Sunbound Stair
A small protocontinent that welded itself onto the southern tip of Niere ages ago to create the Sunwall Mountain range, the Sunbound Stairs are rugged, descending gradually westward in a series of mesas down to a grassy coastline in the southwest of the peninsula. The mountains to the northeast, known as the Sunwall, blocks much of the rain coming from the Stormfury Ocean, and the climate tends to be warm and arid except for the coastal grasslands, which are watered by warm, wet air coming northeast from the Sundered Sea.
In the modern age, the people of the central highlands still pay homage to Zuvinar, and they take great pride as the successors of the great Kalyon people, adorning their cities with sunbursts and chariots to recall the glories of that lost age. Those who live closer to the coasts of the peninsula, where the Daramaeic Empire’s influence was greatest, wear sigils of stars and constellations upon their clothes and ornaments, and they are known to produce some of the best astrologers and augurs in Niere.
Beyond their descendants, the legacy of the Kalyonic and Daramaeic empires lies beneath the ground and overhead in the stars. Most of the Kalyonic mines stopped producing long ago, but at least three are unaccounted for, their exact location unknown, holding out the possibility that a great wealth of gems and gold lies waiting for whoever might rediscover them. The many Daramaeic ruins scattered along the coasts of the Stair point to something much more sinister, as many of the ancient observatories and towers have begun to show signs of supernatural activity; the few adventurers who have returned from the old ruins relate the uneasy feeling of being watched, and of shadows that move with a will of their own, even in the bright light of day. The capital cities of both empires still evoke myths and legend; the exact location of fallen Kyrous has been lost to time, though many treasure hunters seek out Kalyonic archaeological sites in hopes of finding clues to where it and its riches are buried, while some prophecies hint that the Daramaeic Star-Kings may yet return one day to the shadowed city of Zushah, seeking to reclaim the Sunbound lands they once ruled.
