The Karzhan Spine

The Karzhan Spine is the jagged mountain range that runs north to south down the western third of Aethorra, dividing the Heartlands from the Greenwarden. The northern Spine is mined by the Dunmorrow; the southern Spine holds the high valleys of Tharax. Only four passes can take an army: the Vargate, Venei's Throat, the Stair and, in the south, the Tharaxi Gap. The Wenvorm rises in its eastern slopes and the Talodin in its southern ones, so its snows decide the fate of rivers far away, as in the Long Drought of 330–338 and the dry summer of 1137. It is a country of bare rock, scree, alpine meadows, pine and fir below and snow above, home to the ibex, the Karzhan bear, the lynx, the chamois and the whistling delver marmot. The Dunmorrow say the mountain is a forge, while the Bound of Tharax tell in secret that it is a sleeping mother.

See also: Dunmorrow, The Vargate, Venei's Throat, The Stair, Screefolk caves