The Land of Ithilien

"I can't believe you," she huffed. A rock shifted underfoot and she slid a few inches down, catching herself with her hands before she fell on her face or tumbled back down the trail. "We finally get a chance to be alone and you spend the last couple of hours dragging me up the mountains."
The young man paused to offer her his hand, pulling her gently, but firmly onto a flat shelf of stone. They were both sweaty and breathing heavy, though he was his breathing was steadier than hers. He had been raised in the Illeros while she was a hills girl.
"I wanted to share something with you," he said with a smirk he hoped was more endearing than mocking. The set of her jaw and the harsh glare she gave him said otherwise.
"Why couldn't you just share it back down--" She turned to gesture down at the cliffs, plainly visible on this unusually clear day, but her bad mood dissolved when she saw everything else finally uncovered of clouds and mist. "--there," she finished, wonder filling the word.
His smile grew wider and he studied her face, taking in the subtle changes of her expression as she looked out over her entire world and the horizon beyond. "That's why," he said softly.

Geography

Ithilien is centered around the Gulf of Andileath, an inlet of the Lanthir Sea. The Illeros mountains wreath most of the gulf before following the coast south and north to Ithilien's border. The coast between the mountains and the gulf is narrow and consists mostly of cliffs dotted with occasional waterfalls of fresh mountain run off. Foothills undulate from the mountains to the cliffs and the few steep, tight valleys that end in rocky beaches. The high tides often flood these coastal valleys and waves will sometimes surge up them as far as the clifftops. Though the hills roll to the north and east of the gulf to the shores of the Lanthir Sea, the general elevation of the land decreases rapidly until it ends at the beaches of Thressil Bay, marking the limits of Ithilien's northern border.
Springtime brings powerful floods to the rivers and streams as compacted snow and ice from the winter melts and rushes down the mountains to meet the gulf, which remain full and healthy from runoff and, later, regular rainfall until mid to late fall. The warm sea air becomes trapped by the mountains, bringing frequent rains to Ithilien's coast, especially during the late summer and early fall when sea storms become strongest. The upper reaches of the mountains are often blanketed with low-hanging clouds in the fall and spring, when the cooler overall temperatures condense the moisture from the air before it can properly precipitate. On especially clear days, though, it is possible to see across the entire gulf from up in the mountains. Residents of the northern edge of the gulf can usually see the Illeros mountains, as well, though seeing the cliffs is difficult or impossible because of the high surf.

Fauna & Flora

Coniferous trees cover the lower reaches of the Illeros mountains, mixed with deciduous trees in the foothills and the northeastern region of Ithilien. A variety of mammals, including deer and small rodents like squirrels, and birds, such hawks, sparrows, and seagulls, call Ithilien home. The bay is home to several species of fish. It is also the only place on Kaot where the cliff-dwelling tide fisher can be found.

Type

Territory