Eŋirhi Hills

The Eŋirhi Hills are a geological formation that extend from the Eŋirhi Gulf (within the larger Örókŋýï Bay) northwards to the Yožýr-Hbüš. Alongside the Ëhašó River, the Örókŋýï Bay, and the Aragnia Mountains, these Hills constitute the boundary between the two subregions known as the Blýfónic Valley and the Shattered Earth. These hills also steer the Ëhašó back towards the northeast, leading it to the Khamalov Ocean instead of westwards into the Ðýmóš Plains.

Etymology

The Eŋirhi Hills are likely descended from the same naming conventions as the Ëhašó River and the tribe of Ëžŋýha, both of which were named by the Ürïstúd Family when they left the Ïlýrhonid Tribe and settled there in 24987 AYM. Their conventions were centered on the use of the Ë verb, from the Ïwë-Ïrhïd word meaning 'to be'. In essence, all objects and features named such were innately seen as representing something larger within the Ürïstúdian mythos, incorporating various degrees of abstract symbolism to do so. The Eŋirhi Hills were likely pronounced as the 'Ëŋirhi' Hills, and Ŋirhi itself refers to a 'guardian' or 'gatekeeper'. The most immediate comparison is that of the geopolitics of the time: when the Family left and ventured eastwards from within the Blýfonic Valley in 24987 AYM, nearly all parts of the Valley were fully settled by the tribes of the Heta-Alšewharžar, but no one had managed to traverse the Eŋirhi Hills and thus the Shattered Earth at this time was barely colonized, if not completely empty. One could interpret the 'guardianship' of the Hills to be this guarding against the colonization of unsettled land, but most historians nowadays typically err on the side of it being a guard that protects the Family from potential intrusions from the Valley folk.

Geography

Geological Formation

The Eŋirhi Hills are mainly interpreted to be a low-lying extension of the Nuzowli Mountain Range to the west and the Aragnia Mountains to the east, whose trajectories meet and collide around that region. The former arises due to northward movement of the Northern Ëriðorn Plate to contact the Southern Valley Plate across an extremely long, east-west fault line that stretches across the entire valley. This is extended by the interactions between the Southern Valley Plate and the Central Aragnia Plate (centered in the Örókŋýï Bay), the latter of which slides under the former and is responsible for lengthening the Nuzowli Mountain Range to contact the Bay itself.

The Aragnia Mountains form through a much more complicated process. This involves the Northwest and Eastern Aragnia Plates, both of which lie under certain parts of the Shattered Earth and, like the Southern Valley Plate, converge upon the Central Aragnia Plate. This multi-front convergence is thought to be the cause behind the circular nature of the Bay itself. The Northern Aragnia Plate, due to its placement, creates the raised ground that are the Eŋirhi Hills through interactions both with the Southern Valley and the Central Aragnia Plates. It is in this sense that the Hills are seen as an extension of both Mountain Ranges, because its creation involves most of the same actors that formed those ranges as well.

Trajectory and Physical Qualities

Thus, the Hills lie on the fault line between the Northern Aragnia and Southern Valley plates, the latter of which around halfway north thereof turns into the Northern Valley plate. Due to the shape of this fault line, the Hills take on the shape of a roughly diagonal line that meets the Yožýr-Hbüš and the Khamalov Ocean. Because the Southern Valley plate subducts under the Northern Valley plate, the Hills experience a gradual rise in elevation, from around 3,000 meters near the southernmost point to 4,500 meters upon reaching the Yožýr-Hbüš. The Yožýr-Hbüš itself is formed from the same processes as the northern half of the Hills, but in their case it creates sharp and jagged cliffs that are coerced by the unique weather systems there to form rocks of glass-like consistency. Most geologists believe that the winds of that region have long since eroded the hilltops that were closest to the Yožýr-Hbüš.

The Hills end abruptly at the high cliffs of the Yožýr-Hbüš, with the terrain experiencing a sudden 2-3 kilometer drop to the Khamlov Ocean below. This is due to the fact that both the Northern Valley Plate and the Northern Aragnia Plate end here, and the Central-Eastern Khamalov Plate takes over.