Titqucha Apu (teet-coo-cha aah-poo)

The most inhospitable region of Drakaina is Kaypi Yuraq on Titqucha Apu.
Titqucha Apu - loosely translated from the ancient language means rock lake mountain - is the tallest mountain peak in all the land, rising 22,000 feet above the sea. The summit has never been reached by man due to the sheer, steep face and frozen soil. Picture the childhood drawings of mountains - the peak looking like an isosceles triangle - and you will be envisioning Titqucha Apu.
The Kaypi Yuraq - the area of Titqucha Apu from 20,000 feet to the peak - sees absolutely no life. Kaypi Yuraq comes from the ancient language of the people and means "this place is white", appropriate since the snow never melts. Daily, from pacary until the inti yaykuy, powdery snow falls. It is said Wayqayqa, the god of sadness, weeps for his lost beloved during these hours and his tears fall as snow. Wayqayqa, it is told, was not always a god. He was a brave warrior who fell in love with a yegua. His love for the animal was so true that he begged his awichu to transform him into a horse so he could mate with the yegua and live happily. His grandfather was so enraged by the request he banished Wayqayqa to the summit of Titqucha Apu. Following his exile, the yegua, sure of hoof, attempted to reunite with Wayqayqa at the summit and, nearing the peak, slipped and fell to her death. At that moment, the truest sadness ever known gripped Wayqayqa and, brandishing his tumi, and sacrificed himself so the yegua could live. Unfortunately, both the yegua and the warrior met their death. Because of his pure heart, Inti the All Powerful raised Wayqayqa to the status of a god - the god of pure sadness. The tears of Wayqayqa only fall in the Kaypi Yuraq and nowhere else.
The barren soil of the Kaypi Yuraq is frozen solid year round. Its hardness - much like the harsh reality of death - is what has kept all from traversing to the summit, as nothing can penetrate the ground to allow for safe footing. Those who have attempted to summit fall short, often falling off the steep slope to their death just as the yegua.