A record of Avosnian volcanoes, circa 1140.
The nobility of eastern Avosnia often remark that it is the only realm in the Razenovan Confederacy that grows larger without the need for soldiers. This claim is a reference not to any kind of pacifist sentiment, but to the volcanic activity in the region. The northern coast of East Avosnia is host to Edripe and their wife, Sarice. These are twin volcanoes that dominate the horizon across the region. They have a temper and frequently erupt, coating the countryside in ash and pushing their reach into the sea through streams of molten lava.
The ashes of the mountains provide a healthy and fertile soil, and the slopes of the mountains house vast forests of enormous Cararian Pines, which harvest the water that feeds the terraced farms below. While the people of Avosnia fear Edripe and Sarice, they also respect them greatly. The region has always owed a lot to them, so they have an important spiritual significance in people’s minds. It’s because of this that they are always strongly personified.
Merchants come to the area around Edripe and Sarice to fill their stock with obsidian slabs and carved trinkets, as well as blocks of packed snow and ice from the peaks, which are then sold to the more southern nobles of East Avosnia. There are a number of artisans who make their living solely with obsidian sculptures and charms. The Lord of Posnik has even spent a small fortune on having his town’s walls clad entirely in obsidian, and the results are incredibly intimidating indeed.
Living in nests in the fissures of cooled lava flows is the dwarf lava mouse, which is about four inches long in body and subsists mostly on the flowers and needles of nearby forests. The mice often compete with the locals to harvest the giant fallen pine cones, which contain not only nutritious nuts, but are also a ready source of heat or woodchip for the human inhabitants. They’re considered a pest by some, who train dogs and cats to hunt them, but others find them cute and amusing.
Forest fires often burn through the needle littered forest floor, lit by the lavaflows, but the trees themselves survive mostly unscathed. This is due to a thick cork-like bark layer that provides a level of fireproofing, as well as exceptionally high branches that stay out of the way of the flames. This harmonic balance of natural forces is seen as a kind of proof that Edripe and Sarice are mostly cooperative entities rather than malevolent ones.
There is another volcano in the southwest of the region. This volcano is named Rhion, and is personified as lonely and brooding. It is said that he is in love with Sarice, but doomed only to be able to watch her and her spouse from afar. He erupts less often and less powerfully, for he spends his time in sorrow. Different legends explain the origin of his sad fate, the most popular of these describing it as a curse placed on him for his covetous nature.
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