From MercutioV@aol.com Fri May 12 17:47:11 2000
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 13:13:42 EDT
From: MercutioV@aol.com
To: mike@thekeep.org
Subject: Mt. Fraer

MT. FRAER

Mount Fraer, Avalon's second-most prominent feature after the Citadel itself, 
is also it's least aesthetically pleasing. While many active volcanos convey 
the majesty of nature and are quite attractive to gaze on (Mt. Kileuea on 
Shadow Earth, which many believe to be a reflection of Fraer, is a prime 
example) Mt. Fraer is a stark, functional thing. It's a big hole in the earth 
where lava spaws out. Not much to see there. The slopes are char-blackened 
rock, and nothing grows there; the land around it, while extremely fertile 
(volcano ash does wonders for that) is untenated; Fraer hasn't erupted in any 
(average) Avalonian's living memory, but why take chances?

While most of the Fraer is impassable rock, the Fraer Stair DOES provide 
access to the peak and points beyond. Nobody knows why it was built, and it 
is rarely used, but it is, nevertheless, there.

The Stair begins at the western foot of the mountain, in between two standing 
stones carved with weird symbols that no-one understands. It's quite steep, 
but, at least on the lower reaches of the Mount, also quite wide; a company 
could march abreast up it's soot-stained marble.

However, the Stair continually narrows, until, just below the Crater Bowl, 
near the peak, it's barely wide enough for six or seven people. At this 
point, it divides itself into the Old Stair, running around the eastern edge 
of the bowl, and the New Stair, along the western edge. The Old Stair is 
completely and utterly impassable; a massive, ancient lava flow has washed 
the entire thing out, leaving the entire upper eastern face of the mountain 
covered with a tongue of aging obsidian. Die-hard geologists digging through 
it have encountered strange bits of armor and weapons, and the occasional 
batch of skeletons; some human, some....... not. Speculation as to thier 
origin largely runs unanswered.

The New Stair, curving along the western face, is a different story; 
obviously constructed after whatever unfortunate debacle befell the Old 
Stair, it's totally walkable..... as long as you don't mind going single file 
and enduring the sweltering heat and occasional burst of choking ash. It's 
not real fun, and the only place it takes you is the other side of the 
mountain, from whence you can walk through shadow to MORE lava fields and 
such. 

There is ONE slightly interesting feature; a tiny, dangerous spur curves a 
little way off the New Stair to the Fire Step. This is a flat shelf of rock 
directly overhanging the massive lake of lava and fire in the Crater Bowl. In 
the center of the Step is a carved a stylized rose, reminiscient of the 
Pattern. A strange, unadorned altar of glass rests in the center of this 
rose, and four standing stones sit at the cardinal points of the compass 
around it. Whatever purpose they may have been built for is long since lost. 

The view from the Step is magnificient, but the choking fumes are enough to 
asphyxiate a man in just a few hours; we reccomend you don't stick around. In 
fact, all of Fraer is pretty much bleak and inhospitable; if you must visit, 
you should probably keep it short.