Cheska Ovar. The Heart Endures.
Office of the High Warden
Luxemburry / Geography / Mount Cinder
Mount Cinder is the highest peak of the Realm of Luxemburry and, in the founding legend, the largest piece of the Stone Heart. It stands at the north end of the Realm above Purgnar. The shrine at its base is the sacred site of the Realm, and the High Warden opens every ski season from its summit.
The Cinder is a dark cone of volcanic rock with a permanent snow cap, quite unlike the pale limestone of the Eastern Peaks. Luxians say the darkness is the Heart's last warmth. The mountain is climbed by a path from the shrine to the summit in about five hours in summer; in winter it is skied.
At the base of the mountain, where the Heart is said to have broken, stands a small stone shrine, older than the Realm. Luxians leave a small stone there before a long journey and take one home when they return. Every citizen sworn in Valdoria is encouraged to walk to the shrine within the year. The path from Purgnar takes an hour.
On December 1 the High Warden skis from the summit to Purgnar, and the four resorts open when he reaches the bottom. The custom is as old as the Realm; Zevi the Great did it first in 1723 on wooden skis. The Sentinels escort the descent and the bells of the cathedral in Valdoria ring when it is done.
Obsidianite, the black glass found only on the Cinder, was mined from the 1840s to 1931. The old workings on the east face are closed; the spoil is still worked by the craftsmen of Purgnar.
The largest resort of the Realm covers the south face of the mountain above Purgnar. See Ski resorts.
The custom of the shrine at the base of the Cinder: a stone left before a journey, a stone taken home after it.
