The Spider Spires
Cold winds pushed down at us as we drew nearer to the sharp upslopes as if trying to keep us away.
"Once we're in the mine, we'll be good to bed down for the night," Karil promised, his eyes twitching around us regularly as he guided the reins. "We can leave torches burning at the entrance and shut the door."
"Do they really come down this far?" I asked, feeling much less certain now than when I insisted to Ma I was old enough to help.
"Not often," he reassured me with a confident smile. "It's just best to stay alert."
Suddenly, the path exploded in a burst of dirt. Our horses screamed in terror and the wagon jerked hard. I held on for dear life as Karil cursed and snapped the reins, terrain suddenly flying by me. An eternity of terror later, I gathered myself enough to look up and assess the horses. One was missing. The splintered and ripped remains of its harness hung from the broken portions of the wagon they were still attached to.
"And now you know why I was hoping to acquire some more dogs before this trip out," my brother said breathlessly, slowly pulling back against the eagerly running remaining horse. "They're easier bait to replace than a missing cart horse."
The Spider Spires neatly bisect the northern continent, separating the Spirited Lands from Echelion. Spindleshin Pass is the easiest way to get through them, though it is only safe in comparison to navigating the close-set needle-like spikes elsewhere in the range. There is an unnamed plain of snow and ice which stretches for several kilometers from the sharp drop of the range's northern tip that could conceivably be used for crossing; its distance from any established paths prevents its regular use, as does the high population of trap-door-like giant arachnids that dwell there.
Geography
Sages who theorize how mountains come to be are hard-pressed to explain the Spider Spires. They have no true foothills, as other ranges do. The enormous upward-thrusting points rise sharply out of the plains, forests, and shrublands that border them on both sides. With the exception of Spindleshin Pass, the spikes offer enough room for a single human-sized traveler to scramble up and between the joining points at a time, provided they are capable climbers.
This is not a recommended method of navigation, as it is easy in the depths of the range to lose track of which way one is traveling.
Fauna & Flora
There are many species of fauna in the Spider Spires... most of them the arachnids from which the range draws its name. How they grow to such sizes here or flourish among the freezing temperatures that linger in the range year-round are mysteries. Nearly any variation of spider one might know of elsewhere exists here. Web-spinning varieties weave traps large enough to entangle an Emporium light skipper among the higher peaks, jumping specimens hunt the middle and lower elevations, and ambush predators that lie under constructed trap doors or among blending backgrounds lurk along the lowest portions.
Although they display no more cunning than the average spider, their proximity to one another and eagerness to take advantage of distracted prey means an attack by a single nightmarishly-large spider can quickly escalate into what appears to be a coordinated raid.
Natural Resources
Iron and silver run in rich veins throughout the entirety of the range. Many mines up and down the range were established simply by walking along the spires looking for the raw ore at the surface, then following the resulting vein deep into the earth.
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