Lair of the WarDrac

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Baphelocutis
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WarDrac of RhyDin

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Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:48 pm
Location: Everywhere-nowhere

Lair of the WarDrac

Post by Baphelocutis »

From the north gate of the city of RhyDin as one is riding out on a clear sunny day into the countryside one can see the snow capped mountain peaks along the northern horizon before them. A lightly encumbered horse bred to be a long distance speedy runner could make it to the base of these mountains from the north gate of RhyDin city by sunset if they left at sunrise on a summer day. Though once one reached the base of these mountains it would be another couple of days moving quickly up in altitude to even reach a point that makes all further attempts to ascend the peaks impassable. Several dozen meters above tree line the peaks simply jut sharply up several hundred meters at rocky angles reminding one of a giant row of dragon’s teeth. The winds whistle and howl through these jagged peaks, which often wrap thick cottony clouds to the rocky peaks like snagged sheep’s wool in a dragon’s teeth. Few intrepid mountaineers would challenge these climbs, and fewer still would knowing the beast that chose to call this area his domain.

This domain is an area at the very southern end of a huge mountain range that divides the northern part of the RhyDin continent clearly into western and eastern halves. This southern end of the continental range is a thick juncture of some mini-ranges that finger out into the meadowlands north of the city of RhyDin that represents the last higher than tree line peaks at the southern end of this range. This geological mass creates a seeming pincushion area of effect with many peaks circling other peaks at varying dizzying heights in which the strips of cloud material never get completely ripped away regardless of the direction or strength of any wind. The view skimming just above the average cloud ceiling about these peaks reminds one of city streets rolling with fog between towering buildings that could be found along some coastal areas. Most times of year depending on the kind of weather on a particular day both sunrises and sunsets spill a wonderful assortment of purple and orange hues across the sky in this area that is often pleasant to behold by the natural eye.

The pincushion cluster of peaks reaches up from a misshapen mash of multiple mountains that grew together or are growing from one bigger rocky mass. Almost as if some huge prehistoric volcano had exploded collapsing several massive mountains into each other forming a shorter by prehistoric standards mountain that seems to beget other mountains like amoebas beget each other so for a several kilometer diameter there is no valley below tree line between many multiple rows of peaks. It becomes more and more clear as one glides a lazy circling loop about this area why there is a permanent presence of clouds amongst the peaks. Multiple little pockets of water pools where water springs sprout from underground between different peaks also find themselves near the open spouts of fissures that funnel hot volcanic gases from the planet’s core into the sky causing steam to rise off these water pools. Not a microbe of life clings to these rocky jutting peaks anywhere above tree line though many of the clear pools overflow their stony pockets to cascade down to supply much of the rich evergreen vegetation below that is thick right up to the altitude of tree line. Though no volcanic gases spew forth from fissures below an altitude dozens of meters above tree line the effect they have above that does affect many weather patterns of the region on a daily basis.

While snow does accumulate at higher altitudes and remains un-melted throughout much of the year on most worlds, the illusion of the mountains being perpetually snow capped looking here is mostly caused by a combination of frost and rocky colorations. Indeed on some of the bulky formations just above tree line there are depths of snow piled high but as the angular rocky juts move higher and steeper less snow hangs onto places for long. These rocky formations appear to be any sort of combinations of huge varying pieces of rock clinging still somehow amazingly to other various sized pieces of rock to gigantic chunks of solid ore materiel that simply has had chunks come off to give it any type of shapely characteristics. The light slate grey colors and lack of other pigmentation at these altitudes usually helps to two-dimensionalize otherwise normal three-dimensional environments in terms of judging depths and shapes close up amongst the peaks. Within the pincushion mass like area are various non-descript clusters of peaks that sprout together thicker and higher from bulges in the mount massive with about a good dozen of them forming the core of this southern end of the continental range.

One of these clusters of peaks near the core amongst a collection of randomly placed water pools and volcanic fissures is the one that houses the lair of the WarDrac. No amount of searching back and forth between the peaks would ever reveal a cave entrance that was the tell tale sign of a lair for the mouth of this cave actually faces a rock wall in a narrow gap of the peak it was apart of in the same cluster. While most of dragon-kin are proud egomaniacs they usually do not build address and name markers to loudly announce where you could find them at home. Dragon-kin also make no excuses for their abodes being extremely difficult to reach at all under any mode of transportation or that the surrounding environments are very uncomfortable for most humanoid beings. The only reliable way to find the lair of Baphelocutis was flying through the cloudy approaches through the clusters of peaks until you knew where to drop onto the appropriate seemingly random rock ledge that lead to the lair’s naturally hidden entrance.

Until one actually reached the right particular rock ledge that was a landing platform for the platinum draconian nothing else would give away the location or otherwise seemingly do anything to hinder one’s attempts to locate the lair or reach the lair. The natural geography was defense enough against most attempting to find ways to naturally reach him, while any others who could otherwise reach him would probably pass whatever other types of defenses one might distribute around their home. Most beings on RhyDin were smart enough not to enter the lair of the WarDrac uninvited by all accounts, but dragon-kin where particularly old school when it came to maintaining their image about their personal residences so a spot like this on RhyDin was just perfect for Baphelocutis to call home.
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