Southern Mountains

Location of the upper altitutes of the Southern Mountains in Duilintinn by tumblr user @thewatchau. The region extending out from the indicated area is considered the foothills of the Southern Mountains, and also falls under the title "Southern Mountains" depending on who you ask.

### Location

Tirónar

The Southern Mountains are a natural landmark in Tirónar that forms the border between Duilintinn and Tandeli.

## Name Origin

The Northern and Southern Mountains were the first major landmarks discovered by Waldren upon their arrival to mainland Tirónar. The Waldren colonizers went with two simple, convenient names for these ranges, not realizing until later that there were more mountains further north of the “Northern Mountains”. Despite the misnomer, the names have never been changed.

In the original Feadhainn tongue the Southern Mountains were called Beanntan Leiristeil, which means “Lazy Mountains.” It’s unclear whether this was in reference to the gentler slope of this range in comparison to the steeper Northern Mountains, or if it was a jab at the non-Feadhainn peoples that populated this region.

In Grancinco’s language, the Southern Mountains were called La Sierra Catuela, which would also become the name of one of Tandeli’s four major regions adjacent to these mountains.

Due to the Common Tongue’s ubiquity in Tirónar, most nations will use the original and common name for the mountains interchangeably. If nothing else, some people enjoy using the directional-based name for the sheer irony of it.

## Geography

The mountain range starts at the northernmost tip of Tandeli, continues east down towards the coast.

While extremely tall, the Southern Mountains rise with a gradual incline that allows for grass and scattered towns to grow and thrive upon its lower slopes. The foothills on these mountains would be considered highland moors, which eventually transitions into an alpine tundra at higher altitudes.

Like most mountain ranges, the rise of the Southern Mountains isn’t just a massive uniform slope. Little valleys also appear within the rising landscape even as the elevation trends steadily upwards.

### Tandeli Side

The southern side of the mountains is largely located within Tandeli’s Tierra Catuela province. Here, the climate is significantly drier, especially during the winter. During the summer, the Ayuda River will carry storms during the Southern Coast’s rainy season as far north as the mountains, though the weather will have significantly mellowed by the time it arrives.

Both the Ayuda and Aliado Rivers flow into Tandeli’s lowlands from this side of the Southern Mountains. A significant portion of the region’s population is farmers, as the moorland around these rivers tend to be quite fertile.

In addition, there are several quarries that mine sandstone, limestone, and shale for building materials in the mountainside. The quarries hadn’t been used since Waldren brought their own building materials, but there’s some interest in using them again. Several abandoned dwarven tunnels are also accessible on the Tandeli side of the mountain range, which are used for mining, exploration, and even as a place for people to live.

### Duilintinn Side

The northern side of the mountains is largely located within Duilintinn’s House Jameson province. Here, the climate is very cold and snowy during the winter and mild and rainy during the summer. Because the mountains of House Jameson face away from the equator and this continent is in the northern hemisphere, its winters are longer than those on the southern side of the mountains.

Much like the foothills of the Northern Mountains, the combination of the sandier soil from the mountains and the heavy, chalky clay soil of Duilintinn’s plains creates a decently workable loam in the foothills that’s good for planting. While the longer winters and lack of space for fields prevent this region from being as fertile as the farmland in the Northern Mountain foothills, the locals can produce enough food to sustain small, isolated communities on the mountainside without importing foodstuffs from other regions. Since becoming a part of the kingdom of Duilintinn, the area has been able to support a larger population with the aid of resources produced by other regions of the kingdom.

Unlike the Tandeli side of the mountains, Duilintinn does not mine the Southern Mountains in any significant capacity. Local communities may run their own small quarries for building materials, but there are no official mining operations for larger regional or national infrastructure located in this region.

## Traversal

None of Tirónar's mountains have been mapped in their entirety. Beyond a certain point, the Southern Mountains are completely unexplored, mostly due to their extreme elevation. As a result, any travel between Tandeli and Duilintinn is done exclusively via boat across the Eastern Sea.

Even within the populated lower slopes of the Duilintinn side of the Southern Mountains, only one major road in the foothills is clearly marked on every map in Duilintinn. Due to the difficult mountain terrain, most of House Jameson is strewn with small, winding roads created through generations of people teaching their children, “don’t step there or you’ll fall off the path, a monster will get you, and you’ll die.” Apparently, these people preferred traumatized children to children who died from drowning or falling off the mountain, and you know what? That’s fair. All of these smaller roads connect to the large main road in the foothills

Additionally, The Enemy’s forces have been known to traverse the mountains to gain access to the eastern half of Duilintinn without attempting to cross the heavily guarded and dangerous Agrona River. For this reason, the mountainous regions beyond the Duil borders have gained a reputation for being extremely dangerous, second only to the Western Forest.

## Trivia

The Swiss Alps were one of the biggest real-world inspirations for the concept of the Southern Mountains, particularly the green slopes and populated heights of House Jameson. Of course, that is a pretty generalized location; according to Wikipedia, the Swiss Alps covers over ten thousand square miles. However, specific aspects of this entire region really remind me of House Jameson, such as the slowly rising foothills that, while not dramatically steep, are distinct from the adjacent plateau to the north, combined with sudden increases in elevation, with winding roads leading to geographically isolated settlements and towns.