Erie Spires

"Sure, a few hardy souls venture into the spires every once in a while, but none have ever returned."

Old Darby, shopkeeper in Parowent

The Erie Spires is a rocky and unforgiving mountain range in which only the hardiest of fauna and flora can survive. What begins as normal mountains suddenly morphs into ragged spires of volcanic breccia about halfway up, as if torn away by the unforgiving breath of an angry god, the tops of which are often obscured by low hanging clouds. On particularly windy days you can hear the "Howls of Erie" an eerie sound that rips through the spires, a chorus of banshees wailing a mournful refrain.

In the beginning, there was no shortage of explorers and expeditions that ventured into the Erie Spires, which forms what is believed to be an impassible barrier that protects the Golden Valley. Some believed it held awe-inspiring mysteries hidden from the civilized world, while others merely wanted to experience the thrill of discovery, of seeing strange sights, of hearing sounds strange to their ears, and having experiences none have had up to now. Some expeditions were sizeable, and no few numbers of explorers were notable, but never has one returned. Now, few ventures into Erie Spires and those who do are viewed as desperate, brave, or perhaps just insane…maybe the truth is a mix of all three. Whatever the motivation, the result has always been the same. Nothing going into Erie Spires returns, and rarely does anything in Erie Spires come out. No one seems to know why.

The Beasts of Erie

Every so often, creatures stray from the Erie, whether by will or by wandering. Most of the time, they are beats to be hunted and put down, much like you would a rabid animal, but there are times when those that stray from the Erie do so by will, to wreak havoc and claim new territory. Though this happens less frequently, usually those that rule the lands surrounding the Erie deal with these creatures by eliminating them, or driving them back into the Erie.