Carpathia saw the lands that she had formed, the jungles of Paraden and the decrepit plains of Desonecros, and was satisfied. The distinction between life and death was quite clear, and the two forces would not tolerate their neighbor for long. But there was still not enough. There had to be a place where conflict would be rife, where blood would spill, where the forces would collide in such a way no one could escape, and no one would stand. Then Carpathia saw that there was no home for the forces of heat and cold. So once again, she struck a bargain with them both, and combined them into being more than neighbors, but force them into symbiotic mutualism, a marriage between enemies that was certain to bring strife, but could never be ended. So Carpathia forged a great ring of mountains, towering high into the sky, impassable on their own volition. She then made them mountains of fire, spewing forth flame and heat from the center of the earth, with rock so hot it melted to red, oozing, destructive liquid.
But in the center of this great ring, Carpathia darkened the sun with the ash of the volcanoes. The land turned very, very cold, until snow fell, and the whole land was turned to ice.
When Carpathia saw the forces forged together, she was pleased with her work. But it was not enough. No one had a reason to visit this valley of strife. First, there was no reason to risk the violent heat of the volcanoes and the frozen barren waste of the inner plain. So Carpathia created an utos. It was a red and black translucent stone, small but filled with unlimited utility. Its function was whatever its user desired it to be: a narcotic pleasure, a source of heat, a power source, a poisonous amulet, and so on, without end. But whatever its initial function was at the beginning, it remained for the remainder of the stone's life, unable to be ever changed again. Carpathia created endless amounts of these stones, and scattered them throughout the frozen valley, some lying on the surface, ready to be harvested; others were deep beneath the ice and earth. But they were bountiful, and would be lusted for by many.
Second, they needed both a route of entry and a route of exit. So Carpathia cut the earth, forking the major rivers from all the lands to point to this valley. The mountains were cut, the rivers made wide, deep, and inviting, while the angry mountains belched forth their products that oozed into the rivers, creating great vents of steam. The rivers were easy to enter, and easy to travel, but grew increasingly difficult and treacherous along the way... but there was no return. Finally, they would spill down great waterfalls into deep lakes (Carpathia wanted survivors, after all), and would continue into the frozen wasteland until the rivers themselves froze, and travelers would have to continue on foot.
While there were many ways in, there was only one way out, though. This of course was by intent; Carpathia wanted the many foreigners to meet one another and fight for the many utos and the wealth they could bring. There was one pass through which travelers could leave, but it was a very treacherous journey, with the mountains bringing flames and the path becoming narrow, with death on either side... many opportunities for betrayal of the unwary traveler. The path ended with a spring with much life, which the traveler would have to forge a boat to ride the river down, and down the waterfall into the final river that lead to the ocean.
When all this was done, Carpathia smiled. She had created a place of heat, and cold; dreams, and treachery; wealth, and death. The ultimate destination of conflict had been created. She called it the Valley of Volcold, the river leaving the River of Respite. Carpathia the Puppeteer was pleased.
OOC: 8 will be filled with a great ring of volcanoes that surround a coldland. This coldland is filled with red and black translucent stones called utos, which function as whatever the initial user desires. Rivers from across the world cut into the valley, being the only way of entry, and end in the valley. On the other end is a single pass that cuts through the mountains and then becomes a river from a spring that empties into the ocean. Travel through the valley is treacherous, but it is possible to survive the journey.
I know this is a "GodNES", but I'd like somewhat real landscapes to be created - even if they do have bizarre weather patterns. You can definitely, story-wise, cover everything in a crystal coating, but you should specify what types of terrain will be covered by this crystal. Is the crystal cold, by the way? If so, it could simply just be translated as Coldlands in OOC, but IC it will be called Crystal. Essentially, is it beautiful, magical ice? I think that would work nicely.
