"Between the Ringing Mountains and the Sea of Silt, the traveler finds hermits, thri-kreen packs, nomad tribes, isolated villages, and the Seven Cities known to reamain on Athas. One meets people of all races and classes: human nobles and slaves, elf raiders, half-giant mercenaries, and even the rare halfling wanderer. This region is the great mixing bowl of Athas, in which the different creatures of many peoples are forced to mingle or clash" -- The Wanderer's Journal.
Ringing Mountains
The mighty Ringing Mountains, the greatest mountains known on Athas, form the western border of the Tyr Region. The highest peaks in the range reach more than 20,000 feet in elevation, and even the lowest passes are a good 12,000 feet above the lowlands. Despite the brutal heat and aridity of the deserts below, a glimmer of permanent snow and thin ice clings to the highest spires, visible from a hundred miles away. The high vales are home to reclusive monasteries, isolated clans of mountain herders, tribes of fierce Goliath and Tarek raiders, and a wide variety of dangerous predators such as Rocs, Kirres, and Braxats. No Sorcerer-kings have tried to conquer the rich Forest Ridge that crowns the mountains, and for good reason. The cold and the thin air are brutal on soldiers, the passes are impossible for heavy wagons and lowland draft beasts, and the forest is protected from defiling by the ancient primal wards of the Halflings
Despite these daunting obstacles to invaders, the Ringing Mountains are thinly settled. Halflings, and those who trade with them, use secret roads and hidden passes to reach the lowlands. Vicious raiding tribes of Goliaths and other warlike races lurk in the wild fastnesses of the peaks. And, as in most of Athas monster-haunted ruins lie scattered throught the mountains, tempting explorers to try their luck.
What remains of Athasian civilization is cupped in the broad plains and deserts between the mighty Ringing Mountains and the impassable Sea of Silt.
Sources[]
- Dark Sun: Warriors of the Wasteland. Obsidian Portal website.
- Dark Sun Campaign Setting. Dungeon & Dragons 4th Edition. Wizards of the Coast.