World Building: Mountains & Highland Civilizations

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0:00 - 1:47 Welcome to Stoneworks!
1:47 - 10:14 Mountain Formation & Map Placement
10:15 - 18:19 Mountain Climate
18:20 - 21:23 Mountain Economics
21:24 - 32:33 Mountain Civilizations & Culture
32:34 - 37:10 Mountain Wars
37:11 - 44:02 Mountain Religions
44:02 - 45:18 Thanks for Watching!
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Good world building channels- James Tullos, Hello Future Me, World Building Notes, Artifexian, How to be a Great Game Master, Runesmith, Tale Foundry, Overly Sarcastic Productions.
Good history channels - Historia Civilis, UsefulCharts, AlternateHistoryHub, Sam Aranow, M. Laser History, Kraut, Ancient Americas, Atun-Shei Films, Overly Sarcastic Productions.
Descriptive tags- Worldbuilding, world building, writing, history, Minecraft, civilizations, 100 days, weapons, update, snapshot, simulation, non-Euclidian, Speedrun, kingdoms, hunter, house, song, parody, animation, tutorial, shorts, dungeons, DM, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, culture, society, city, characters, empires, states, countries, borders, map, geography, how to, names, Rome, China, language, novel, writer, GM, art, migrate, character, land, help, creative, stoneworks, plot, story, structure, religion, archaeology, artifact, item, magic, quest, tv, movie, world anvil, campaign
MUSIC IN THIS VIDEO:
Adi Goldstein- Circles of Life
Simon Folwar- Home on the Horizon
Adi Goldstein- Mysterious Mind
Chris Zabriskie- Candle Power
Jeffrey Boult- Under the Stone
Sabin Zeno Argintaru- Stoneworks OST, Settler's Song
Matthew Shine- Repopulation OST, Sentience
Daniel Diaz- Western Guard Towers
Chris Zabriskie- Direct to Video
Adi Goldstein- Street Fighter
Danijel Zambo- Nevada
Sky Toes- Secrets Held
Ben McElroy- Dead of Night
Kasseo- Road to Mexico
Adi Goldstein- Moving Forward
Peter Nickalls- Gentle Revelations
Kevin Macleod- Infados
Adi Goldstein- Not Too Long Ago
Matthew Shine- Morrowind
Sabin Zeno Argintaru- Stoneworks OST, Tundras of Kavernis
See Zeno's OST here: • Stoneworks Minecraft O...
This content is made for teens and adults

[@storyspren]

It's called Mount Hope because it hopes to one day be a mountain.

[@alex9x9]

​@@n1uk913hill? That's barely a glorified bump

[@samthered4862]

@@alex9x9 In Saskatchewan it would be a ski hill.

[@KebaRPG]

Because No-One has had the audacity to pile stones and clay on top until it is 300Meter/1000Ft Above Sea Level. Or at least that was the definition when I was a kid.

[@arctrog]

which mount hope are you talking about? because all of the ones i know of ARE mountains

[@vinx.9099]

Wow, dat is een indrukwekkende berg.

[@kitchengun1175]

The best mountains are mesas huge, flat topped tables of rock i constantly dream of a world where the 'known world' is the top of a GIANT mesa surrounded in all directions by steep cliffs so tall clouds block the view to the bottom a people living under the illusion that the edge of their hill is the edge of the world

[@kitchengun1175]

Side note: if I ever get my crafty rat hands on a PC that I can play the Minecraft server on I am absolutely starting a mesa-top town maybe even a whole civilisation if it gets popular

[@donutlovingwerewolf8837]

​@@kitchengun1175Next thing you know, Your civilization will grow an Elf level of arrogance believing your civilization is superior to all because you have the high ground

[@lozm4835]

May I introduce you to the Edge Chronicles.

[@Jenna_Talia]

Unironically I might use flat earth theory as inspiration for worldbuilding, once you get knee deep into that muck you start to see some wild, wild theories on what the world looks like. To some of those nutcases, the world isn't just a flat disc made up of the continents we know. To them, there's continents beyond the ice wall, things like abyssal seas and oceans of mud.

[@erei5659]

d,

[@18Krieger]

Mountains are a quite interesting habitat. Mountain communities can be quite the melting pot and can be quite divers. Also and I think that is quite important. Mountain communities are often great keepers of cultures and knowledge. The Alps contain some of the oldest chapels and monestaries in Europe for example.

[@colonelcorn9500]

Another good example would be the Caucus mountains. Just look at a linguistic map and you can see the place’s entire history

[@theotmt7906]

A little tip from my own country and region: mountain ranges with some or lots of volcanoes make good farmland or grazing fields. Mountain civilizations with high agriculture rates are very viable.

[@beepbop6542]

Ahh, the North Mediterranean

[@mistereiswolf70]

You can also look at japan they are literally all mountains with not so much flat areas and they have still some of the highest population density. That really shows how much nutriens are in the soil.

[@andrewlucia865]

@@mistereiswolf70 Not necessarily the best example, because Japan imports a lot of food to sustain that population. That said, they do still have a decent amount of agriculture despite the limited space.

[@nunyabiznes33]

Basically Java huh?

[@nunyabiznes33]

​@@mistereiswolf70I think a better example is Java in Indonesia. The occasional eruptions fertilize all those terrace farms.

[@frenchempire9471]

Nice another stoney video. Bet it'll be awesome. Thanks stoney Edit: I will tear Africa apart

[@christopherrobin1616]

Whaaat…

[@frenchempire9471]

@@christopherrobin1616 what what

[@jeremyaugustine2838]

@@frenchempire9471what what what

[@frenchempire9471]

@@jeremyaugustine2838 what what what what

[@Kjo770]

@@frenchempire9471 What what what what what

[@mountelbert4214]

Notable thing about Thermopylae was that the Spartans did garrison the pass that outflanked them, but it was with inferior troops and they were destroyed

[@refoliation]

I would've snitched on the spartans immediately those people are too much.

[@Stoneworks]

I have four weeks of parole left and I am NOT gonna have this ruined by no STUPID CLIMATE PROTESTERS. I hope yall like this kind of video. It's not heavily edited, and therefore is mostly to listen to for all 45 mins of information. Thanks!

[@racsoleerf124]

stonworks

[@frenchempire9471]

I WILL TEAR APART AFRICA

[@chimera9818]

About the religious claim: Judaism /Abrahamic religions literally form in judean mountain chain so most large religions on earth are from mountains

[@chimera9818]

Jews returning to Israel is called Aliyah which mean to go up because partly that Jerusalem is on mountain

[@Auroral_Anomaly]

PLEASE tell me you don’t actually hate climate activists.💀

[@StoryGirl83]

I’ve found a lot of information about where to put mountains, but this was the first I recall that talked about the difficulties of living in the mountains and various civilizations that have sprouted up there along with how they survived there. I knew it wasn’t easy, but I hadn’t thought about the specific reasons, so this was interesting and very useful. Thank you.

[@thefernofrommarsgaming4204]

Finally a good, traditional stoneworks video. long time since we've had one.

[@charlottegoldman3580]

If we're gonna be pedantic, people from Appalachia call it AppaLATCHa

[@Casavo]

I knew id find this comment, and as a native of Appalachia, i can confirm it is "latch".

[@darkdog42]

@@Casavofallout 76 prepared me well

[@ClapStoneworks]

This is incredibly based and mountain pilled. One could even say Eurasian Plate Core.

[@atomicmatrix9400]

DIGGY DIGGY HOLE!!! Honestly dying😂

[@christopherrobin1616]

Same, i was literally dying.

[@user-kp8cc3so9w]

​@@christopherrobin1616😊

[@DeapairExtra]

Agreed

[@Zyrdalf]

A classic

[@Fixti0n]

When i draw up maps, i start with "continental" plates, by just drawing random circles on a paper, i get the outline of regions and plates, these circles governs the general shape of the land mass as well where i put my mountains. This is a personal shortcut to get more realistic maps but that i can, ive done this for ages and i get nice maps a lot easier and with less brain power. Then for further world building i choose the direction of the "wind", where forests form where a lot of moisture would be carried and dry lands where there woudnt be a lot of moisture. Then from there i get rivers and lakes flowing from forests and wet lands, and maybe a few rouge rivers, and from there i start telling tales of what happens and how this shaped the world and society. This is just my way of world building for my DnD campaigns and "novels", do with it what you will.

[@StuffandThings_]

You forgot horst and graben topography - this is what created the Rwenzori mountains, some of the tallest mountains in Africa, tall enough for glaciers! Its pretty damn weird for horst and graben to create such dramatic uplift, but it _did_ happen and the effect is really neat. Its a good way both to get mountains in a rift zone, and to get really small yet really high mountain ranges. Its a very ignored form of mountain building. Some mountains in the American Basin and Range province are also formed this way.

[@Calebgoblin]

Jack is really gonna tell us how to pronounce Himalayan by the locals and then proceed to say "Appalaychian" 😆

[@tyrannosauruscock]

I’ll also add that even neighboring mountains can be very different, I was in the alps recently and you can be in a forest, look across a valley, and see grass or snow.

[@inedible806]

New Stoney video and it’s FOURTY FIVE MINUTES. Now we know why he never uploads lmao

[@Stoneworks]

This one isn't heavily edited, it's mostly for listening except for some diagrams at the beginning :p

[@PandaSE_]

You sent me back years with that intro.

[@Kyla-Stormhazard]

I think it would be interesting to figure out sky islands for world building too. One of the most mythical landscapes, yet so hard to imagine on how they would work realistically...😊

[@adamjenkins7653]

It all depends on how they stay up. Look at subnautica floating islands. They are kept up by floaters (a symbiotic creature that lifts up rocks and feeds off the organic detritus produced by the surface life) or a giant floating lily (a sub floating island) If the up is permanent then people would need to know how to fly to settle there to begin with. Take "Project Nomads" floating islands that permanently float through the skylands. All the people have flight tech and the ability to move certain islands as sudeo battleships. If the up is temporary, or born from some clear origin. They will likely be religious, exiled, or purposefully taking to these islands, perhaps as a way to move between continents, or to "ascend". Then you need to decide on size. Big islands? Possibly self sufficient. Small islands? Well they will likely be raiders or have incredible storehouses as they drift through the heavens for a limited time.

[@Kaitou1412Fangirl]

Sky islands are a staple in Japanese RPGs. From what I've seen, they're usually floating by some form of magic object or resource in the world. Skies of Arcadia takes place in a world of sky islands, and airships are the main mode of transportation- not only a logical technological progression, but airships are just cool. Alternatively, you can populate sky islands with bird people or some other winged race.

[@ChaosLierLen]

One Piece did it best.

[@solomon4554]

​@@adamjenkins7653I think op was talking about ecological sky islands.

[@adamjenkins7653]

@@solomon4554 indeed, but that is heavily shaped by how they are up in the sky. Permanent sky islands that are held aloft by magic/minerals ala Studio Ghibli's "Castle in the sky". Are going to be vary different from a temporary sky island, that is torn from the earth to drift temporarily through the heavens. And that would in turn shape how a society functions. For example small temporary islands would be doomed. As it would likely lack sufficient water for an earth like ecosystem to operate. Thus the people would likely avoid farming on them, as it's too small for them to work. Raiders would bring goods in so small "vermin" would hang around their warehouses as they're more likely to drop food and other such miscellaneous materials. Whereas permanent islands would have ecosystems that were totally independent from the ground below. My mention of how people would interact with said islands was simply a continuation of my standard thought process. As that would shape how I incorporated them into the story I was telling.

[@macmurfy2jka]

I found this review refreshingly well researched and informative. I actually learned a number of things from it. Many people know very little about mountains. I love them and try to spend as much time as possible in them. You really nailed it. You earned a sub

[@rayanderson5797]

So the Appalachian mountains used to be connected to the Scottish Highlands, and then many eons later, when they had been separated for millions of years, Scots would cross the ocean to settle them. That is glorious.

[@joshs_boxes]

This style of informative worldbuilding technique videos are my favorite videos that you do. I’m always eager for more!

[@solalabell9674]

I did not expect the video to open with that rendition of diggy diggy hold

[@RC15O5]

Something I would have included: In Arizona, we have mountains aplenty. The State is geologically divided between the Sonora Desert, and the Colorado Plataeu. This division is along a massive escarpment of the earth called the Mogollion Rim (mo-gee-yawn). South of the 'Rim is the Valley of the Sun, where the Phoenix Metropolitan Area resides. South of this is the desert proper. In the expanse of this desert (slowly changing in appearance from American to Mexican), there are huge lone mountains, mesas with cold forest ecology (reminiscent of the San Francisco Mountains north of the 'Rim) that are remnants of the previous great Ice Age. These are called Sky Islands. Pumas rule there.

[@Writer-Two]

This was awesome, thanks for giving us your knowledge!

[@tristankeech4070]

One of the things i Love about the Gotrek and Felix series is they explain that the tectonic plates are locked by the old ones and that why the mountains have been the same for thousands of years

[@renewalacumen1770]

23:04 That's why the saying is: "Running for the hills."

[@eatham.]

Oh my god finally, I have been waiting for another worldbuilding video for so long thank you!

[@ForzaMonkey]

18:58 You’ve been to Philmont AND hiked Baldy? That’s AWESOME! You are LITERALLY me.

[@MyGoLife]

Dude... You're just incredible! I LOVE your work! Thank you!

[@octaviohenrique6079]

I would love more videos like this!!!. You could talk about vulcans , isles, and unique habitats in fantasy worlds or even in other planets

[@danielkover7157]

Potala Palace looks like it was built with giant Legos. 😊

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

"Africa is being torn apart by two things: One - the French" Instant like lol

[@alexanderbuckley4406]

Love this. Your videos are so informative and great for concept and idea generation for my worldbuilding. keep up the great work Stony

[@tee1951]

What an amazing video. You gained a new subscriber!

[@Manuelslayor]

As the swiss we have some knowledge abot building citys in rocks. So you are quite save if you are really deep in the mountain and dont have very heavy earthquackes. Another builing method we have for building nuclear bunkers in mauntains is a room supended by steel cables in another room.

[@NoNameIsBest89]

This video was awesome. Right up my alley. Scientific, educational, quirky and hilarious with perfect humor all for the nerdy sake of explaining the use and process of world building with mountains. Well done

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

Ever think about how it there’s a fire outbreak in an underground city everyone will suffocate

[@lucascarey4056]

Really great video! I'm impressed by your research and its breadth. I'd add to the religion section that in archaeoastronomy, mountains were also oriented to for the cardinal directions. Certain sacred mountains were aligned with solstice/equinox solar risings connecting the natural world, the calender, and religious rituals to these cyclical patterns.

[@BeefAndCheeseRugby]

as someone who comes from the french alpes, you got this so right I applaud you

[@krzysztofmatych909]

Great and complex video! It is awesome to hear some smart stuff about realistic worldbuild PS: 33:26 I've heard that only ONE elephant of the Hannibal's army managed to march through mountains.

[@renewalacumen1770]

36:53 I knew it! The soundtrack, the editing production... I. Just. KNEW IT!

[@HlootooThunderhammer]

HOLY SH*T JUST WHAT I NEEDED! THANKS A BUNCH STONEY!!

[@haemmer]

Thank you for this anual worldbuilding videos.

[@pigcrash158]

This is becoming a history channel at this point 😂

[@johnstorm9314]

Don't say that, next he'll start producing ancient aliens content... 🙄

[@dasik84]

I might not like your jokes much, but other than that, this was a really well researched history/geography video. Would never have thought I'd see such Aztec bloody pictures in a video like this... Kudos and thanks.

[@keechoocalzone8712]

great basin mentioned in my stoney worldbuilding video. i need you

[@mistereiswolf70]

I work on my draconic race that has a fudal houses and class system and they inhabit a very long mountain range and the flatlands between the mountains and the ocean. Do to a big war they now life mostly in the big mountain citys that survived the war do to their defensive positions. This video really helped me to think more about how thr montains would shape the hole system I was working on. Thx for the very longer video das gives more time to really think about everything.

[@protozoanpro]

The honeydew intro caught me attention immediately 😂 I still wonder, from time to time, when the Shadow of Israphael will be concluded.. I was 14 when that stopped and I need my peace!

[@scribbleneb]

Thank you for blessing us with another video Mr. Stones work

[@gamerstheater1187]

I am working on my own Minecraft web series, so this is perfect!

[@kentario1610]

Let's go!! So excited!!

[@walkergamble4504]

Very informative and entertaining, well done

[@kyuken893]

Knocking it out of the park as usual.

[@ArtisticEpicAdventure]

Love this!

[@Kjo770]

LET'S GO A NEW WORLD BUILDING VIDEO!!!!!

[@GeorgeFrederick5]

BROTHERS OF THE MINE REJOICE

[@Zyrdalf]

SWING SWING SWING WITH ME!

[@-That1Ghost-]

RAISE YOU PICK AND RAISE YOUR VOICE

[@RosseRue]

DEEP DEEP IN THE MINES

[@josyf3396]

6:30 has me ROLLING, out of nowhere 😂😂😂

[@myri_the_weirdo]

7:13 as a french, I'm a proud member of the tectonic plate community

[@YokaK80]

You're French?

[@myri_the_weirdo]

@@YokaK80 en effet

[@YokaK80]

@@myri_the_weirdo why?

[@myri_the_weirdo]

@@YokaK80 Feur

[@frenchempire9471]

​@@YokaK80whats not to like?

[@foereference]

Mad respect for that intro

[@AskTorin]

43:00 Such a beautiful story

[@tedarcher9120]

Weird to think that tectonic plate theory was developed after the Lord of the Rings

[@Queen-dl5ju]

wow this was way more interesting than i thought !

[@dukeofwellington624]

my take on dwarfs is not that they find a mountain and hollow it out but instead build up a mountain as the expand their tunnel a bit like termite mounds

[@gigaprime5799]

Cool

[@komiks42]

I'd say its mix of both. They dig up their tunels, and use the matetial to build outside. The structure grow in both direction over time.

[@danielkover7157]

As soon as you mentioned mining in the mountains, I felt the urge to play Minecraft.

[@ScavengerMerchant]

a video covering fjords and archipelagos would be neat

[@jordannijjar5414]

I had some good LOLs from your jokes. WP

[@eingrobernerzustand3741]

I couldn't help it, when you mention glacial lakes, i had to think about the hydroelectric power plant Kaprun. Also, a shame that you forgot hydroelectricity in regard to why settle in mountains. When you mentioned potential energy minutes earlier

[@jargontrueseer]

ok so... I just happen to be starting a mountainous pocket world idea and this could not be more perfectly timed wtf Thank youuuu!!!

[@mcspudster5289]

Yooooo more world building

[@Hession0Drasha]

I did not expect that opening 😂

[@TexasLiberTea]

I was irrationally happy to hear you referencing Morrowind 😂 Also, your ability to pronounce all the place and religious names is really impressive.

[@Virtrial]

That admission around 26:55 was jarring yet relatable

[@3nertia]

*SQUEE* Been waiting for this one!

[@S1lva139]

When you mentioned hero's i couldn't help but think of high altitude training and how much of an advantage that would give a "hero" and would be another expination about why Hero storyies tend to be around mountins.

[@ricomuru9486]

maybe the real heros power is the heightened levels of hemoglobin we made along the way

[@Haggysack2k8]

This video was all fine and dandy and very informative, up until the point where you mentioned Daddy Dagoth. ...Been playing Morrowind since it came out and i truly did not think about him while watching this video, but yes it seems Bethesda took some inspiration there with the story about the sleeping king under the mountain.

[@leviholt8696]

Bastard ticked me into studying for my geography test

[@_henzo3259]

I hope one day you’ll do a video focused on Ancient Greece

[@hjalmarthehelmetman]

I was playing on google maps, and took a look at the Sun City Resort, here in South Africa, I realised it's in a random almost perfect circle of mountain ranges on a flat piece of land, It's formed from a volcano eruption 1200 million years ago, and make for cool place to put a ancient city, like they faked with the Sun City Resort.

[@robertoperalta2526]

Loved your video! Would love to see a collab with GoT lore expert and analyze Westeros. Even though i love ASOIAF I can’t get over how rivers there make no sense lmao

[@robertoperalta2526]

Would also see a two hour video on middle earth geology.

[@randomperson2946]

Philmont referenced, amazing video

[@powerist209]

For some reason people fail to notice that Strange World have Nepal and Tibet influence.

[@dariogutierrez6716]

this video WOKE ME THE FUCK UP, specially after that french shaped bomb around 7 minutes in

[@ChariTheAlternate]

Digging holes is fun

[@_zurr]

The fun thing about Sanskrit is that it is phonetic, i.e. the words tell you exactly how to pronounce them. Himalaya sounds out as Him-AA-luh-yuh.

[@roshiofficially4968]

I liked it, Picasso!

[@tommeakin1732]

I didn't hear you mention this (sorry if you did), but one of the great shields for high lands is that...such places just aren't worth taking a lot of the time lol. For some things like ores, higher land might grant better yields - but overall, for most peoples over time, it's just less worthwhile land to take than flat lowlands. So it's a two way street - higher lands are harder to take, *and* the people who could take them don't really want them that badly lol.

[@Casavo]

Appalachian native here and i can attest to us having a very diffrent culture to the rest of the country. I go north and they think im southern and i south and they think im a Yankee. We are neither lol.

[@HyeonSeon-Su]

The mushroom btw is a species of Cordyceps and we can actually grow one species of the genus called Cordyceps militaris. The Cordyceps genus acts pike caffeine just more subtle and healthier

[@PlayNowWorkLater]

The Geology class paid off! Great tutorial. Last one I checked out was when you were looking at island arcs, like Japan and east Asia. And you mentioned something about WTF is going on north of Australia. It is quite the clusterf***. That said, I’m wondering if you ever touched on the creation of the Rockies, being that they are made up of accreted island arc onto North America.

[@geoffchurchill5492]

also remember volcanoes produce iron that is invested in the surrounding soil meaning the land around volcanoes can be excellent farming land

[@jasonbyrne3213]

I’m a god! You can’t KILL a god! What a grand and intoxicating innocence!

[@ComboQuester]

You are hilarious sir

[@timothytumusiime2903]

😳 Central Australia has a mountain Mindblown 🤯

[@triblast9538]

First time I've seen this guy on youtube, not only is he helpful, he's hella funny as well and the Chinese boner zombie comment really had me going.

[@grouchypotatowolfpack5580]

Normally, I love the sea before all else. There's a certain vastness, power and majesty to her that you don't get with anything else, but mountains come close. The sea will always call to me, but the one time I went through the pyranees on a bicycle, it stuck with me.

[@adamjenkins7653]

So I'm currently working on a worldbuilding project born from a game concept. Of the 3 races the "Arach" dwell within a mountainous chain that connect onto a semi-active volcano that formed the chain. The island they are on used to be part of an island chain functionally similar to the Galapagos islands. So new islands are constantly being created over a volcanic hotspot, moving off into the ocean and eventually sinking beneath the waves. I say "used to" as the Inuk-sei commonly referred to by the human historians as the Islandic-kobald empire, made the same mistake as "Bad-Belle" and attempted to access the vast supplies of mana moving through the planets crust. Unfortunately for Bad-belle hers blew up as the tower that drew on the energies couldn't handle the insane amount of mana, even without actively drawing on them. The Inuk-sei were even worse off as being further north they had less mana to draw from, but still too much to control. The Inuk-sei were having something of a civil war where the ruling priests decided to use their new mage towers to instantly win. The largest and most southern island survived due to the human fleets arrival panicking the local ruler into firing on his own harbour to destroy the invaders. Every mage tower produced enough mana that they essentially nuked each other. As sea-water rejects mana the southern most island survived, and spawned "The Calamity". The Arach were born from this calamity and thus are less than 1000 years old as a species. Each can live for 200 years, but most die young at about 40-60 or middle aged at 120-135. As a result I have human-spider hybrids living in these mountains around their main settlement that used to be an Inuk-sei fortress. As they have no issue scrambling across the unstable rock they don't really need roads, but do see the value in paths. And exist primarily as hunters, roaming out for about 50 to 100 years alone (where the earlier deaths occur) before heading back to their capital to establish themselves. So I'm having to work out how they would actually live whilst keeping the rough game story outline in mind. It's a little hard. Doubly so as due to beasts mana-evolution (a phenomenon where mana builds up in a creature, develops certain patterns and then transforms the creature to be better at survival, but does nothing to the newly born) of which the Arach are classified as extinction basically doesn't happen unless the change is truly dramatic and widespread. It also makes hunting a pain, as whatever survives the hunt gets better at surviving. Anything that lives through injuries from a projectile weapon, will be harder to harm with said weapons. Anything that escaped via stealth, will be that much better at stealth the next time. But the young don't gain any of that so my ecosystem is a nested sodding flowchart at this stage so I fled here for a break. The human empire (game story bad-guys) eventually take the city with a sudden and viscious attack via an amphibious assault as the Arach themselves can't swim (Too heavy, legs to spindly to generate proper thrust, and they breath through the underside of their abdomen; the fat rear section of their spider half), and hadn't had any real attacks from outsiders as the (good) human outcasts had only arrived recently and didn't have resources enough to care about a mountain range about a days walk northward, and the surviving Inuk-sei tribes are terrified of "The Ancients" technology of which the Arach are practically on-top of. Edit: spelling

[@derpherp1810]

In my worldbuilding, it takes place on a post post apocalyptic earth billions of years into the future after the collapse of a large but not quite galactic civilization. There is a mountain range that is the eroded remnants of a massive super arcology, the toxic erosion runoff has created irradiated and deadly fungal steppes and the mountains are quite alien looking. Its very rugged but there is titanic pieces of wreckage, monuments, and buildings just all melting into this unnerving collage. It is said the mountains themselves were the homes of the Ancients, and deep beneath them would be priceless historical artifacts but due to hundreds of thousands of years of erosion and malfunctioning, many of the clear passage ways to the depths have collapsed and it is quiet literally a labyrinth. The local peoples of this mountain fear but also worship it and they all live very short lives thanks to the toxins of the mountain, but acolytes of the Chrome Church and foolish adventurers still embark on expeditions and pilgrimages to the mountain's heart. Some small treasures like prosthetics, trinkets, and other things have been retrieved but two thirds of the brave fools either go missing or come back mad after going to deep into the mountains. There are also sightings of strange obelisks floating above the mountains at night when they can barely be seen or the bio-mechanical horrors that lurk within the depths, but you are more likely to die to the hundreds of mutated bugs that feed on the spores and toxic sludge of the mountain.

[@minem9952]

OMG NEWWWWW WORLDBUILDING VIDEOOOO!!!

[@Demopans5990]

Even up in the modern day, mountains are ideal places to defend. Whether it was the Soviets dealing with raining RPGs in the mountains of Afghanistan, or the Swiss mountain bunkers

[@MrDracoSpirit]

Anyone think the idea of scattered moutains based dwarven holds in a large desert area could be fun to work with? You have the obvous harsh conditions of deserts, but the moutains could be relatively plesent once your high enough and the heat drops, plus places where rivers start?