Reder's Folly Mountains

The major north-south oriented mountain range in the western part of Arathel. The mountains create a natural border between Porthca and The Kingdom of Fenlor.

Name and Etymology

In year 0 SR (4481 years ago), Leysm Reder, an aristocrat who fashioned himself explorer and naturalist, led the first human expedition from the nation of Porth across the Iänsi Valtameri to Arathel. The expedition made landfall at what would become Llandry, the first city of what later became the nation of Porthca. The expedition aimed to settle new lands and find new sources of wealth, something Leysm Reder believed he found in the mountains adjacent to Llandry. In the old tongue, Llandry means "Harbor of Gold", a reference to the abundant fishing and golden colored veins that run through the foothills of the portion of the Reder's Folly Mountains adjacent to Llandry. In the end, however, the gold-colored veins near Llandry were filled with near worthless pyrite or "fool's gold". Despite Leysm Reder's obsession with extracting the "gold" driving the settlement to near economic ruin, Llandry survived. In fact, the town eventually flourished due to the abundant fishing in the Shinryoku Sea, but the name of the mountains thereafter recorded Reder's folly.

Geography

The Reder's Folly Mountains traverse nearly the entire continent of Arathel and span a range of climate zones, from temperate southern latitudes to the harsh cold of the north. Approaching the mountains from west or east, travelers first encounter rolling foothills that transition to towering peaks. The range serves as a natural border between the nations of Porthca and Fenlor. Both of these nations claim the foothills on their side of the mountains, but the large peaks and mountain passes in the center of the range remain unclaimed.

Watersheds

The southern half and northernmost portion of the range drains on its western slope by the Copperpeak, Western Twin, and Hellbore watersheds, which discharge into the Shinryoku Sea at the settlements of Avorth, Ywyn, and Penmarst. The central portion of the Follies drains primarily on its eastern slope by the Eastern Twin and Forked Rivers watershed, which discharge into Hyton Lake as the Eastern Twin River and the Northern and Southern Sgaga Rivers, but also has some back drainage to the west by the Western Twin watershed.

Elevation

The elevation of peaks within the Reder's Folly Range reaches its zenith of 12,500 to 14,500 feet near the latitude of Forodost in Fenlor and of Ywyn in Porthca. North of Ywyn, elevations slowly decrease, but remain near 12,000 feet until reaching the latitude of Llandry where they quickly dwindle to near 8000 feet at the boundary of the The Grey Wood and the Silver Fjords. South of Ywyn, elevations decline smoothly with peaks of ~10,000 feet near Penmarst tapering off to 7000 ft at the range's southern tip where Opaline Lake feeds the Golden River.

Many of the peaks within the Reder's Folly Range are named after their function, resemblance to religious symbols, myths, and events that transpired in their vicinity. The most well-known include Soulguard Mountain near Ambury Town reaching 13,256 ft and housing Soul's Rest, Wingshade Spire reaching 14,522 ft (the tallest peak in the range) and rumored to be the home of an ancient dragon (there are no trustworthy historical sightings), a series of three, adjacent volcanic plugs called The Stacks of Atis located on the shores of Opaline Lake, and Andrew's Spear located near the summit of Obsidian Pass, between Clewick and Abeg.

Notable Features and Communities

There are numerous well-known features and locations of interest throughout the Reder's Folly Mountains. These features can be broken down into natural features and those locations associated with the inhabitants of Arathel. Some of these are listed below.

Natural Features

• Obsidian Pass, Hellbore Pass, and Tanglewood Pass: well-used passes generally considered to provide safe routes for well-prepared groups traversing mountains.
• The Stacks of Atis: Three volcanic plugs of differing heights that resemble the symbol of Atis, three stacks of coins.
• Opaline Lake: A large lake at the southern tip of the range with opalescent waters that are nearly opaque, but shine with a milky brilliance.

Inhabitant-Associated

• Tower of the Celestials (unconfirmed): According to legend, this tower appears and disappears at random locations in the Reder's Folly Mountains with no discernible pattern, except that it has only been witnessed at night. When it appears, the entire structure glows with an iridescent light. No record exists of someone having successfully entered the tower.
• Ironhome: a small independent settlement connected to a productive iron mine located along Reder's Road within the Tanglewood Pass.
• Copperdale: a small independent settlement connected to a productive copper mine located along Obsidian Pass.
• Andrew's Vale: A permanent hunter's camp in the small mountain clearing where the final battle between King Andrew I and his cousin King Munder II ended in tragedy with the death of Andrew at the Battle of Cousin's Rock  .
• Reder's Rest: A lookout with spectacular views of the Harbor of Llandry. The Rest is located along the Tanglewood Pass where Leysm Reder ended his days in a small hut, isolated from society.

Travel

The lack of government control of the high regions makes traveling through the range risky unless well prepared, even on established passes. In addition to the sometimes harsh climate and sudden storms that can arise in the mountains, caravans often must contend with bandits or a variety of wildlife searching for an easy meal, whether the meal be the travelers or the food they carry with them.

Ecology, Climate, and Meteorology

Ecology

The Reder's Folly Range is divided into a number of biotic zones, each of which is defined by its climate and supports a number of interdependent species. Life in the higher elevation zones adapted to colder weather, and to most of the precipitation falling as snow. The rain shadow of the Follies causes the eastern slope to be relatively warmer and drier in the northern and southern parts of the range, while the eastern slope of the central range is warmer, but equally as wet and the western slopes. The defined biotic zones, and corresponding elevations, are as follows:

• Foothill zones (1500-3000 ft)
• Lower Montane Forest (2,500–7,000 ft)
• Upper Montane Forest (7000 - 11,000 ft)
• Alpine Zone: all elevations greater than 11,000 ft.

Climate and Meteorology

The climate of Reder's Folly Mountains varies significantly from north to south. In the north, elevations above 5000 ft have year-round snow cover and the peaks host two prominent glaciers, each flowing toward the Silver Fjords. In contrast, the southern end of the mountains has relatively mild winters and warm summers preventing development of significant snow pack and leading to complete melting of any accumulated snow by mid-Spring. Precipitation in the Follies ranges from 25 to 100 inches a year with the majority occuring in the fall, winter, and spring. The central and southern portions of the range experience the greatest precipitation, which falls primarily on the western slopes of the mountains. To the east, much of the land lies in the range's rain shadow, resulting in low precipitation. However, the eastern side of the range west of Hyton Lake receives large amounts of lake-effect snow during the winter as cold air masses moving south from the Silver Fjords and the The Grey Wood pick up moisture from the lake, move westward, and drop their accumulated moisture as they rise over the mountains. Summer months tend to be dry with sudden thunder and lightning storms occasionally sparking wild fires.

Alternative Name(s)

The Follies

Type

Mountain Range

Location under

Arathel

Included Locations

• Ambury Temple
• Ambury Town
• Soulguard Mountain

Contested By

• The Kingdom of Fenlor