Thornback Hollows

Thornback Hollows is a region in Landorya. Thornback Hollows is a series of sheltered valleys and shallow ravines cut into the mesa country of the eastern Aurora Plains, where the particular combination of warm sun-trappin… Geography: The Hollows consist of a network of connected shallow valleys formed by erosion channels cutting through the eastern mesa country. The wall… Climate: The Hollows' sheltered position creates a warmer, more stable microclimate than the open plains. This is what draws the…

The Hollows consist of a network of connected shallow valleys formed by erosion channels cutting through the eastern mesa country. The walls provide wind shelter and solar absorption, creating a microclimate several degrees warmer than the surrounding plains. The valley floors are sandy with scattered flat rocks ideal for lizard basking and scale-shedding. Scrub vegetation and insect-rich deadfall support the lizard population year-round.

The Hollows' sheltered position creates a warmer, more stable microclimate than the open plains. This is what draws the Thornback Lizards in autumn when falling temperatures elsewhere on the plains encourage the lizards to seek the most favorable possible conditions for their metabolically demanding shedding process. The Hollows remain accessible and relatively comfortable for scale-gatherers through most of the autumn shedding season.

Scale-gathering at the Thornback Hollows is recorded in the confederation's oral histories as an autumn tradition of great antiquity. The Ministry of Trade and Barter coordinates the harvest to ensure that the Hollows are not overharvested and that the scale-gathering rights are equitably distributed among the tribes whose autumn routes bring them through the eastern plains. The armor-making tradition built on Thornback scale has sustained the confederation's light-armor production for as long as either practice is recorded, and the relationship between the scale-gatherers and the lizard population is understood as a model of the sustainable use philosophy the Nomads apply to all their ecological relationships.

The scale-gatherers tell a story of an especially harsh autumn when the Thornback Lizards did not come to the Hollows at the expected time. The scale-gathering teams waited, and one elder among them insisted they should not force the issue. On the ninth day of waiting, a scout reported that the lizards had gathered in a side valley the teams had never used, in numbers far greater than any living gatherer had seen. The elder interpreted this as the lizards offering an especially rich harvest in compensation for a poor previous year, and the scale-gatherers moved to the new valley. Since then, the scale-gathering teams send a scout to check for unusual lizard congregation before committing to the traditional Shedding Flat, a practice now formalized in the Ministry of Trade's harvest protocols.

The autumn scale-gathering operation at Thornback Hollows is one of the most organized logistical operations in the confederation's annual calendar. Specialist gatherers trained in handling the lizards without disturbing the shedding process move through the valley systematically, collecting the scales from rocks and ground surfaces without touching the animals themselves. The lizards are not harmed and are treated with the same respect the Nomads extend to all significant wildlife relationships. The gathered scales are sorted, cleaned, and bundled at the camp before being distributed to armor-makers across the confederation and retained for trade. The Hollows are considered a working site rather than a spiritual one, though the scale-gatherers observe a brief acknowledgment ceremony at the start and close of each season's harvest.