Yazdgerd Desert

Desert south of Leuctra and North of Istakhr. Known for dates, camels and elephants that roam the high plateau. It is home to the Mittani. The lands to the south of Leuctra has always been dry due to it being a high plateau where in its eastern border the clouds appear to hold and drop all precipitation to those lands and move south towards Omu and Istakhr who gets more rainfall than the rest of this peninsula due to this feature. Over time the city of Leuctra has been able to tap into the aquifer system to create a thriving underground city with no river source, but at the expense of the land to the south that has only left a few oasis spots remaining. This relationship has caused nomadic tribes like the Mitanni to have a strained relationship with the people of Leuctra.

Ecosystems The Yazdgerd is divided into two main ecosystems: The high plateau desert scrub, and the dry and shifting sands of the dunelands.

The high plateau is known for its spectacular windswept features: streamlined towers of rock called kaluts and extensive stony pavements called hamadas. Vegetation is usually represented by dwarf scrub. Non-saline regions abound with thorn cushions, whilst saltworts and saxauls grow on the margins of saltpans. Extremely arid zones host open shrublands of wormwood and gum tragacanth.

The dunes harbour endemic plants such as Astragalus kavirensis and Heliotropum rudbaricum

Animal Species Mittani Camel, sand cat, cheetah, caracal, sandgrouse, houbara, onager, goitered gazelle, chinkara, striped hyena, and , sand fox, desert elephant, ground-jay, thickhead rock gecko, toad-headed agama, three-toed jerboa, Lut cockroach.