Pallas Mons

Pallas Mons, or more colloquially known as the Thunderspire, is the monastery-laboratory which houses the Order of the Blooming Tree. Located near the tip of the Sleeping Dragon Peaks, the Thunderspire is one of the most remote, and well-defended, locations in all of New Cadrith.
The monastery boasts strong walls, bound with cement and alchemical genius, from which multiple slits are embedded. However, these gaps in the wall are not weaknesses, but rather the greatest strength of the Pallas Mons' walls, allowing their well-trained monks to fire from safety at any potential intruder. The mountain road is nigh-impossible for any siege battery, and the high terrain offers unparalleled lines of sight across the whole range.
From behind the strong walls, the monastery is divided into multiple outdoors cloisters and courtyards, exposed to the air, but safe from the mountain winds. In these courtyards, monks conduct firing drills and regular maintenance exercises, with the cracks of their firearms echoing down the mountainside and leading to the monastery's more common name - the Thunderspire.
In vast stepped gardens, willow trees sway in the cold air, grown by the Order for use in their forges and weapon frames. Beneath their swaying canopies, many monks conduct their studies from behind a veil of willow leaves. Beneath the maze of courtyards and corridors lies the material wealth of Pallas Mons - rich deposits of sulphur and saltpeter, long veins of iron and other metals, and geothermal heat to render them into technological wonders. Much of the labour is automated by steam, harnessed from the geothermal vents within the mountain, used for grinding and mixing various component into gunpowder. In other places, the heat is used in great forges, smelting bullets and barrels. Smaller vents lead into pools of water and smokehouses within the main monastery itself, heating the isolated mountaintop settlement, and ensuring functional, if somewhat stale, kitchens.
The Thunderspire is a secure and comfortable place to live, far removed from the affairs of the rest of New Cadrith - but attempts to leave Pallas Mons without the monks' favour are rarely met with hospitality.

Alternative Names

The Thunderspire

Parent Location

Sleeping Dragon Peaks

Owning Organization

Order of the Blooming Tree