Uthesh

Uthesh
  The heartlands of Rethium.
  They stand as the central country body within the continent, and are considered the vast crossroads over which the population must travel in order to reach each and every country. With Stale and Athad to the north, Aswary to the west, Pagrad and Yesmos to the south and Opron to the east, it is effectively the central point of the continent's compass.
  It is sometimes rumored that the mountain that lies at the center of the country of Uthesh is located over the exact Zero coordinates of the planet, meaning that the mountain penetrates the surface over the most central point of the planet's equator. This fact can be further truth because of the varying climates of the countries that make up the country, with rain and snow and colder weather to the north, varying climate with hot summers and cold winters to the east/northeast/southeast and hotter year-round temperatures primarily to the south and further. Also because of the locations on the continent where the countries exist can further put this truth to rest in the community. 
  But despite it's size, Uthesh is not inhabited by man or other races for the most part. There are a few nomadic settlements that can be found as well as old cottages and other structures, but there are no cities or towns located on this continent. It is primarily home to the wild species of Rethium such as cattle and others, and this land is protected by societies that keep it and the animals living on it in check to make sure that no disasters or other incidents may unnecessarily claim the lives of the beasts that live there. Examples of beasts that call this land home are Cattle, Ponies, Rock Bison and their cousins the Bushbacks, as well as Boulderbears, the Armored Spearnose, Cheyne's Fox, Firetail Fix, Topaz Fox, the Zipperback and most famously the Primed Plateopus, the latter half of which means 'flat-foot' in both Common and Reethese. The former half of the name explains itself, but these creatures despite their name are not to be trifled with or treated as harmless, as their entry in a well-known Bestiary may further explain upon reading. If you wish to discover more of the knowledge behind this strange flat-footed mammal, please refer to page seventy-nine of the Rethium Complete Bestiary, which is written by acclaimed scientist Thomas Ynclides Thydrox of Aswary, Rethium. There are many more mammals and air-based fowl to name which call this land home, but they are too many to list comprehensively in this article, which concerns the country of Uthesh and it's borders and expanses rather than an in-depth look into the species that call it home. These entries may be found elsewhere, and contain their own vast collections of knowledge concerning the animals of the world as they are known today. 
  Uthesh is a land bordered on all sides by towering ranges of mountains, and it reaches in all directions towards these mountain ranges before reaching through openings and into the varying countries of the continent. As mentioned in other entries, the eastern border is made up of the Minorian Mountains of Opron, named by Kitsune explorer Michi Minori. The north border is made up of three ranges of mountains; The Black Mountains of Stale, to the Black Wall of Athad's eastern side and further to the Grey Wall of Athad's eastern side. They each provide a small pass of only a few miles width through which to travel into the countries beyond, but provide passage nonetheless. The western border which walls Uthesh off from Aswary is also comprised of more than one mountain range, namely The Blue Mountains of the southern sector and The White Mountains of the northern sector. The southern border of Uthesh is also lined by more than one mountain range, which at least two making the wall between Uthesh and Pagrad, and the former and Yesmos, which is the southern-most country of the continent. The Pagradian Wall is the mountain range that keeps Uthesh and Pagrad apart, and is one of the longest on the continent, somewhere in line with The Blue Mountains, The White Mountains and even The Black Mountains. The range which splits Yesmos and Uthesh apart is called the Shememae Mountains, which translates to "Canine Mountains" from Reethese to Common. And while each of these mountains and more have a defined peak and natural height, none even reach the prowess to which the greatest mountain of Rethium does.
  This staggering and unnaturally large mountain stands at well over possibly forty-thousand feet tall, far above the clouds and the designated Death Zone of the planet's upper atmosphere. It is from this ancient peak that all of life on the planet was believed to have originated, and it is to this peak that at the end of time everything in the world shall retreat before bringing the time of the world to an end.
  A deep cavern is known to reside underneath this mountain, but it has never been fully explored by any of the men and women of every race who have gained access to it throughout history. It is believed that a race of giants once occupied the world before modern man ever did, and these giants are thought to have been the ancestors of the gods and those they had brought into the heavens. The giants were then drove off by the appearance of man and their races and fled to this great reach, retreating into it's depths and hiding away eternally, always waiting for a time to emerge to the world outside and always waiting to be found so as to share their knowledge of their time with the rest of the world. Also believed to be at the top of this peak is a physical gateway into the heavenly realm, known in Reethese as 'Eadhraeeln or "God Realm". From this gateway, the gods have access to the centerpoint of Rethium and the world that lies around it, but it was placed at the top of this mountain so as to be protected from the wrath of the banished god Odis, who is sworn to reemerge in the realm before the end of time, casting the gods down to their deaths from the mountain to the plains below, before destroying the city within and laying waste to the world of man which he seeks to gain eternal rule and power over.
  There is a natural stairway that heads up this mountain from the foothills, but none of those who have traveled it have made it much further than some twenty-five-thousand feet or more before turning back for the world below them. In part from the dangerous heights becoming steeper and steeper as they ascend further and further, and also from the lack of oxygen which becomes harder and harder to fight through as it becomes thinner and thinner as the heights continue upwards. For good reason the gods planted the doorway into their realm here, but ultimately it too shall fall from the heights of the heavens which shall themselves also fall when Odis reaches the peak and brings the heavens down to earth for the first and last time, at the end of Time. 
  Second to Athad, Uthesh is the oldest country in Rethium, and it is said that when the races were first created and appeared in the world, they emerged from a deep pit inside the foothills of the mountain, before making council there and spreading out to explore and discover the lands which had been given to them by the gods. This same cave is the inspiration of the folk tale named "The Legend of King Ragnvold and his Prophets of The Stone Table." In which King Ragnvold, the most powerful descendant of the first man Nem and woman Leanem founds The Stone Table as the order which will protect the world from darkness and will lead the world against it when the end of time arrives. Of course this stone table does not exist within the cave and no remains of great warriors, prophets or knights have been found, but the cave itself can be and is open to the public to be explored at their own caution. It is a protected natural historic site for the country and is the oldest known cave system to exist on the planet.