Fjallen
Geography
High Crag ridden peaks that bite into the sky with jagged teeth, young and eager to show their glory to the world. Formed in the impact of The Hammer fall, whether it be god or cosmos to bring such force unto this world, it left its scaring touch in the flesh of the earth. This ring of mountains are formed out of the same orogeny as the ones reaching the shores of the main continent as well as The Spire.
The ring is the actually the second out of three, but is widely the most understood as its formation is the least subtle out of the trio. On average the range spans approximately Three-Hundred miles wide, with a variance of several dozen miles in either direction. Though, largely it exists as a perfect circle around the epicenter of the center of Mhuzelt, where the roots of these mountains are still molten beneath the lake that surrounds The Spire.
Consisting almost entirely of Volcanic rock that has metamorphosed into Metamorphic conglomerates. The Nature of the peaks in a shifting flux of rock types to to their still hot cores, as well as the bedrock below the entire Isle being is liquid form as it floats above the oceanic plate it rests upon. It remains unknown what type of rock the original Island was made of, some hypothesizing the Island used to be attached to the mainland, based on the bowl shape that surrounds the Isle that forms the Ithry Strait.
Ecosystem
Predominately, this region is devoid of life beyond the fledgling forests that skirt the mountains, depending on where one is. Prone to rockfalls and avalanches, it is a volatile and uncertain biome to be sure. Entire forests having been sloughed off at times, villages disappearing in the crash heard across the basin. Though life is tenacious, and where there is change, there is opportunity. Much the wildlife that exists here is because of the Gnomes and their cattle.
The forests grew from the remains of those that were strong enough to survive, Pine, Junipers, and Spruce, and Firs dominate these forests, which led to smaller animals finding uncontested niches to claim. Odd breeds arose in the wake of the first century where both the Gnomes and Dwarves found themselves rebuilding fallen civilizations. Squirrels, Stoats, Martins, strange bark loving rabbits call Hyt, quickly found homes after the Orogeny event.
As the Gnomes grew and rebuilt, many of their goats and Ibex that escaped became feral. Large herds forming along the craggy rock on the interior side of the range. Their Herbaceous tendencies keeping the interior of the Isle largely free of forests without the Gnomes intervening. Though, larger animals uncontested made problems, the Gnomes wanted not for meat as the hunting was plentiful, but Wyverns had found the crags a wonderful place to live. The Gnomes welcomed these creatures as it helped keep the population down, eventually taming and domesticating the much friendlier ones.
Though these same wyverns hunted the small game on the outskirts of the Fjallen. The dense canopy of these coniferous forests made navigating to their prey difficult, and preferred to hunt game foolish enough to entry open areas. But, this introduced competition as the winged serpents were able to fly over the mountains, Large eagles, vultures, and condors were never able to soak high enough to do the same. The swarms of sea birds along the coast made easy pickings, and the wyverns enjoyed hunting faster more agile prey.
As this new environment formed, large predators and sea born creatures began to make their homes here as well. The outer ring of the Fjallen is teaming with game and predators, the inner ring that the Gnomes made their homes is not. Depending on were one is, could be a dangerous wilderness, a quiet landscape with naught by the wind to keep one company, or the heart of an Empire.
Tourism
You'd better be prepared if you want to explore the outer ring...
Alternative Name(s)
The Fjallen Mountains, The Crown
Type
Mountain Range
Location under
Owning Organization
Contested By
Inhabiting Species
I like it! If you don't mind my asking, what map program are you using?
I'm using Inkarnate, it's a pretty nice program after you get the hang of it, I'm still learning a lot of techniques to make the maps look more realistic. The only complaint I have is that is has a fairly limited amount of art assets for things like trees, markers, and settlements. But it's usually not an issue!