Mountains of Mōrya

The Mountains of Mōrya are the northwesternmost mountain range of the Reknaya, separating the deserts of Wat and Erkenma from the Geranian Heath and the Dārǫ Mōrya in the Celdic Steppe.

Etymology

The mountains take their name from the basin to their immediate north, in the Western Celdic language called the Dārǫ Mōrya ‘gifted land’, for the crucial role it played in early Olgish—Celdic relations.

The first Olgish settlers called the area Lamparkaminna ‘mountains (away) from Parka’, possibly a calque of the (lost) Andarian name.

Geography

The Mountains of Mōrya compose the northwestern corner of the Reknaya, extending from Parka in the southwest to the Casgan in the northeast. Located at the break of the Celdic Bow, they contain some of the highest and broadest peaks in the Reknaya and are considered its hardest region to navigate, with the Pass of Katna the only major crossing from their western to their isolated eastern side.

The mountain range itself is composed of five shorter arms, arranged in a shape resembling a five-pointed star:

• The Trans-Parkan Mountains (Olg. Lamparkaminna) form a sickle from Parka towards the northeast, hemming the northwestern side of the Desert of Wat and separating it from the Valley of Parka.
• The Northern Wat (Olg. 'Turvatta', in contrast to the 'Komvatta', or Southern Wat, which forms part of the Mountains of Mindeló) hems the Wat to its northern side, separating it from the Desert of Erkenma. The river Ārɔt rises from these highlands, forming the upper Ārɔt Valley to their north. To the southwest, they reach the fortifications of the Reknayan Wall, at which point they are considered to fade into the Kernogori.
• The Walled Mountains

History

The area was long considered