Windhell Valley

The Windhell Valley is a large area in the shape of a gigantic basin in which a powerful wind blows permanently, which can vary in intensity depending on the time of day. At its weakest level, the wind is already strong enough to make it difficult to walk in its opposite direction. At its strongest point, the wind blows in incredibly powerful gusts capable of tearing anything off the ground and skinning a human being alive. This incredibly powerful and dangerous form of wind is called a Vorteox, which means "Breath of the Gods" in the ancient tribal language of the Valley. Sometimes months can go by without a single Vorteox occurring. Other times, the entire Valley is swept by successive Vorteoxes for several weeks without interruption. No consistent pattern to these winds has ever been discovered.

It is number two on Laelaz's list of natural splendours.

Due to the hellish climatic conditions that prevail in these lands, the Windhell Valley is a very depopulated area. Life there develops only with great difficulty, whether human or animal. The few human communities that live there are small, scattered tribes that dig shelters under the ground to protect themselves from the wind, as no construction over one metre high can stand up to the weakest storm in this area.

The social structure of a tribe varies from one to another, but they all have one characteristic in common: The most important member of the tribe is usually the Wind Singer, an elder and a scholar who is able to predict wind movements several hours in advance, especially its sudden rises in intensity.

The culture of the Windhell Valley natives leads them to be naturally inclined to be hospitable and to help travellers in difficulty by offering them refuge in their underground shelters.

The only animals that live in the Windhell Valley, besides many species of insects and small rodents living underground, are vipers that bury themselves in the ground to protect themselves from the wind, giant turtles with massive shells, so heavy that the wind is unable to tear them off the ground, and finally flocks of huge jellyfish that float in the air, being carried by the wind and feeding on dust.

The natives feed mainly on these flying jellyfish and hunt them with their boomerangs. They also utilize Wing-jackets, skin-tight apparel made from the thin yet very durable leather of the jellyfish, allowing them to take flight by positioning themselves in the right direction, and let themselves glide towards their preys thanks to the

blowing of the wind.

To ignorant outsiders, the usage of these Wing-jackets has bred rumors that the natives of Windhell Valley routinely flay themselves and leap off great heights, only to soar using magic - while in reality they are just unfurling their Wing-jackets.

Boomerang throwers from the Windhell Valley are highly sought-after mercenaries throughout the continent. When they fight, they use special boomerangs with sharp blades which can decapitate a target at a distance of several tens of metres and return to their owner's hand in a matter of seconds.

Travellers and merchants who wish to go through the Windhell Valley often hire these boomerang hunters as escorts because they are not only very good fighters but they know the location of the various underground villages in which to take shelter in case of a surprise storm.

#### Weather Patterns

##### Winter

The westerlies are at their strongest and are coming in from south-west. Also because the passage for the outflow is narrower than the inflow, it creates a funnelling effect so the wind intensifies further. As the winds are pushing on the eastern side of the cyclone, the eye of the cyclone is moved west.

##### Summer

The westerlies are at their weakest and are coming in through the north, so they're further weakened by going from the narrow opening to the wider. The cyclone is at it's smallest and the winds are pushing on the west side so the eye is moved east.

##### Spring and Autumn

Somewhere in between summer and winter but with much more unpredictability as there's more turbulence from the north and south wind's friction as they blow past eachother. There's also a particular time where the winds shift from predominately southern to northern during spring and vice versa in autumn. During this switch the cyclone is disrupted and the chaotic flow of air creates utterly extreme windblasts, the world's biggest tornadoes and thunderstorms and even many areas of complete wind-still. This only lasts a couple of days at most.

This also affects the climate in the rest of Westrasi, particularly outside the two passages. At the north passage, warm humid air from the south is brought up during winter, leading to year round rainfall. At the south passage, cool dry air from the north is brought down, leading to more extreme summer droughts.The rich soil of the valley has been grounded up and blown out by the winds over millennia, making much of Westrasi soil nutrient rich.