Ptehežitąkȟe Mountain Range

The Ptehežitąkȟe, or hornbird mountains, are a large mountain range along the northeastern part of the continent that form the eastern half of Maȟpyačąkhų (Heaven's Spine). The mountains cover the territory of the Aštorian nations Ąpawičhak’ya and Las Isloyatą. Ȟelote, the capital of Ąpawičhak’ya, is shielded from the east by the Ptehežitąkȟe with the southernmost mountains of the range forming the southern gate to the city. The range is largely unihabited and unexplored along the border of the Shrouded North due to the harsh climate and treacherous peaks. The mountains of the Ptehežitąkȟe are much larger and more rugged than the Mniȟe or Equoni to the west and are especially difficult to mine. Because of this only few settlements have been built high in the mountains and most mining operations involve digging through or under the base of the mountains.
Despite the long winters, the Ptehežitąkȟe are naturally beautiful with clear glacial streams from the frozen peaks; lush forests of spruce, larch, fir, and pine with curtains of hanging lichen; mossy plains; baskets of fungi; and fields of cottongrass, snow bulbs, artic lupine, tufted saxifrage, winterberry, and tundra rose. Flora are fewer in number in the far north of the mountains; however, the icy region is not entirely devoid of life. Tough, ground-dwelling plants such as bearberry, arctic willow, pearlwort, and hair grass provide food for the inhabitants of northenmost region of the Ptehežitąkȟe. Several species of lichen thrive in the Ptehežitąkȟe including caribou lichen, blue lichen, fern lichen, purl lichen, and rock mange. These lichen range in color from a sage green to icy blue, vivid purple, shimmery gold lined pink, and rusty orange.
The mountains are the habitat of wide variety of creatures such as caribou, snow lions, gray wolves, musk oxen, tundra rabbits, tokals, bears, stoats, hornbirds, squalls, mountain goats, and phoenixes. Many of these creatures inhabit the valley-regions at the base of the Ptehežitąkȟe or along the northern coast of Las Isloyatą. Squalls, mountain goats, snow lions, and phoenixes however thrive at higher altitudes.
The Ptehežitąkȟe are also said to be the home of supernatural creatures such as spirits, thunderhawks, ghasts, wers, wyrms, and lycans. Superstitious residents of the northern regions of Ąpawičhak’ya and Las Isloyatą are wary of traveling through the mountains and use talismans, amulets, and certain rituals to protect themselves from evil. Some traditional protections from the supernatural involve weaving strands of wild garlic into a wheel, tossing rice or salt over a threshold, wearing an amulet blessed by a Wičašayųkȟ or made using a symbol of one of the Itąčąįyųkȟ, and nailing rabbits upsidedown to a door.

Glossary:

• Hornbirds - a songbird, reddish brown in color with a yellow breast, black wings, and white markings. has small feather tufts like horns similar to a horned owl, a short triangular beak, and a trilled, repeating call.
• Squall - a long-beaked gull with light blue feathers, gray-tipped wings, and black tail feathers. inhabits the coastal region of the Ptehežitąkȟe mountains. known for its screechy call.
• Snow lion - big cat with a dappled gray-brown coat, rusty red marking around the eyes, and a long tail. resembles a mountain lion in size and features except for its oversized fangs.
• Thunderhawk - a supernatural giant hawk that carries lightning in its talons and has a call as loud as thunder. known for carrying off caribou and musk oxen.
• Ghast - an evil spirit of the dead sometimes referred to as a ghoul. differs from a ghost in that they have a physical form.
• Wyrm - a great wingless dragon that inhabits caves high in the mountains and feasts on large animals and humans.
• Wer - a folkloric shapeshifter that lives as both a man and a beast. capable of shifting between animal and human form. known for luring away children and eating them.
• Lycan - werewolf
• Snow bulb - small, bulbous white flowers with blue stamen that grow from thin stems about two inches off the ground, shaped like dandelion puffs.
• Winterberry - a small and spiky shrub that grows dark purple berries. the berries are safe to eat but become poisonous when overripe.
• Fern lichen - purple lichen that grows in fern-like spirals
• Purl lichen - pearlescent lichen that grows close to water, pink in color with fringes of gold
• Rock mange - a patchy, rusty orange lichen that grows on rocks in a manner similar to mange on an animal

Type

Mountain Range