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The Lavnoch Plateau

The Lavnoch Plateau is a cold, high plateau marked by long, snowy winters and short, cool summers, rising from the Braebein in the east.

Geography and Climate

The Lavnoch Plateau is a broad, wind-scoured region of rolling uplands, windswept ridges, and isolated basalt outcrops. Much of its surface lies between 3,000’ and 3,500’, though the northern and western edges rise steadily toward a series of cold, treeless highlands above 5,000’, where even summer frosts are common.

The land is carved by shallow valleys and high meadows; in spring, these troughs fill with snowmelt, forming strings of cold, clear lakes and peat-heavy wetlands. Forest cover is sparse—limited to pockets of hardy spruce and larch in sheltered basins—while the exposed plateaus host tough grasses, heather, dwarf pine, and lichens.

Winters in Lavnoch are long, bitter, and dry, with temperatures often plunging far below freezing as cold air sweeps down from the Sentinel Range; snow arrives early and lingers into late spring. Summers are brief and cool, punctuated by sudden thunderstorms as warm monsoon air pushes westward from the lowlands. Rain falls most heavily in late summer, though much of it drains quickly through the rocky soils.

Population and People

Lavnoch is only sparsely populated, home to scattered Zimka clans and small fortified villages. Most inhabitants live in low, stone-built hamlets near dependable springs or along the plateau’s swift-running streams. These communities are typically small—rarely more than a few dozen families—and rely heavily on pastoralism. Sheep, goats, and shaggy upland cattle form the backbone of the local economy, moving during the brief summer up onto the high pastures and retreating to warm byres during the long winter months.

Not sure about this names, placeholders for now, except I like the Dornach

Borders

The plateau is bordered in the west by the foothills of the Sentinel Range which rise from western Lavnoch to great peaks over 10,000’ tall. In the east, it is bordered by the Braebein - a series of mountainous hills with a few peaks over 6,000’ - and the Lauswald, an eerie forest said to be haunted by the children of Zeyfa. In the north, the terrain rises to over 5,000’ before descending in a series of more gentle foothills to the land around the Great Chasm. In the south, a series of sharp, rocky hills separate the edge of the plateau from the Semb river valley.