During the second age the Mages and their kings possessed enough power to alter the landscape of the surrounding lands. Legend has it that the Telyenth sea was formed this way, although it was never proven and is not part of the accepted history of Tell. It is known, however, that at times the mountains where shifted to include or disclude certain kingdoms.

Over half the Elleysian kingdoms bordered the mountains. They knew what they were and were not afraid of them. Yet in the slightly larger mortal world the kingdoms that bordered them were backward, and filled with mystery and magic.

The largest of these kingdoms were Layne, Zirg, and Rivanek, and all three had strange myths about the land of the Elloi. By the end of the third age no one believed in the Elloi any more, but the stories of the first age were still told, only as bedtime stories to children. Fairytales, that no grown man would dare believe in.

Yet those in the mountains clung a little tighter to the old myths and stories. The magic was closer, wizards occasionally visited, life was hard, and monsters frequent. When times were bad the dragons would come down and spread into the rest of the kingdoms, but most of the time the border lands kept them mostly contained in the mountains.

The inhabitants were considered strange and taciturn by the rest of the mortal world, for they had seen strangers come with the light of power in their eyes and still believed the old tales of the Elloi. They had the fear of the superstitious, that this strange race must be appeased, and that the mountains were a sacred border never to be crossed.

Sounds sort of like what happened in the flood. I like that they used the mountains to block people out. That just strikes me as somewhat amusing when I picture it in my head.