The Aramut Peaks
The Aramut Mountains are among the highest mountain ranges on the face of Midvar. Located in the south, they rest in the northern end of the Ebonwood Forest and cast a shadow down over the Crystal Basin. Few creatures call the Aramuts their home as only the toughest creatures can survive there. The high peaks and isolation has helped foster rumors of fantastic locations hidden within the depths of the mountains.
Geography
The Artamut Mountains consist of looming jagged gray stone peaks that are capped with snow due to their extreme height. The lowest peaks are around fifteen thousand feet high while the tallest peak, the Devils Spire is over twenty nine thousand feet high, most peaks are between eighteen thousand feet and twenty four thousand feet high.
The lowest pass is at six thousand feet and is one of only four passes that isn't in a perpetual winter and impassable to all but the extraordinarily brave or desperate people.
The lower slopes are cloaked in the Ebonwood forests which grow unnaturally thick and are able to shelter the many animals and smaller plants that inhabit them. Large amounts of water flow out from the mountains in small creeks and streams which gather rapidly into larger rivers leading down into Crystal Basin.
Fauna & Flora
At the lower edges of the mountains there exists a thriving ecosystem of Ebonwood trees. Smaller deciduous trees do manage to hold on, on the lowest slopes as small and gnarled as they come living under the canopy of hardier trees in places where there are cleared or sparse patches. Many small creeks and streams flow throughout the lower parts of the mountains.
Ferns grow forming a majority of the underbrush on the lower slopes, sword ferns, deer ferns, and maidenhair ferns are the most common and largest. At higher elevations near the timberline red ferns grow in sparse clusters usually in the shadow of a large tree or boulder that can block winds and ice from coating them. At the fringe of where plants can survive very rarely blue ferns can be sometimes found and are a valuable resource for alchemical studies.
Moving on the upper slopes eating the frosted blades of grass in summer and grazing on iced over straw at lower altitudes the rest of the year are herds of Goral. Often found near herds taking advantage of disturbed snow are mountain goats prized for their higher quality horns which are used in the finest decorative applications.
Instrument makers have found that trees harvested from higher up the mountain will produce richer, more resonant sounds and enterprising men can get large sums of money to brave the the steep cliffs of the Artamut Mountains and return with the prized timbers. At the furthest reaches to be explored by even the most skilled expeditionary parties it is rumored that trees, infused with a similar magic as that found in the Crystal Basin, emitting a soft blue glow in the mists grow. Although most believe these to be merely hallucinations brought on by mountain sickness, hypothermia, and possibly the effects of extended use of protection magics and exertion, simply mirages seen by desperate people on the edge of death wishing for a reason to have the adventure be worth it.
Type
Mountain Range
Location under
