Big Rock Candy Mountain

The Big Rock Candy Mountain, instead of just a mountain - as its name states - is actually a small strip of land south of Oront, where a forested mountain range and valley (the valley of Zion) can be found. Its namesake comes from the fable of the Candy Mountain, which states that in the Big Rockies -which is the name of the mountain range- one can find a miraculous mountain with magical properties, with springs that taste like wine, trees that grow apples made of gold, and where one can refille their bottle of booze without limit. Although mentions of this so called mountain in the Big Rockies have been dated to time immemorial, no one can tell exactly where it is, or which one of the area's mountains is responsible for these wonders. Travellers often find themselves in the Big Rock Candy Mountains' proximity - whether by accident or not - only to get lost in its pleasures, and awaken after a long night's sleep elsewhere from where they slept, unable to come across it again.

   Azaneese scholars are at loss trying to explain this phenomenon. While others are more logical, accrediting the effect of the Big Rock Candy Mountain to supposed hallucinogenic properties of plants or the water of the Big Rockies area, others claim that the Candy Mountain is the work of a Fey lord, who finds pleasure in tricking humans and plunging them into a world of vice and pleasure that they can never hope to experience again.

## **Preface**

*"What is it you're looking for? The Big Rock Candy Mountain you say? The paradise where water tastes just like the finest wine? Well, sadly, I don't know where that is. It is said to lie somewhere in this country, but it is not yet commonly known exactly where it is. Many people adventure here seeking this glorious land, yet none could tell you where it is. Every so often one will stumble upon it, drink of it's waters, bathe in all the riches from the land of milk and honey, often bringing back one of the many unique relics of the land, a bottle of whiskey that never runs out, a sheet of golden fleece that keeps you perfectly comfortable despite any outside conditions, or an old bindle to carry it all in. And whenever they attempt to leave the land it simply vanishes behind them. They return to camp to tell the others of their findings, only to walk into the same wooded hills as before. So is it really true? or is it a simple legend for charlatans to make their goods seem a bit less worthless? Perhaps, but I assure you, that just over that hedge is a land that's fair and bright, where the handouts grow on bushes, and you sleep out every night like a baby on feathers"*

*-*From Matthi Von Sprecklesen's "The Lands beyond Azan"

## **Political and Geographic Features**

The Big Rockies and the Valley of Zion are located to the south of Oront, east of Azan's heartland. The land falls under the Empire's borders, although it is under Oront's (which is a vassal of Azan) de facto control and jurisdiction. They function as autonomous sanctuary zones for both Azan and Oront, making it a crossroad for trade and commerce between both lands.

## **History and Population**

The Big Rockies contain the ruins of several ancient lost cities whose origin is unknown. The Joos claim the Candy Mountain as the promised land of their people, Zion, the land of Milk and Honey, one where they can finally escape the oppression of others. The Joos complete pilgrimages ever year to the Big Rockies, laying treasure to what they believe is the Big Rock Candy Mountain, the holy site of their faith, although their religion prohibits them from settling in the valley of Zion or the Big Rockies. The Changrilese claim to have built the first city in the valley of Zion, the lost city of Shangri-La, a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Big Rockies.

Although most find the Changrilese' claims dubious, there is actually a native population that lives in the Valley of Zion (who are not friendly at all towards the Joos) and the forrested hills of the Big Rockies, who are not too far in appearance to the Changrilese commonfolk. These sheep-herding natives are few in number and live in sparsely populated villages around the area, and are also superstitious, being deathly afraid of approaching the location of the Big Rock Candy Mountain (which they supposedly know its exact location, but refuse to reveal it to any outsider).