Storm Mountains

The Storm Mountains are a mountain range along the eastern coast of the Empire.

Names
The mountain range gets its name from the fact that they are situated in an area very prone to storms. This is especially so in the autumn and winter, where they act as a funnel for northerly winds bringing rain from the Sovon Sea, swelling the Meidorién.

Besides its common name, it is also known as the Mibekerekan, or the 'Northern Mountains', in Ansahaské. This term, however, also refers to the eastern portion of the Cloud Mountains, which form the northern barrier between Ansa and the north.

Geography
Rising as a chain of hills in the northeastern portion of the land of Ansa, they initially run inland in a northwards direction, and along the way meet the Chive Mountains, which can be considered either a separate mountain range, or an offshoot of the great Cloud Mountains. From this juncture, the range then turns northeast and runs parallel with the coast, eventually turning further east and forming the long, finger-like Nehi Peninsula which is the 'southern gate' to the Sovon Sea.

The position of the mountains creates a long, narrow coastal plain to its east, separated from the Plain of Ibnaya and then the basin of Lake Condova to its west. This area has its own system of rivers, most of which are short and run straight to the sea, except for the Avanpellé near its southern end which runs south and is the last major tributary of the Ansarién.

The Storm Mountains are famous for their thick, rich forest cover and for the thick fog which frequently cloaks their peaks. Prominent peaks in the area include the Sacunas Peak near the base of the Nehi Peninsula, at around 3,631 metres, and Coldwater Peak near the juncture with the Cloud Mountains, at about 2,545 metres.

Inhabitants
Because the Storm Mountains are much more easily accessible from the south, by the Ansakasane, than they are from the north, the coastal plain forms a northward 'salient' of settlement by a branch of the Ansakasane. The main economic activity in the area is intensive rice cultivation, as well as fishing; the south side of the Nehi is a very rich fishing ground, further enriched by many marshlands and mangrove swamps.

The mountains themselves, however, host a different array of cultures, who are neither Ansakasane nor Tarakasane. The most prominent of these is the Ibnayakasane a large tribe which inhabited the west and north of the mountains, and pioneered the use of mountain reservoirs to trap winter rains for springtime cultivation. Whether the city of Ibnaya is named for them, or they for it, is a matter of debate. Some other tribal groups are suspected to have ancestral links to the Hashurukasane which they themselves claim.

Many of these groups live by hunting, as well as foraging and tending the food-yielding trees of the mountains. Indeed, it has sometimes been speculated that the forests of the Storm Mountains are not natural, but in fact the work of human effort.