Earth Spine

Earth Spine is Tzaltec name for the range that continues north and south along the eastern border of the Tzaltec Empire to the edges of the continent. The mountains are nigh-impassable, with only a few jagged passes providing a route further into the range.

The majority of the mountains remain unexplored, a single region is well traveled by the native peoples. This collection of peaks stretches further west than the others, a finger of towering rock that is laced through with natural caverns and canyons. The sound of the wind passing through the various openings produces a ceaseless cry that carries for miles. The local people believed their gods to reside there, and called the holy site the Wailing Labyrinth.

South of the Progenitor Forest, the hills rise sharply to join the Spine. It is in these mountains that the largest mountain in the range sits, and in defiance of its local name Tzaltec maps mark it as Mount Nezetkhamun.

The Green Fingers

Located in the southernmost edge of the Earth Spine, Nanacatlon is almost devoid of habitable land above ground. What little there is is located inside the Green Fingers, and array of valleys in the region's south that form the rough shape of a pair of hands reaching up into the mountains from the green lands of the coast. It is here where most of the hunting is conducted, but there are few settlements.

The Keystone Mountains

The Keystone mountains are a key section of the much larger mountain range stretching roughly north and south along the western continent, called the Earth Spine by the Tzaltec. Along the border with Axquahitl, they soar so high, their peaks are often lost in the clouds. Farther north, along the border with Oztotla, they are shorter, but no less jagged. The region gets its name because it is the east/west border for water and weather. The western peaks block the weather and make the western slopes home to the redwood forests and their guardian predator fungus. On the eastern slope, barren sandy deserts with a few palm and juniper plants are all that grows. This region is called the Foresaken Lands.

Gebui Mountain

Wealth can be found in the mountains for those bold enough to explore. Gebui Mountain is one of the oldest and largest mountains in Bashul Kentoya, named after the royal family. It is said that one of the early Grand Princes found a tan-coloured being with the silhouette of a human and features of a cat. He had keen blue eyes and fur the colour of sand. In his hand he held the first Heart Ruby found in Bashul Kentoya. The Grand Prince knew instantly the power of the Heart Ruby and offered to trade many valuable things in exchange for it. It is said he even offered the cat-like person three palaces, a veritable legion of servants and an army which dwarves all but the Grand Prince's own personal army. Yet, the cat-like being refused. After some thought, the Grand Prince offered to find more Heart Rubies. Intrigued, the cat-like being listened to the Grand Prince's clever plan to trade a better Heart Ruby for the one the he already had. The Grand Prince told the cat-like being however, that to find another Heart Ruby, he would have to examine the one the cat-like being already had. After much time examining the Heart Ruby, he informed the cat-like being he would have to take the Heart Ruby back to his palace where he had the tools necessary to examine it. The cat-like being agreed to accompany the Grand Prince to his palace so he could examine the Heart Ruby.

True to his word, the Grand Prince allowed the cat-like being to walk freely from the palace with his Heart Ruby. Many years later, the Grand Prince found the first Heart Ruby in the depths of Gebui Mountain. It was not larger than the one the cat-like being possessed but was more powerful. The trade was irrelevant however, as by then the pair had become friends.