Skyward Barrier Mountains

The Skyward Barrier mountains, sometimes called the Barrier Montains, or just the Barrier, is a folded mountain range that seperates the Scaled Forests from the Central Basin. They are the tallest mountains in Synsolic, caused by the collision of the Occident tectonic plate with the Central plate. On their northeastern side is the Montaran Plateau, an area of high elevation but relatively flat topology. It's here where fauns originated. Many fauns still live in the Barrier mountains and their surrounding lands, mostly on the north side. Also north of the Barrier is the Dotachokajon desert, caused by the rain shadow effect as oceanic winds coming from the southwest pass over the mountains.

Some human-faun relations took place across the northwest and southeast points of the range- where the topology is minimal and travel is easiest. They never became integral to either population, though, as their cultural differences prevented both sides from fully understanding the other, and the climatic differences prevented either from relocating outside their native habitat, in many cases.

Post-cataclysm, faun's relation to their home mountains grew tenuous. Many, especially those younger, harbored a fear of their mountains stemming from the destruction of the northern Spectator Range that saw the cataclysm. In response, many older fauns intensified their connection to the mountains, diving back into traditions and beliefs that had been fading prior to the cataclsym. As the decades passed, there has been a slow, albeit steady, emigration away from ancestral ranges, and thus, faun cities are characterized by epicenters of activity in the middle of abandoned architecture. Those that remain are divided into those who desperately cling to normalcy and history, and those who are seeking to sneak away to somewhere better. There is a divide among them as a result. Those that cling to their history cannot understand those that turn away from it, and often see them as abandoning their own. Those who drift away think the attached ones are holding on to a history that's better left abandoned. Both believe with all their hearts that they are correct.

Geology

The mountains themselves are made of up mostly granitic rock, with some mafic or ultramafic metamorphic rock, and notable ophiolites on the northern side of the range especially. The montaran foothills, however, are primarily uplifted areas that were once warm, shallow seas, and so are characterized by limestones, sandstones, and as a result, quartzites and marbles. Much of the quartzite and limestone in particular are very pure, and thus form striking white rock. 'Montaran limestone' is considered an ideal material for decorative purposes. At the peak of the human cities' renown, their trade with faun cities was dominated by the exchange of human goods for these lovely white stones.

The path of the occident tectonic plate as it collided with the central plate was slightly skewed, so instead of converging with the central plate in a perfect straight line, it has a tilt to it. The northern side of the plate collided first, while the ocean that is now the Silver Sea slowly closed, eventually hitting continent and lengthening the Barrier Mountains. This means that the mountain formation began earlier more northward, and the rain-shadow that is now ubiquitous with the northern edge of the Barriers was not yet present in more recent history on the southwestern edge of the range. For this reason, the southwestern side of the mountains actually experienced higher rainfall and river flow until the ocean closed and the mountains rose, leaving behind clay-rich sediment deposits that have now been uplifted with the mountains. These clay deposits are the source of much of faun's building materials, especially in the southwest.