Oria Dry Mountain

Place

Place Name:

Oria Dry Mountain

Biome:

Dry Mountain

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

Oria Dry Mountain is a region just South West of the Cersamhin Evergreen Taiga region and just West of one of the regions neighboring the Old'kali Volcano Valley. The Oria Mountain gives the region its name, as the mountain takes up most of the territory- the ‘Dry’ coming from the fact that the region is on the dry desolate side of the mountain (facing inland). The wind in the region isn’t as intense as other territories, as being on the drier side, the opposite side of the mountain breaks the wind while receiving most of the moisture from the ocean winds.

The mountain gave the region enough water that while relatively desolate in comparison to the other side of the mountain, the region was thriving with plant life. At the base of the mountain there was a moderately large hill that overlooked the rest of the region. That is where Okwyr decided to build his ‘castle on the hill’. Okwyr’s castle was large and extravagant. It took up about 3 acres in the building itself; with barricade walls extending further out. Just outside the castle walls, the Raiders built their homes into the hillside near the castle- should there be an invasion or battle of some kind, they’d be right there to protect the castle.

The castle was built using clay, stone and wood; the castle had 3 layers, each smaller than the other creating a flat pyramid shape. The open space of the lower levels acted as a terrace so Okwyr could look out on the village. The barricade was built exclusively out of stone, as Okwyr believed that pure stone would be stronger, but at the time of building there had not been enough for both the castle and barricade to be made of stone. The valley below is where the Kalraku built their homes. Initially there was no planning on the location of the home placements, but as more were built, a cylindrical pattern started.

In the center was a town hall, and streets that branched out from there. Each home in their respective circles were all the same distance from the center and town hall. The homes were built using clay, stone and wood. Most built their homes on their own, but the less capable members of the clan who seemed to be unable to comprehend how to build a proper structure were aided by those who had already finished their homes. When a member left the village to join Okwyr, they were asked to leave the village, and thus had to live in the castle, with the Raiders, or build another home closer to the castle.

Because of the Raiders interfering with their trade deals, along with sneaking to meetings, some Kalraku decided to built secret rooms in their homes or meeting places so the Raiders couldn’t follow them; some were simpler and just a hidden closet sized room, others were larger the size of living areas. The most extravagant ones were large basements under the home that would also store some of the goods to trade. Others started to dig secret tunnels between the most important meeting places, or doors into the basement rooms of other member’s homes.

Plants

Being on the leeward side of the mountains, the plants in the Oria are closer to desert types plants than forest or plain type plants due to the warm dry air of the region. The largest plant in the Oria Dry Mountain region is the kamjarvak’. It’s a massive tree, with a large canopy that looks like a flat top mushroom and a thick vining trunk larger in diameter than any of the Kalraku’s shoulder width. The region is moderately desert like, so to retain water the tree creates a thick sap to cover any wounds. The sap is a deep red color, similar to blood, when dried deepening to a reddish brown, the color of dried blood.

Despite the off-putting look, the sap is extremely sweet as its majorly made of sugars with only a minimal amount of water. Those who aren’t scared off from it have used it as a sweetening ingredient in the past before the kin’toni took over the region. There are many foxtail-like shrubs in the region. They vary from hair like seeds to tubular flowers, but all have a tall stem that has some form of a ‘tail’ at the last 6 inches of the stem. One of the flower types was called ‘jarikvarr’- it has tubular flowers that start at yellow at the lowest row, transitioning to orange then red at the very tip.

They grow in shrub like bushes, with multiple flowering stems growing from the grassy leaf base. Their stems are extremely flexible, so in a slight wind they flowers will start swaying. When tight groups of them do this, it gives the illusion of the area and plant being on fire. The ‘dancer’ in the name comes from the flowers; when at the end of their bloom, they will loosen at the base and a moderately strong wind can blow them away. The flowers are extremely light so when in the air they float on the wind currents and appear like a small creature dancing.

One of the hair-like seed plants is called ‘xaergar’ and is exceedingly similar to wheat. The hair like part of the plant is connected to the seeds; it has a similar color and thickness to the hair of the mountain ghoras in the region. Unlike Fire Dancer, the ghora’s hair plant the stems of the plant are extremely thick and take direct interference with or extreme winds to move. The leaves on the plant are also more bush like with oval leaves connected to a branch coming from the base of the plant. A large amount of the seed stems grow per plant, ranging at 5 to 50 depending on the size, which vary in height.

This gives the illusion from a distance that there is one of the mountain ghoras standing in a plant, as the hairs connected to the seeds are similar enough that they move as a ghora’s hair would. It became a joke among the traders and travelers moving through the region to find the most believable ‘ghora’ as a way of passing time.

Animals

The Oria region has a variety of animals, ranging from birds, large mammals, to mid and large reptiles. The Oria region’s most common animal is the Mountain ghora. While only living in the mountains East of the Kalraku settlement, there’s a large number that make their homes there and will sometimes travel into plains. Those that do are commonly young ghoras, within their first years of life- still in their curious exploration stages. The ghoras have a habit of causing minor rockslides from climbing on the mountain face, leading to rocks piling up at the base of the hill and mountain. Sometimes its on purpose so they can carry the smaller rocks to their home, a secondary way of marking their territory.

The resulting rocks limits how the Kalraku Raiders can leave the area, so they would often have to clean up the mess as best they could before they could leave in that direction. This would sometimes cause fights with the ghoras as the Raiders would clear the smaller rocks first, taking them away from the ghoras, angering them. They have extremely tough horns, and a thick hide so unless very precise with strikes while fighting, the ghora would only become more aggressive; when at full ramming speed, they can easily bend metal with their horns.

After this happening a handful of times, the Raiders would wait about a week before daring to move any rocks, hoping the ghoras took what they wanted from the pile. In the plains of Oria, the animals are majorly a variety of snakes and lizards. The smallest of the snakes is called the ‘xalar-jarvik’. The xalar-jarvik are covered in small scales with a ridge running along the center. On the upper half of the body, the scales curve away from the body on the free edge. It has a rounded rectangular head. The xalar in its name comes from the fact that its extremely dark in color, almost black.

Its eyes are extremely dark in color also, making it seem like from a distance that the snake is a complete shadow silhouette of another snake. Its small in size, only about a foot in length fully grown. Due to its small stature, it acts as a natural insect vermin control for the Kalraku and their homes. The Shadows are often left to their own devices, only being relocated if they are found in homes or unideal locations. The largest snake in the region is the ‘agenr-toor-ekeh’. The wing comes from the flattening of neck ribs creating a wing like silhouette around it’s face.

It has two ‘forked-tongues’; only one of which is actually a tongue. The second is actually a secondary type of venom pouch, which injects an acid that starts to liquify and digest its prey from the inside, making meals easier on the snake. They can range from 3 to 6 feet in length, and are often warming themselves in the sun when found. They usually hunt other snakes or anything they can catch, but will attack zu’aan or kin’toni when provoked, otherwise they keep out of the town due to lack of consistent sunny areas.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Kalraku Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Oria Dry Mountain

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This article is written by Crystal Iris. Copyright 2026 Crystal Iris. All rights reserved.