The Hand of Indra Mountains

"The storm ended here, perhaps some ancient design prevents its expansion? Many things lie beneath the mountains, more than most would know." - Book of Valron.

Geography

The Hand of Indra Mountains are a mountain range that spans the whole of Alhelia north to south. These are the mountains that separate the Kurgara Steppes from the Blinding Expanse. As such from the peaks of one of its mountains on a clear day one could see the walls and mega-structures of Soljeva and the stark beauty of the Steppes on either side. Snow-capped blackstone mountains are an iconic image of Alhelia and most often these are the ones thought of.
The mountain range is noted to have formed in all manner of strange ways. With large archways of stone and swirling mountains looking as if they had been painted upon on the world. This can make the range extremely dangerous to traverse on foot, despite this however the mountains are quite structurally stable and many rail lines have been installed throughout.

History

Before the Empire was founded these mountains held some of the larger tombs the nascent Imperials would emerge from. While Illyan explorers would discover the tombs in the Northern Reaches, those who emerged in the mountains would go uncontacted for quite some time. As a result, the primitive Imperials who inhabited the mountains formed tribes around their tombs. In this era, the tribes made war with each other in efforts to control the sparse resources of the mountains. Their ancient fortresses and cities are still used in the region to this day, however, the tribes have long since been integrated into the Empire and made noble houses of their own right. Once contact was made a short period of conflict between the mountain tribes and Steppe nomads issued though peace was quickly negotiated by the Glacien Nah-Ulthun. The mountain-dwelling Imperials became valued guards and would go on to become some of the Empire's first Knights.
Today the Hand of Indra mountains contain a few cities that work to support Soljeva and intake trade wealth from the West but the ancient structures there are mostly used for Knight fortresses and Saint monasteries. The harsh conditions provide excellent training ground and isolation for both of the very private groups.

Tourism

The Saint monasteries of the region draw most of its visitors as they are repositories of knowledge open to all. It is close enough to Soljeva to be a day trip for avid scholars or even school children to many of the monasteries. Significant portions of the mountains however are closed to the public as they are set aside lands for Knight Chapters.

Type

Mountain Range