Barrens of Arcta

"Sure, the city of XXX is as hospitable as you can hope, but what is there in the Barrens that would drive anyone to such distant reaches? The land is dead, if ever it was even alive, the temperature chills your bone, the sands are all near frozen and somehow, the sun is still opressive. The whole continent does not make any sense at all... and that's not to mention the hike if one really wishes to ascend to the Plateau. Leave the land for the Aelves, nicer ports await."
-An Unkown Naval Captain from Bharbadihr

The Barrens of Arcta is a desert island continent located south of the Zafirah Peninsula and west of the Wastes of Illalon. It's unique blend of desert sands, nearly year round biting cold and drifting storms of a sand-snow mix has made learning much of the continent outside of the few coastal settlments, difficult. The Island is typically thought of as three distinct regions, the northern coast which is the most habitable part of the island. The Plateau of Arcta, a towering ascension of the earth that constitutes nearly the whole of the island, and the Sandsnow Barrens, where the wind kicks up terrible gouts of sand that have been known to scour the skin within seconds of exposure.

Geography

The paradoxical geography of the Barrens of Arcta are not lost on our scholars, a near inhospitable desert similar to the Zafirah Peninsula however the temperatures are near freezing throughout and along the southern shores are layered in permafrost covering the desert sands.

The Gate & The Northern Shores

The temperature

The Plateau of Arcta

The elevation has a near sudden meteoric rise a few miles away from the northern coast with the rest of the non-coastal parts of the continent stretching nearly half a mile upwards in a massive spanning plateau

The Sandsnow Barrens

Climate

In the Northern most reaches, the climate is similar to that of Zefirah, a dry arid heat however slightly more tolerable. As one ascends to the Plateau of Arcta however, the climate quickly draws close to freezing and as the Sandsnow Barrens approach, you may begin even to see your breath in the air.
Once you are fully engulfed in the Barrens, conditions not disimilar to those of the O'nlonan Frostwastes can befound along the southern shores.

History

Owing to it's inhospitable landscape, the interior of the barrens have never seen permanent settlments for the entirety of it's history. Much of what we know of the area are second hand accounts passed over from early Aelven Explorers who had hoped that the barrens might give to some kind of grasslands as the Wastes of Illalon are known to in their southernmost extremities.
Smaller permanent cities have been settled along the coast however, such as XXX, YYYY and ZZZ which were formed initially as ports where traveling vessels could call port.

World Map

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Alternative Name(s)

The Barrens

Type

Continent

Inhabiting Species

• Aelves
• Orcs