Cities of the Tepuis
Ever since the movie Up, I’ve been fascinated by the South American tepuis, a range of tabletop mountains in Venezuela and Guyana that tower more than 3,000 feet over the surrounding landscape. Their upper slopes are high, sheer cliffs that effectively isolate the summits from the rest of the world and feature some of the tallest waterfalls on the planet. Incredibly ancient, the mountains are the remnants of a two billion year-old plateau that’s been uplifted and eroded into an archipelago of aerial islands.
I like to imagine an alternate history where a thriving South American civilization built vast cities on the top of the tepuis thousands of years ago. Airships, kept afloat by helium extracted from caves deep under the mountains, provided travel between the cities, avoiding the lowland jungles where vicious predators killed without mercy. Perhaps pirates also took to the air and hid in thick clouds until wealthy merchant ships flew too close. Outlawed, dark sorceries promised power and wisdom while sowing evil and corruption. Secretive cults, many with connections to tribes still living in the jungles, worshiped evil gods and plotted against the ruling houses. Expeditions, some sponsored by universities and museums, others by shady dealers and collectors, ventured into the depths of the jungle seeking ruined temples hiding ancient relics and gold and protected by terrible curses and unspeakable creatures.
