Glass Mountain
In the burning desert stands a symbol of hope, prosperity, and peace, the place known as Glass Mountain.
In the sandy, burning-hot Olediir Desert, there is a volcanic mountain range, a spine of black peaks that thrust 20,000 feet into the blue desert sky. These peaks, while imposing on the approach, house one of the world's greatest wonders, the Glass Mountain.
The Glass Mountain, the highest of these mountains, was once a massive volcano of black igneous stone, rough and unpolished. But during the largest eruption, which heralded the volcano's extinction, a combination of heat, lava, and stone covered much of the slopes of the mountain with smooth, green, crystalline glass, beautiful to the eye, and sharp.
Soon after this eruption, the Great Pilgrimage of the Zerodines, the followers of the prophet Zerod, came wandering across the sands. They had walked for six days through the Desert, with no water or food, chased by the warriors of the Waramachian Magocracy, when Zerod beheld the shining Glass Mountain on the horizon. Thinking, incorrectly, that the green of the slopes was foliage and trees, Zerod proclaimed "There lies our Paradise!" When they arrived at the Mountain, they were dissapointed to find that there were no trees, but their dissapointment was soon abated when they discovered the Caldera Lake.
The eruption that had formed the green glass had also blown away the top of the mountain, forming a nearly perfectly circular valley with a floor of shining colored glass and a lake of condensed steam in the middle. The chemicals of the eruption slowly bled out of the lake and into the desert, making it into perfectly drinkable water.
The Zerodines settled on the shores of the lake and built a small settlement on the shore of the lake. Soon, small caravans travelled out, bringing shipments of beautiful volcanic glass to sell to cities outside of the desert. With money came more merchandise, and the city of Glass Mountain became what it is today: A bustling desert metropolis on the shores of the Caldera Lake.
The city doesn't need walls, for the walls of the caldera are enough. The city is protected by the Zerodine Guard, an army of warriors armed with weapons made from the glass. In fact, the glass is the city's greatest asset, and caravans go regularly, carrying glass and glass weapons to all points across the land.
Glass Mountain is also known for it's temples, for Zerod proclaimed that all the gods should be worshipped in their own way.
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? Responses (10)
My question is: What do they eat? The lake is newly formed, so there can't be too many fish in it, and it's rather hard to raise crops or the grains to feed livestock on glass soil.
Hmmm...Never considered that....Well, I suppose that above the glass lake floor, it could be ash slopes, which are very fertile. Also, trade is probably a big factor. Blast!
Perhaps this giant splash of green glass also splashed outward to the side a bit, and put a glass ring around a valley filled with hot springs that was part of the volcano as well. The soil around the springs would be saturated with the minerals from the volvano and the ash might be high in nitrates or whatever makes plants grow good. What they would be short on is dirt. Imagine a farmer's surprise when a caravan of wagons asks if they can dig up one of his unused feilds in exchange for a basket full of this rare and beautiful green glass he's only heard of. Any landowning peasant would be thrilled to help they out.
As long as they get enough dirt to sustain themselves, they can grow thier own crops. If they rely on trade too much, the Waramachian Magocracy could cut off their supplies and cripple them.
Ah-hah! This opens up plot options!
I really like this-a smashing submission.LOL
A great submission that I'd utterly forgotten about.
This would dovetail nicely with Shadoweagle's Ouzquin Dremorix. A hidden city of the Glass Shifters, protected by its isolation and the punishing wasteland around it.
Another short and sweet sub. Lovely.
A neat iconic location!