Sinsear Mountains (sin-shar)

The Sinsear Mountains are a small mountain range in central Ayndrinor, situated between Crann Riocht to the south and Oestbernia to the north. They are relatively short in height, especially compared to their adjoining neighbor to the east, the Backbone Spires. Most geographers consider the Sinsear Mountains to be an offshoot or an arm of the Backbone Spires that turned west from the range's general north-south orientation. The elves were the first to name the mountains - as far as history is concerned - as their settlements and kingdom were close by in the forest, and all non-elves in Ayndrinor have since adopted the elven name for this mountain range. Some branches of elven religion treat this mountain range with only slightly less importance than the sacred tree and suggest it is similarly old and powerful, though this is far from the normal belief.
The mountains are not snow-capped the whole year; the snow peaks do melt in most summers, feeding the Abhain River and several smaller unnamed streams through the forest. The mountain range itself is precarious, however, and does not have any flat ground where hamlets or villages could grow. Even mountaineers struggle to travel through the Sinsear Mountains as there are very few spots to set up tents and camp. This inhospitable nature has prevented nomadic peoples from settling in the mountains as they do in other parts of the world; thus, the Sinsear Mountains are a fairly secure area. No abutting nation needs forts to watch the mountain passes for raids or invading armies.
The Oestbernian city of Engelberg is the only major mining operation in the Sinsear Mountains, though there are many small mining villages on both sides that don't show up on maps. The town of Madera is on the range's far western edge, mostly located in the foothills, where the mountain runoff feeds the Castillon River.

Type

Mountain Range