Ashmounts & Ashfalls

[Ruin]

Ashmounts & Ashfalls

Steel Ministry doctrine claims that both the Ashfalls and the Mist were brought by the Lord Ruler in order to punish the non-believers in his empire. In reality, this is all propaganda. The Ashfalls were brought by the Lord Ruler, but only because during the Ascension, he moved the planet too close to the sun and had to create an insulating layer of ash to cool it down.

Seven Ashmounts, large volcanoes that emit ash into the atmosphere, are scattered throughout the Final Empire. The first, located in the middle of a lake in the far Western edge of the Central Dominance, is called Tyrian. The second Ashmount is called Zerinah. It is the smallest is located in the Southern Dominance. The third, also in the Southern Dominance, is Doriel. Found near the border between the Central and Eastern Dominances is Faleast. Morag is the first Ashmount found in the Western Dominance and covers Fadrex City, Tremredare and the other surrounding cities with ash. The second Ashmount in the Western Dominance and the largest in all of the Final Empire is Torinost. The final Ashmount, Kalling, is located in the Northern Dominance close to the city of Urteau.

While Ashfalls are not continuous, they do happen a few times every month. Every inch of the Final Empire could be covered in the black ash if it was not carefully kept out of fields and cities, usually disposed of by dumping the ash into the nearest source of running water (most commonly a canal). In the cities teams of sweepers move through the streets, collecting and then disposing of the ash. Since ash stains any substance black if it is left for too long, clean houses are usually seen as a sign of wealth, as it takes dozens of servants to dispose of ash before it can sit long enough to stain.

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