The southern mountain barrier of Rakite—a lower, wider range than Vokas Enrisikna, forming the boundary between the Rakiten plains and the territories beyond. "Pendi" means "horizon" in Rakiten; the mountains are always visible on the southern skyline, a constant landmark for the tribes.
Character
Vokas Pendi is gentler than the western range. The peaks are rounded by age, rarely exceeding four thousand feet, and the slopes are covered in scrub forest and alpine meadow. Several passable routes thread through the range, though the Rakiten rarely use them.
The northern foothills provide winter shelter for the buffalo herds and the tribes that follow them. The south-facing slopes catch sun even in deep winter, keeping patches of grass accessible when the plains are frozen.
The Southern Border
Beyond Vokas Pendi lies territory the Rakiten don't claim—the transitional zone between their plains and the elven kingdoms of Lenora and Illron to the south. The mountains serve as a natural boundary, and both sides respect it.
Lenoran traders occasionally cross Vokas Pendi to trade with the Rakiten, using the established passes in summer and autumn. These interactions are formal and carefully regulated—the Rakiten distrust outsiders, and the Lenorans consider the plains beneath their notice. But the trade happens: metal tools and salt flowing north, buffalo hides and grass-rope flowing south.
The Drakwald Connection
The western end of Vokas Pendi merges with the Drakwald Forest, creating a zone of mixed terrain—mountain slopes forested with the same too-dense, too-quiet woods that fill the Drakwald proper. The Rakiten avoid this area entirely.
Some tribal elders believe the Drakwald's wrongness originates in these mountains—that something lies at the heart of Vokas Pendi, spreading its influence into the surrounding land. Others say the forest and mountains merely share a boundary, and the wrongness ends at the treeline.
No one has checked which theory is correct.