The Black Mountains

Landscape
Desolation... it sounds so plain until you would step foot here and one would be forgiven for imagining it as such. At first glance, all you shall find here is volcanic rock as far as the eye can see. The Black Mountains are described as a barren wasteland and stand more than five kilometers from the surface of Arcturus, for all intents and purposes uninhabitable.

Were one to venture to the top of one of these hulking landscapes they would find a distinct lack of environmental discourse. No weathering, no snow. Were one to burrow into the steep crevasses below however they would find the answer as to why. In these sacred valleys, lava still flows like water from a spring. Whilst the surface pathways may be protected, the caverns of the Mountains can reach in excess of 600°C and the void below would incinerate any mere mortal without protection.

Yet on a clear day when the winds are fair, whistling through the alluring peaks, you shall find an inevitable attraction to its comeliness. For this is not just a tomb, it is a gateway. Great Men and Women chiseled these Mountains from the Earth and here we stand, the ruins of Citadels long lost standing as a reminder to our kin... that like this land, we shall never fall. Only rise.

This place was made as a sanctum for the divine and it is the divine who shall keep it.

Landmarks
There is a myriad of landmarks in this wasteland, though hard to spot at first. For every peak, there is a name and for every ruin, you will find a story. We of the Empire's record keepers recognize the following as the most prominent:

Vasikel - The Apocalyptic, this shrine stands as a memorial to Vasikel, he who tamed this land with his terraforming genius.

Ankriel - The Night, this shrine stands as a memorial to Ankriel, she who developed technology for us to reclaim light from our moons.

Masciel - The Callous, this shrine stands as a memorial to Masciel, the Architect who worked day and night to ensure we had homesteads here.

Raekai'el - The Divine, this shrine stands as a memorial to Raekai'el, he who helped bring our people certainty in a time of great unrest,

Aryana - The Winter, this shrine stands as a memorial to Aryana, she who used this sacred land to give birth to the first Great Citadel of Arcturus, a ruin one may still find to the East that with the help of all the above, shielded our people for a millennia.

If one seeks to map and catalog our great people's adventures throughout these lands the Black Mountains certainly offer ample opportunity. Many years later after we discovered the truth of our heritage we are still able to piece together our true history from this place and it will continue to guide our people for generations evermore.