A range of hills running north-south through Thespia's interior, the Salty Hills divide the kingdom's western farmland from the more settled eastern terrain near Stipen. The hills take their name from the salt-laced soil exposed along their ridgelines — ground that resists cultivation and gives the range a bleached, pale appearance in dry seasons.
The hills form a natural partition between Thespia's two faces: the west, in Morgnor's shadow and historically cautious of drawing attention, and the east, connected to Stipen's trade networks and more exposed to outside commerce. Under Queen Akta's chaotic rule, the range has become increasingly contested ground, with communities on both sides blaming each other for tax debts and conscription levies that the new queen applies with equal indifference to geography.