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 Past
the last mountains in the Land of Eternal Clouds, the Mercenary's
country, one enters a high-altitude large and cold expanse
covered by perennial snow called The Great Plain. This is
a geological structure essentially composed of several levels
of volcanic lavas that confine an infinity of stalagmites
and stalactites, enormous caverns, and crude underground
lakes of acid.
 There are also smoking craters of half-dormant
volcanoes deep within which still lies latent magma. Because
of this, the underground maintains a warm temperature which
melts the snow on the surface. The water drips into and
flows under the top layer surrounding the craters, thus
cooling them down and maintaining a delicate thermal balance.
In some craters, the water flows in through cracks and so
erosion and centuries have formed underground rivers.
In
one of these craters we find, well isolated, the Monastery
of the Crater. It is a brotherhood of monks devoted to keep
and preserve the human knowledge. They act as well as a
covert connection between the different cultures, carefully
deciding and measuring out which information is to be revealed
at each time. The leader in the Order is a old man called
The Lama.
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