Spectator Range

The Spectator Range lies at the northernmost point of the continent. It is an andesitic volcanic mountain range, formed by the subduction of the Boreal tectonic plate under the central plate. It is not as old or as tall as the Skyward Barrier mountains, and the composition of the rock is on the end of the andesitic-rhyolitic scale: it is not as viscous as most rhyolites, but is very silica-rich and therefore is close. This composition played a hand in how destructive the cataclysm was.

The caldera left by the cataclysm is often referred to as the Shell, but has many names, most of them stemmed from conjecture rather than experience: it's not a frequent destination for travelers. 150 years after the cataclysm, the caldera's interior is still mostly bare igneous rock, but the flanks have begun to undergo primary succession and is therefore patchy grassland farther from the caldera, mossy, lichenated rock closer to it. The area immediately surrounding the caldera is dominated by tephra formations, cooled from a thick layer of ash into rock. This ash layer is found across nearly the entire continent, but thins with distance.

The peaks of the range are lower than that of the Skyward Barriers, but because the Spectators are further north and therefore colder, still covered by alpine tundra. Most of the mountainside is taiga forest. Griffons originated here- mostly fox to deer-sized scavengers and carnivores. They occupied similar niches as dragons did in more southerly habitats- differences in morphology were driven by the differences in temperature.

Very few areas of the mountains themselves were ever habitated by humanoids. Some satyrs built cities on the mountains, but they offered unique problems related to agriculture and travel, making trade simultaneously more necessary and more difficult. For this reason, large satyr cities kept mostly to the base of the mountains and the surrounding forests. The waters north of the mountains were home to some iaran populations, but they, too preferred the calmer, less frigid waters of the gulf. And after the cataclysm, these populations close to the mountains- satyr and iaran- were wiped out, and have yet to return, if they ever will.