Middle Mountains
Splitting the lands of Cilvarth is the Middle Mountains. This gigantic mountain range divides Aurea and Jisefea, the planet's only continents.
These mountains are almost impossible to traverse. Steep cliffs, jagged canyons, and frequent avalanches are just a few of the many dangers travellers face. The inhabiting cilvarthians found protective forests that kept them alive fifteen thousand years ago, and they have kept their way of life ever since.
Geography, Location & Climate
These people complain non stop about these mountains being impossible to climb, We did it in an hour?Babes we're iron phoenixes. We're designed to climb mountains.
Stretching upwards of six thousand miles, the Middle Mountains are impossible to traverse. If its sheer size wasn't too much of a monumentous task, it is filled with treacherous canyons, mud-covered plateaus, deep caverns, and a handful of thick rainforests.
The mountains have sporadic and unusual weather patterns, caused by fluctuating levels of hydromancy in the magical atmosphere. Some canyons flood in a matter of days, bursting their banks and seeping down into the flatlands of Aurea and the flower fields of Jisefea.
There are an estimated two hundred thousand peaks in the Middle Mountains, fourteen thousand of which stand more than 4 miles. The tallest mountain, Mount Tvesere, plateaus at 8,951 metres above sea level.
This rainforest biome has spread throughout the Middle Mountains, filling in the valleys and canyons in the northern half of the range. Silttop trees dominate these rainforests, their leaves so sturdy a cilvarthian child can dance atop them.
Silty treetops provided refuge for the first cilvarthians to inhabit the Middle Mountains. These gigantic trees are hollow in the centre, and if one can carve their way into this hollow, the tree can provide great protection from most dangers of the rainforest.
History
The Middle Mountains have been bestowed many names over the course of history. Cilvarthians first discovered the mountains around fifteen thousand years ago. It was long considered an impossible region to traverse, many trying and failing.
By sheer determination, a handful of groups managed to cross through the mountains, from Jisefea into Aurea. Nearly two thousand kilometres must have been crossed, some choosing to remain within the mountains, others losing their lives to falling, harsh weather conditions, or predators.
Sadly, most of these mountain populations have long gone extinct. Presently one city and fifteen small towns can be found deep within silty treetops, with a total population estimated to be around a million.
Dabara, the mountain range's capital, has a population nearing eight hundred thousand. It sits half-way between the two continents and has become a technological spectacle, utilising heavy machinery to drill into the mountains and harvest valuable resources, distributed around the planet.
Ecology
The mountain range is an ecologically diverse region, inhabitants thriving on plentiful resources within the silty treetops. These rainforests have cultivated thousands of unique species, evolving to fit particular niches and forced to exist only within the confines of the forests.
Towards the south of the Middle Mountains are large desert plateaus. These sit thousands of metres above sea level, with hot, dry climates. Agricultural desertification of once verdant grasslands has expanded this arid region, leading to ecosystems hanging by a thread.
The once rare manakuks, a small white peccary species, now thrives in this region. With no predators, their numbers have gone unchecked and the species has single handedly decimated most short grasses in the area.
Vulture worms glide over the snow-capped peaks, spying on weak and elderly animals wandering the mountains, ready to pick on its next prey item.
The Great Mountains
The God's Throne
Omg peccaries. Nice location article. I love the idea of the Silty Treetops! :D
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025
Thank you so much! <3