Tinedel Granite Mountains Ridge

Place

Place Name:

Tinedel Granite Mountains Ridge

Biome:

Granite Mountains Ridge

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

The Tinedel Granite Mountains are East of the Toras Terrace and South of the Oria Dry Mountain. The mountains in the range are extremely large, so the upper half of the mountain remains extremely cold. The upper half of the mountains remains extremely cold to freezing constantly- requiring warm thick layers at all times- while the lower half only freezes during the winter months. The lower sections of the mountains were much warmer in comparison, as warm layers were only needed on windy nights and during the winter. Snow fall is extremely common on the mountain, though heavy falls have caused avalanches in the region.

There was 1 rare case where an entire village was buried, but the nearby areas moved quickly and managed to save the majority of the people in the village. The surrounding regions are rather flat so the mountains tower over the surrounding areas. Before the religious pilgrims, the region was desolate and uninhabited, which lead to a quiet tranquil region. As more people saw the region, it quickly became known for the “magnificent and stunning views”, as well as the imposing and humbling scale of the formation. The pilgrims built temples and shrines at various checkpoint areas in the region for those traveling.

Those checkpoints became small towns and villages as more people stayed and more structures like homes, trading posts, and restaurants or food markets became a necessity. Mines were also created to have some form of commerce so that the various settlements could have some way to trade for the supplies they needed. The Tinedel was largely only made up of the mountain range, as it was bordered by two nations; one north east and one south west. There were many wars that damaged the region in a variety of ways.

They damaged the towns and villages to the point large portions of their infrastructure had to be condemned. They would purposefully cause disasters hoping to devastate the opposing enemy, rockslides on the lower half, avalanches on the upper. The mountains had a series of forests growing in the region, most wiped out in the battles. After gaining independence and rebuilding, the Nicyro clan and the Tinedel people were able to expand more. The slightly larger than houses hotels were able to be built into multi-room and floor buildings that could hold many pilgrims.

Their large and decently grand temples and shrines were able to become even grander. Having ‘won’ their holy war, they expanded the temples and shrines mainly so that more people could attend at one time. The previous kitchens for cooking and accommodations for those needing to stay somewhere were still inplace from the previous floorplans. The various structures were made from either wood or stone. The stones were mined from the region and then formed into bricks. The larger buildings were typically made from stone as they found the building that suffered the most damage during the wars was the ones made from wood.

The buildings were built surrounding the temples when possible; when not, they would be built below so that the temple was the closest thing in town to the top of the mountain. There was usually a large courtyard type area in front of the temple where festivals would be held- as religion was incredibly important and made sure to be incorporated in nearly everything in the Tinedel people’s lives.

Plants

The Tinedel Granite Mountains have a variety of plant life. The larger plants were concentrated in the lower section of the mountains, while the smaller bushes and ground cover plants were scattered throughout. The largest is the small forest in the region. The trees would grow in small groups especially at the base of the mountain ridges. The soil there was well draining, soft and nutrient filled allowed for a larger variety of plants to grow on the lower halves of the mountains in the region. The trees that made up the majority of the forest were called aarthorkor, as when their branches or needle like leaves died, new growths would wrap around it in a similar way to how a siaralstirap functioned while creating thread.

They were moderately tall trees, averaging about 3x the height of the average zu’aan. They were extremely quick growing though. Due to sharp changes and drops in weather caused them to go into shock, they tended to grow in short spurts. When a freeze would set in, large amounts of branches would die, then at the first few days of warmer climate the plant would seem to grow nearly a foot or so overnight. This would continue until fully grown, where the shocks would act to maintain their branches and allow them to grow thicker in diameter as opposed to height as they did in the seasons previous.

The Tinedel people would also grow vegetables. The closer to the top of the mountain, the more limited they were in plant variety as the plants would have to be grown inside where the temperatures were kept warm. Things like berry bushes, or tea specific plants were cultivated exclusively at the base of the mountains where the warmer weather provided soft soil for the deeper root plants to grow uninhibited. The berry bushes were used to make wine- though they were not exclusive to the base of the mountain and grew through the region, they were far too temperamental to be farmed in the higher climate.

The natural wild growing berry plants gave little to no berry production so they were used as an additional supplement if there was a limited harvest from the lower towns. The wine was important as it acted as a way to keep warm in the cold climate. The tea plants did the same, as well as coffee for non-alcohol alternatives. There was a short period where coffee type plants had been attempted to be cultivated in the region, but after 3 growing seasons it was evident that the conditions weren’t right in the region and the plants were abandoned.

Vegetables were able to be grown in the higher climate as long as they were kept inside. The Tinedel people commissioned glasswork to be done- but due to the limited glassworkers in Taerel during the Awakening and Shattering age, only simple moderately small panes were able to be made. They used those in the temples to create a skylighted greenhouse for the plants. They kept the room warm and with the light it allowed the vegetables to thrive. Each town’s temple or shrine had one that would be used to provide food for the town, especially when there was little to no large trade happening due to severe snowfall.

To push the food as long as it could last, the vegetables were used to make broths or soup in large quantities.

Animals

Like with the plants, the higher up the mountain that one goes, the lower variety of animal life there is. The animals that live near the top of the mountain adapted to go into hibernation for large portions of the coldest seasons. During the warmer season they wake up and hunt- often eating twice their weight if possible to make up for the lack of food while they slept.

One of these species is the Tinedel valaith. Being in a moderately close proximity to the Lyerod region, the valaith found their way to the base of the mountain and over time made their way up near the top. Unlike most other valaith, the Tinedel valaith are partly domesticated. When early pilgrims made their way to the mountain some would think that the valaith were messengers from their specific gods. This was because they did not have any fear of the zu’aan; especially as they often crossed paths while the zu’aan was meditating. The lack of movement and body heat from the zu’aan attracted the valaith’s attention and curiosity to the point that they would sometimes curl up into the pilgrim’s lap and nap. Over the years, as temples were built they also made small shelters for those valaith that consistently visited them. The valaith would then sleep in the shelters during their hibernation, and the zu’aan temple keepers would make sure they remained protected. Each town on the mountain had at least one valaith, and when they awoke became a similar holiday to ‘Ground Hog’s day’ in that their awakening symbolized the end of the harsh winter months. They would then hold a small festival thanking their gods and goddesses for helping them though another season, feeding the Valaith an offering as a thank you for delivering the divine message.

There were also mountain goat type animals kept for sacrifices directly for the gods and goddesses. There were two main varieties- the yarisudru and the yalaerap. The yarisudru were larger and originally native to the Oria region. They had been brought after the first towns and temples were set up by traders who offered them mainly for food production- both meat and dairy. Their milk was used for cheeses and other dairy products. The yalaerap were a smaller breed that were native to the mountains. They had tiny horns, and were flat in terms of width, but were long from head to tail. This was because they were often climbing the side of cliff faces on the mountains, so they would need to be flush against the rock while moving to keep their balance. As the Tinedel zu’aan domesticated more and more of the yalaerap, they became the more commonly sacrificed of the two, because while smaller they had a higher quantity of cookable meat due to their built-up muscles. The yarisudru were larger, but they were mostly made up of large layers of fats as a cushion against their horns when they would get into fights with each other. The zu’aan who sacrificed the yalaerap would get half for consumption on their own or with friends and family. A quarter was given to the poor of the town, and the other quarter was given to the temple as an offering to the gods.

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	Nicyro Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Tinedel Granite Mountains Ridge

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