The Mountains of Malone are surrounded by the Pinewoods of Tor. These woods are massive straight trees that have grown for millenia. Some of the trees are so massive that they are over 200 feet in circumference. The canopy of of the pinewoods can blot out the sun in many areas, and even the wind and snow are lessened within the protection of the great pinewoods.
Toran villages and towns in the area are often Valeerian or Wildman ran. So very few others choose to live this far north. Some Valeerians have built treehouse towns to protect themselves from the creatures of the forest floor, although this does little against those who can fly or climb.
Wildmen villages are more often on the outskirts of the pinewoods, having lacked the technology to build well within and preferring a more nomadic life. Wildmen do speak, when they speak to outsiders, of spirits that live within the pinewoods. These seem to be related to the strange ruins that can be found in and around the woods. Clearly some lost civilization once held ground here, but it has long since disappeared without a trace of the apparent culture remaining, only some art on the walls of their ruins.
