The Flows
The Flows burst into existence when the Cataclysm struck. The ground split, collapsing into a ragged pit of sulphurous fumes and spitting magma before dripping rock, red as glowing coal, surged into the sky. Lava ran down its sides, spilling back into the depths through ragged tears that surrounded the newly born mountains. As the rock cooled, the mountains shook before erupting, viscous lava clinging to the slopes while pyroclastic flows raced ahead of them, spilling across the newly ravaged wasteland region.
Geography
The Flows consist of a mountain range riddled with cold tunnels and seeping cracks. The volcanic power within leaks through numerous ruptures in the stone, gasses and lava continually emerging from the depths of the mountains and cloaking them in a permanent heat haze.
The eastern aspect is where the heaviest rate of emergence occurs, though the rate of secretion decreases to the north. The western aspect has very few points of secretion; the hills pushed up by lava deposits and rippled ground is dead, as is the area immediately around the hills. Beyond that, the terrain is healthy and easily farmed, fertilised through ash that drifts across the wind.
The mountains are composed of igneous deposits, though much of the surface is buried beneath accumulated magma deposits, crystalline formations causing them to glitter in the sunlight. The rock is razor-edged, however, and careless scavengers have found themselves flayed with a wrong step or fall; even Dragonborn hide and scales have been known to split upon the rock.
Fauna & Flora
The inner areas have been explored less than a dozen times, and each time the explorers never travelled far. Some failed to return; those who did brought tales of fantastic plants and creatures. Lizards that swam through the lava as though it were water, or living stone that stalked the deep lakes on spindly, elongated limbs. Magma that surged into life and engulfed an unfortunate individual, serpentine creatures that stalk the survivors with barbed obsidian harpoons.
The plant life is no less exotic. There were reports of plants that grew from the stone itself, sprouting with ease into unusual shapes and colours, or others that seemed to mimic the crystalline projections around their stems. And more unusual plants, seen in the distance by dim lava glow; strange vines that lash and snatch at those passing by the stalactites they sprout from, dragging them into darkness and out of sight, or the half-plant creatures that travel slowly through the magma tubes, scouring them clean of mineral deposits in passing.
Natural Resources
The stone that can be dug out from the hardened magma provides a fragile but excellent cutting edge for day to day tools like knives, axes and saws, but proves unable to withstand the forces of weaponry. The crystalline deposits are difficult to safely extract, but if removed are often used in crude magical items or as decorative materials, the gems smashed and knapped to craft their final form.
The plants and creatures within are little known past the most shallow depths, though some of the surface species are collected when possible, such as the Fireleaf Vine, which can be used to create medicines that treat burns and reduce fevers.
History
The Flows only came into being recently in Bukhisal, triggered by the upheaval of the land. They quickly became infamous; not only for causing the destruction of the original inhabitants of Shardstand, but for the vast output of toxic materials that still continues.
The Flows exude magma and gasses, which sluggishly roll down the sides of the mountains and spill into crevasses that extend out, a dull orange glow illuminating the sides of the decent. Lumps of rock at times break from the crust, riding the magma much as a boat rides a river.
Tourism
Travellers to the Flows are notorious for a few reasons: First of all, many who brave the journey rarely return from their initial excursion due to the hazards posed. Secondly, the dangers posed are rarely stable or immobile. A previously safe passage might in fact be a thin crust over an old magma vent, and once enough weight is upon it the surface will shatter, pitching the individual upon it into the depths. Toxic gasses settle in depressions of the rock and sink into the deeper areas of tunnels or shafts; those who ignore the guttering torches are fortunate as they asphyxiate, while the less fortunate wander into a condensed pocket of flammable gasses with open flames held high.
Type
Volcano
Location under
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