Highlun: The Rest of the Planet

I've talked about the Vital Core of Highlun, as well as its Southern Continent. This last post is a little less focused, but it breaks down into three parts: The small wet tropical eastern continent, the settled parts of the northern continent not part of the core settlement, and some noteworthy wildernesses.

The Eastern Continent

The Eastern continent is the smallest and most tropical of the three. It has been heavily marked by volcanic activity and the nearby ocean. Its not actually a proper continent, but an arpeggio of large islands.

Darlun (The Dark Plateaus): The Darlun is named for the rich black volcanic rocks and soil it is built on. Its a dry, savanna with scattered trees and lots of tall jagged black rock outcroppings. The Herders of Darlun mostly care for criggles. They love carving rocks with their heavy vibroknives, and the Darlun is studded with generations of their work.

Dapmon (The Damp Mountains): A notoriously wet and rainy mountain range, It rains almost constantly in the Dapmon, giving some relief from its tropical heat. While the herders here keep a fair amount of criggles, they also do a fair amount of yam farming and eat a lot of fish. They're noted for their enormous  traditional vibroknives, almost the size of swords, which they use mostly for cutting vegetation. They also tend to wear less clothing but more jewelry.

The Havens: A series of port cities built into the steep cliffs on the coasts of the Dapmon, convenient to is the richest fishing grounds on Highlun. Highlun's fish are sold domestically and exported off world as well. This area is also a chronic breeding ground for hurricanes. The Havens are built into narrow fjords, with the bulk of the cities lying in tunnels inside the mountains.

Overlook: The Eastern Continent's main starport, Overlook is perched on a mountain peak 2,000 meters above Underlook, the largest of the Havens. Overlook's is a transportation hub, providing access to the ocean, to space, and to ground transport.

The Firmon (The Fire Range): Dozens of the peaks of the southern Dapmon are very active volcanoes. Some erupt continuously, while others wait a few months or years between eruptions. These wonders of nature draw visitors, and the area sees some very ambitious mining using advanced techniques. The herders here see themselves as part of the Dapmon.

The Northern mountains

The Northern Continent is considered to be the "Main" continent of Highlun, containing the Lowmon, Banks, and the "Main Range" of Highlun. Different parts of the range are large enough and distinct enough to have their own identity: Wesmon, Lowmon, Midmon, and Essmon.

Wesmon (the Western Range): Located at the western end of the northern range, just after Lowmon, Wesmon is the most rugged area of the mountains, with sharp peaks and stunning drops. Its herders mostly care for Apalaks, though a fair number of Vitkin are found here as well. The herders of Wesmon are famous for their love of hang-gliders and soaring through the air. Aside from the gliders, they tend to be tech minimalists, priding themselves on how little gear they use when travelling through their lands.

Redlun (The Red Plateau): To the north and west of the Wesmon is the Redlun, a high plateau filled with badlands and red rock carved by the weather. Here they herd a mixture of Apalak and Criggles. They're infamous for their love of marksmanship and explosions, and for their tendency to use legged vehicles.

Midmon (The Central Range): East of Lowmon and north of the Banks, the Midmon's mountains are lightly forested, ideal for both Criggles and Apalaks. Midmon is the site of many current mining operations. Its herders are famous for being cheery, optimistic, and perhaps a little careless. Midmon clans have a love of smooth stones, and use them in their games and to build large rock designs on the ground.

Tailings and Bore: A pair of mining cities built around an enormous mine shaft drilled directly into a mountain in the Wesmon, extending deep into the planet.. A second artificial mountain was built out of the Tailings of this mine, and the city "Tailings" was built on it. The deep mine continues to be productive, extending the life of the community beyond that of most highlun mining towns.
Built deep enough in the shaft to require respirators is a second city: Bore.

Liff Ruins: Ruins left by the Liff dot the Essmon. The ones this high up aren't cities (those are in the Winding or worse, in the Mawlands) but temples. They are notoriously grand, and notoriously full of secret passages, many locked using mechanisms only opened via TK. All the ruins in Essmon are under the protection and ownership of House Alacapa, and all are supposedly well explored.

Olkessel (The Old Castle): The first Maradonian fortress complex built on Highlun, Olkessel is at this point mostly a palace rather than a fortress, though it does have a modest sized city around it. The capital was moved from Olkessel ( 'Kesselmon' back then) in the Essmon to Midkessel in the Lowmun to be closer to the Fogglanders of the Banks. As such, it is much larger than it needs to be, with several complexes of semi-used buildings kept up just enough to not fall into disrepair. Members of the house often consider this to be their childhood home. It has a mountain lake, several peaks, gardens deliberately kept just a little wild, and just enough soldiers to give fledgling heirs a taste of military command.

Essmon (the Eastern range): The Green Mountains of the Essmon lie at the eastern end of the Main Range. This is lush mountainous country full of Criggles. The Clans here prize good wrestling, love to dance, and build enormous oversized wooden houses. This is the oldest part of Highlun, and the clans here are proud of that. They have a fierce rivalry with Midmon for prestige.

Grinlun (the Green Plateau): North of the Essmon, the Grinlun is fertile and foggy, not great for Apalaks, but fantastic for Criggles. The area is famous for its green hills, its constant mist and rain, haunting woodwind music, and enormous vegetables. The Clans in this area are as likely to farm as to herd, but still maintain the low population density and cultural traditions of their more pastoral kin.

Wild Places:

Highlun is a vast planet, and only a small fraction of it is inhabited. Outside of the mountain tops and Fogglander settlements are vast reaches of wild terrain, protected from habitation by their high air pressure... at least for now.

The Dry: South of Wesmon is an enormous desert known as the Dry. As it goes south it fades into a dusty seasonal grassland, also considered part of the dry. The dry is home to all sorts of large reptilian beasts, some slow and lumbering, but others quick and agile. A network of outposts criss-cross the dry, mostly in service of hunters.

The Mawlands: A notorious region south of the Essmon, The Mawlands are a dense forest teaming with carnivorous plants and reptilians dangerous for both their size and venom. The "Maw" is in reference to a particularly menacing carnivorous plant. Despite being at a temperate latitudes, the Mawlands are swelteringly hot, at least for nine months of the year, and resemble a tropical jungle.

The Thornwood: South of the Dry, the Thornwood is not nearly as notorious as the Mawlands, but it has many of the same factors: the hungry and venomous reptilians are quite deadly, and while the plants won't eat you, they will thread your clothing and skin.

The Oceans: Highlun's oceans are subject to enormous waves and frequent large storms driven by its high pressure and heat. Many find their way across the water though, either shipping things around or fishing in massive boats trailing oversized nets. Highlun's sea life is not particularly aggressive or large, but it is abundant. Much more dangerous than the wildlife are the frequent storms.