Black Mountain
The Black Mountain, as it is known to those who live in the latter parts of the race, is a large, imposing, barren, fire scorched mountain centered prominently at the latter end of the sixth hextant. At the very tip of its tallest peak is the final resource node of the course, and the singular device that marks the end of the race. Any qualified racer or individual who touches that device will be declared the winner of the race, thus ending its hundreds of years long existence. However, simply to get to the Black Mountain, one must cross a hot, barren, scorching desert, devoid of all life, and perpetually plunged into darkness, as great clouds of thick black smoke constantly hang over the entirety of the sixth hextant, and block out all light in those lands.
To reach the mountain, one must first cross the badlands that begin at the border of the sixth hextant, and extend all the way to the base of the mountain. One must then climb this mountain, which is 13,000 feet tall. The climb to the top is arduous and dangerous, with everyone who has so far tried having died in the effort. No one, so far, has ever reached "the last mile", the final mile that sits just in front of the finish line. The first half mile of this climb is a continuation of the rough, jagged, almost impossible ascent of the previous portion of the mountain. The last half mile is completed upon reaching the peak, where they are greeted by a half mile long flatlands, and a gauntlet of dangers that they must pass through in order to reach the finish line.
To achieve victory, and win the race, only one person, who is qualified, needs to touch the node which acts as the finish line marker. However, up until the arrival of Simon's team in the sixth hextant, nobody had even reached the last mile of the race alive, let alone the final half mile that they would need to cross in order to reach the finish line. And, given how important the race is to The Syndicate, they and their loyalists will literally do anything they can to viciously guard that last mile and protect it at all costs. Because, should anyone succeed in winning the race, everything they have achieved over the past over seven hundred years, will be destroyed.
