harsh mountain passes. These remaining humans kept the large expedition warhorses with them, as the mounts were too large to safely travel the Stone Path. This small contingent built permanent structures which eventually became the town of Glorstea.

Hot Springs

The lakes and pools all through the foothills around Glorstea are home to many water elementine, and most of them are quite hostile to humans. The beings in the hot spring pools are not hostile and appear to lack the intelligence of the water elementine in other pools. Rather than attacking humans, these hot spring spirits seem to feed off the stone fish in the pools. In the process they fill the water with heat and dissolved minerals, turning the water of the pools into a rich mineral water.

Smugglers

While there are now prismem mines which cut through the Skyreach mountains in several areas, the mines and mine roads are closely guarded by the Battle Spire. Due to this, smugglers tend to opt for the more physically treacherous route of Heaven's Pass to cross through the mountains. With nowhere to hide on the Stone Path, these smugglers have built routes into the bottom of the ravine. Every bell there is a flood reprieve cut into the ravine wall. These large pockets are enough to hold a small group and shipment of goods, and angled to direct the rushing flood waters away. If flood waters get too high the reprieve can be flooded. Even the most desperate smuggler fears the sounds of the rushing waters.