Avalanche

An avalanche is the rapid movement of snow (in varying degrees of compactness) down a slope. These are a fairly common risk among The Stenza; settlement shields are designed with them in mind among many other environmental risks (such as more severe snow storms), and religious experts must learn to navigate, mitigate, and survive such events during mountain climbing.

Manifestation

Avalanches most often occur when the weight of snow exceeds what the layers of that snow can hold. Changes may be caused by animals, rocks, wind, increased precipitation, sunlight, or Stenza of all ages; the end result is always some volume of snow tumbling toward the base of the mountain powered by gravity until they run out of momentum. Avalanches typically pick up more and more snow as they progress, and large volumes of snow can move boulders, whatever flora may be found, and the odd Basket Horns in its wake.
Avalanches can occur on either side of the mountains relative to the Ice Flats basin, and those that occur toward Stenza settlements are one of the many hazards for which the settlement shield was developed and implemented. During freak weather events they are thought to be one of the reasons why people who go out into the storm are never found.

Localization

Avalanches occur on any slope shallow enough to accumulate snow and steep enough to allow that snow to accelerate once it gains momentum downhill. These may be inward, toward the Ice Flats or outward toward the Frozen Wastes. Most avalanches headed outward remain unnoticed, but some have obscured the Caves of the Dead, blocked hunting or migration routes, or affected The Wind Fields.

Type

Natural