GAZETTEER · THE NORTHERN REACH
The Speaking Pines
A stand of frost-silvered dead snags on a saddle where the dusk wind makes the same speaking sound as Windcut Pass far above — the tribes will not cross this ground after dark.
The snags are old-growth pines killed by a cold snap a generation back, stripped by frost until the bark is grey-white and the hollow trunks ring. At dusk the wind finds the cavities and makes a sound the tribes call the Pass speaking downhill — a low, almost-vowel drone that carries for half a mile and means nothing, or means exactly what the Pass means: that you are at the edge of something that has no regard for you. Frost shrikes roost in the upper branches. Glowcap and frost lichen grow thick in the lee.
KIND
landmark
PARENT PLACE
Karth Bridge
CLIMATE
exposed saddle, dusk wind, frost on silver bark
DANGER TIER
Tier I
Connected
Type Fields
All Relationships (4)
located_in
- →Karth Bridge — The Speaking Pines stand on a saddle off the main north road between the ford and the foothills trail.
- ←Frost Shrike — Frost shrikes roost in the upper branches of the dead snags at the Speaking Pines, drawn by the open saddle and the uplift.
- ←Rime Stalker — Rime stalkers come down to the saddle at the Speaking Pines in lean winters, following prey that uses the shelter of the lee.
references
- →The Wind-Cut Pass — The hollow snags' dusk-wind sound is a low echo of the speaking note that Windcut Pass carries — the tribes call it the Pass speaking downhill.
This world ships in Valenfeld. Play the game →