The Roof of the World

Evolving in sweltering, humid wetlands, preindustrial Birrin found the frozen places of their world among the most forbidding. A hothouse planet, most snowbound regions of Chriirah are restricted to high altitudes and were seldom visited until the advent of lightweight insulated clothing allowed the intrepid to explore these last terrestrial frontiers.

Already rare on Chriirah, the upheaval of The Fall and subsequent global temperate rise has left even fewer permanent snowbound peaks on the planet. The most spectacular of all tower above the inhospitable Kiln desert: the legendary First Mountains.

To climb this ancient range in modern times requires considerable capital and influence; the region lies in the Kiln desert and remains largely lawless where not outright uninhabitable. All supplies have to airlifted or transported overland to establish a base of operations from which climbs can be co-ordinated.