Iram Shard

Though nearly empty of people, Iram is a large shard geographically and exists somewhere in the heart of the Empty Quarter in the Old World. Its small population exists almost exclusively in the underground city known as Iram of the Pillars, which is located along the rock shelves bordering a subterranean river below the desert's harsh surface. While the shard has little to offer in terms of resources or arable land, its potent conductivity for magic means that it was worth preserving during the Shattering.

Climate and Geography

Like the land it corresponds to in the Old World, the vast majority of Iram is completely desolate; a vast, featureless land of sand and bare earth. Temperatures are blisteringly hot year-round and inhospitably cold during the night, with little natural moisture or rain of any kind. Survival on the surface is near-impossible, and there's next to no potential for agriculture or even herding hardy animals like goats or sheep without significant magical assistance. The far south-eastern edges of the shard are marginally more temperate, with a few mountains to provide shelter from the desert winds and allow semi-workable land enough to support a few small villages.
In many ways, the only notable feature of Iram is the fact that it's so magically powerful. It's part of the reason behind the shard's immense size; much smaller intended boundaries were magnified by complete accident during the Shattering, resulting in the inclusion of featureless land that held no special significance. Spells worked within the shard's boundaries seem to draw extra power from the land itself, resulting in more potency than they would otherwise have.

Population and Governance

Despite some difference in demographics between the far southern settlements and the city of Iram itself, the shard is predominantly human and has a disproportionate amount of magic users compared to most populations. Mages are drawn to the city by Iram's natural quality of enhancing spellcraft, and the fact that its inhabitants are largely magical goes a long way to make the place into a viable place to live. Outside of the main city, the settlements on the desert's edge are far more mundane in contrast and are composed primarily of subsistence farmers and herders.
Both populations of Iram have their own respective leaders, with the city ruled by the mage bloodline of the city's original founders and the small southern settlements ruled individually by village headsmen.

Capital

IRAM OF THE PILLARS
The only real settlement of any size large enough to be called a city, Iram of the Pillars is the undisputed capitol of the shard and one of the few places that allows for life to thrive. The city is built in the underground Alhaya river-canyon extending for several miles beneath the desert's surface, with sunlight let in through a narrow slit in the rock overhead. With magical redirection and enhancement this naturally occurring sunlight is enough to sustain crops along wide rock shelves in the canyon, which in turn are enough to sustain the city's fairly limited population. The buildings and homes of Iram are similarly built along and into the cavern walls, sheltered from the elements and extremes of temperature. Due to its disproportionately magical population, casual spellcraft is commonplace in Iram and used to assist most facets of daily life; it's a place with a great deal of innovation and creativity, but also a deep reverence for the gods who created such a profoundly powerful place.

Other Notable Locations

THE ALHAYA RIVER CANYON
The underground rift in which Iram of the Pillars is built. Accessible for several miles along the length of the rift, the full extent of the river's length is unknown... as is its source and eventual endpoint.
DANAR VALLEY
A valley at the shard's far southern end, with enough protection from the desert's harsh winds to support a handful of small farming communities. It holds the villages of Al Síhen, Al Arat, and Al Asar, as well as a southern entrance to the shard.
THE DEADLANDS
The colloquial name for the empty desert, used primarily by those living in the Danar Valley. Sometimes also referred to as the Duat.
THE SPIRIT OASIS
Existing far out in the empty dunes of the Deadlands, the spirit oasis has no formal name and exists as much as a local legend as a confirmed physical location. It's said to be the home of a spirit who will grant deepest desire of those it deems worthy, but both the journey to find it and the spirit itself are dangerous things and many who go seeking it never return.
THE WELL OF SOULS
A naturally occurring sinkhole in the desert, the Well of Souls seems to naturally attract the lingering spirits of the dead. The significance of the Well is largely unknown, but it indisputably has some sort of otherworldly significance and is considered a site sacred to Siarus. It was long guarded by a powerful Freed Spirit called Nycto who was imprisoned there from some time long predating the Shattering, but he's since been freed by a rogue necromancer.

map of Iram Shard

Quick Facts

Approximate Size: ~2100 sq. miles
Number of Entrances: 3
Capital City: Iram of the Pillars

Dominant Race: human
Approximate Population: ~3500

Type

Territory

detail of the Deadlands and the Danar Valley