The Northern Sea Cliffs
The northern sea cliffs extend the entire length of the eastern edge of the Northern Kingdom. These basalt cliffs form octagonal columns an average 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter and rise from between 100 to 200 feet (30.5 to 61 meters) above sea level. Covered in most places by centuries of soil build-up, or non-columnar basalt, they are the base on which the entire eastern region of the Northern Kingdom rests.
Despite the inhospitable terrain, the cliffs are home to several species of birds and animals, most notably the King's Eagles in the north and the agile Crown Rams to the south. (Named for the Crown of the World Mountains that is their usual habitat.)
Even humans have found a way to live along the harsh slopes of the cliffs. Over the centuries men have built a series of buildings connected by walkways and stairs that extend from the top of the cliffs, down to sea level where ancient dwarven-made tide-breaks form a protective harbor for the crown city shipyards at the base of the cliffs. It is a harsh life, made harsher by seasonal storms, but the people of the crown city's Cliff District have found ways to tame the harsh terrain so they can live and work there.
Lore says that the cliffs were created by ancient magics that have been lost, a belief that is made stronger by there being no other known explanation for the near perfect columns or the odd wavy pattern that can be seen near the top of the cliffs along their southern end, near where they meet the Crown of the World Mountains.
Basalt Columns by Wikimedia
Geography
The cliffs are a natural phenomenon of lava fields that were laid down millions of years in the past by the active volcanic region that surrounds the area. When the lava cooled it contracted and formed cracks that spread out from evenly spaced centers along the surface, allowing the rocks to cool quicker where it had cracked, resulting in the octagonal shapes of the columns. This process was aided by the close proximity of the cliffs to the sea and the ability of the mists from the sea and the rains combined with the cool region to aid in the process of creating the fissures.
Ecosystem
The columns of the cliffs have created a series of ledges that has collected debris for millions of years, allowing various plants to find purchase on the cliffs and grow. Moat of the span of the cliffs has nothing larder than grasses and a few scrub brush, but in the southern region it is common to see tall pines from the Crown of the World Mountains having found purchase on the ledges of the cliffs. Further to the north, near the crown city of the Northern Kingdom, more deciduous trees can be seen in some places along the cliffs.
The trees along the cliffs have created the perfect environment for the King's Eagle to build nests that can be up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) in diameter on the cliffs.
Other smaller birds that include seagulls and other raptors also nest on the cliffs.
The cliffs also provide a natural habitat to the rams of the Crown of the World mountains. The rams can be seen along the cliffs in the midwinter months, when they migrate down from the slopes of the mountains during the coldest months of winter.
The base of the cliffs has also created an ecosystem of crabs, fish, muscles, and other sea life that have evolved to find the basalt cliffs, that extend well into the sea, to be a welcoming environment that is rich in food from the animals that have evolved to live on the cliffs; many of which thrive on the fish and crabs that gather along the base of the cliffs.
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