Savage Cliffs

The mountains have given us strength through hardship, even the cliffs that shelter us give little comfort to ensure we do not lose of strength to comfort. - Tribal Chief

Though all of the regions of The Spine are considered dangerous, the Savage Cliffs are more since they are surprisingly inhabited. Why would that make the area more dangerous you might ask, well it has to do with the barbarians that made it their home and they are not friendly type, well not all of them at least. Even though these series of cliffs offer them shelter, it is still a harsh place to live as barely anything grows here and the only way to feed yourself is through hunting and it can be dangerous if you don't know the ins and outs of the region.

Geography

The Savage Cliffs are a series of cliffs that range all across the western and eastern sides of the The Spine. These cliffs vary from altitude, size, and type across the entire mountain range

Ecosystem

The region is mostly made up of rocky terrain as the temperature ranges from colder to coder depending on the location of the cliffs themselves. From here it decides which plants can or cannot grow in these areas with different areas have no plants of complete biomes that decided where animals will eat both predators and herbivores alike. Along with the best places for them to rest while traveling across the mountains.
Barren Cliffs: Cliffs that cannot support plant life, but it is often used as a resting zone of animals that have had to make their way across the mountains in search of food. Here they will stay until they need to need to move on in search of food.
Green Cliffs: Many plants can be found on these cliffs that have found ways to survive the harsh weather of the mountains and where animals can graze when they need to eat.
Jagged Cliffs: These areas are considered dangerous due to the uneven ground and the jagged rocks that are scattered about the area. They have also been know to be unstable meaning a certain amount of weight can cause a part of it or the whole thing to collapse at any moment.
Ice Cliffs: Ice tends to build up a lot on the mountains with it even leading to the creation of an entire cliffside. These cliffs tend to last depending on the temperature or if something cracks them hard enough. But they do allow for quicker passage along the mountains as they can reach certain places from time to time.
Cave Cliffs: Some of these cliffs can have caves that are embedded into the rock which are ideal for any animal trying to rest from the cold. But they are often occupied by predictors waiting for their next meal to come to them.

Ecosystem Cycles

Animals go where the food is that has always been especially here on the cliffs. Depending on the time of the year on where the plants grow that is where most of the herbivores will go.

Localized Phenomena

Harsh Cold

The cliffs are often cold and harsh as the temperature never rises even when the sun is directly on top of them. Blizzards will often come and go as they please without warning and the occasional avalanche that can come without warning at any time. The worst of it is that the very air is often hard to breathe due to the cold that surrounds it.

Fauna & Flora

Most plants that grow here are use to the cold and the lack of sunlight to grow. There are not native animals that live here and most travel from different regions of the mountains to rest and eat from their migrations.

Natural Resources

It is unknown if there are any mineral resources to be found in the area to the danger that lies within them, but large amounts of plants certainly used to make herbs and food can be found here.

History

Home of the Exiled

The cliffs have been known for their barbarian population known to live on these cliffs, also known as the Mountain Kin who make up all of the tries that live upon the mountains. With each tribe holding certain numbers of cliffs to make their home here. These tribes are the descenders of barbarian tribes that were driven from their homes when the rising powers that were kingdoms and city-states saw them as a threat to their societies. But the Vatian Empire would be the most responsible for this migration during the Barbarian Wars which lead to a massive genocide of the barbarian peoples of the regions the empire conquered that forced them to uproot from their ancestral homelands and flee to the mountains to survive. Though many would perish from the harsh environment that they were forced to live in those the adapted to it made their home on the cliffs of the mountains and started over. With much of their old cultures and traditions abandoned and replaced with new ones all for the sake of survival that has continued to this day.

Savage Conflicts

The cliffs are no stranger to conflict as the inhabitants of the cliffs are often fighting for survival every single day of their lives for limited resources. This often causes them to clash with one another whenever two tribes of Mountain Kin have a contact with one another. The meeting rarely ends peacefully as they will do whatever they can to keep their people alive even if it means taking from others. This also applies to those who live below the cliffs as well when a raiding party comes down from the mountain in search of resources. Causing the many tribes to be warlike to ensure they can stay alive as fighting is often the best chance to do so. As the ideas of farming and animal husbandry are completely foreign to them and hunting is often the only way to find food for themselves. Making it nearly impossible for them to actually form official settlements as they lack the resources to achieve them.
There have been many conflicts on the cliffs with the balance of power between tribes constantly changing. While some tribes aim to wipe one another out, others often deal with their claims by selecting champions to represent their tribes to fight for their claim of resources to preserve life. There are also alliances between them and the rare cases of two tribes merging into one to gain strength in numbers. But when tribes are not fighting one another they will always come down from the cliffs to raid the lowland for as many resources as they can take before being pushed back by a stronger for than themselves. But sometimes there are times when the people from the lowlands will come and fight the tribes to ensure they do not go raiding for a while longer, such as the Mountain Guard who have been fighting the tribes for centuries and making claims on the cliffs to keep the barbarians away from their lands in Ardania. Leading to large conflicts at times as the tribes try to remove the foreign invades from their harsh home.

Alternative Name(s)

Cliffs of the Barbarians, Hul Gura

Type

Cliff

Location under

The Spine

Related Ethnicities

• Mountain Kin

Home of Many Tribes

Countless Mountain Kin live upon the cliff rather than other parts of The Spine as they given safety to from predictors and the harsh weather. Though It is unclear how many of them there actually are as many of these cliffs are found across the mountain range with the possibility of there being hundreds of them with thousands of them living out their day just to survive. Though it does not mean that they are safe in the slightest as any predictor can still make an easy meal of them if they wanted to.

Isolated Settlements

Settlements found on the cliffs are mostly like isolated from one another for many miles due to the terrain that the cliffs surround. Meaning information and news takes longer to travel from place to place. It can also mean that some of these settlements will not receive outsiders for many weeks, months over even years depending on where they are. Leading to a lack of understanding of the outside world around them. Even the possibility of alienation from other societies seeing their own as the only way of life better than others.

Conflict for Space

Due to the cliffs being vital for a tribe to survive for living space it is common for tribes to fight one another over them. These conflicts are often quick and brutal due to the space that the cliffs can hold and there is no other place for these tribes to retreat to so it will often lead to a large battle with the winner taking all and the loser often facing death. Fighting on the cliffs is not ideal either as most will likely fall of them rather dying at the hands of their enemy depending on the size of the cliff itself. Either the attacker defeated and the tribe safe or the attackers winning and claiming the cliff itself and the original tribe that lived their completely wiped out or it few members that had to survive to flee to their possible deaths as they have no safety from the elements or predictors.