>Orathorn is in the north-east Rockwood Mountains, near Pent. Not slap bang
>in the middle of the steppes. A Gormenghastian set-up could still work.
>(Map: Genertela Book, p.64).
I imagine Orathorn to be the equivalent of Cooleridge's Xanadu. IMO it was originally part of the Land of the Dead that bubbled up to near the surface (the Hellcrack being another bubble that burst). The live Orathorni are the laidback rulers of a vast cavern and their servants are dead pentans who are quite happy to serve (they weren't good enough in their past life to go to Kargzant's tent and they know the alternatives to serving the Orathorni are much much worse - being eternally masticated in Gorgorma's crevice for example).
I think the Orathorni magic involves summoning a portion of the land of the dead through the earth to detonate on the surface. This would have a variety of effects (such as being an army of corpses, a cloud of hellish choking vapours, silent fearsome shadows or even a startingly effective death spell). They can summon up any corpse they desire (so long as it was originally down below) and also send it back down again (to punish servants).
There's a narrow path from the Cavern that leads up to the surface world. I think the Orathorni have build an alien fortress here, full of dead that are fanatical in defense of the fortress (if they get chopped to pieces, they know the Orathorni can always repair them).
Borrowing further on the parallel, Sheng conquered the Orathorni and forced them to raise massive pleasure-domes for his warriors. The treasures of Kralorela and the Lunar Empire were stored in these domes to make their residence there a pleasurable one. The Orathorni being decadent sloths would dearly love their get their paws on these treasures and so are willing to help surfacers break into these domes. Unfortunately much of Sheng's army still resides there, patiently waiting for their leader to call them up again.
--Peter Metcalfe
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