Almahd Almuqadas
Geography
Huge mountains flank Almahd Almuqadas (the holy cradle) to the east and the Sahra' Ishal to the west, despite these stark terrains, Almahd Almuqadas is a cradle of civilization. The land appears flat, but a wider inspection reveals that it gradually slopes toward the desert. The Almahd Almuqadas are covered in slow-traveling rivers and tributaries that flow from the mountains. All of the rivers connected back together in a beautiful late at the border of the Sahra' Ishal. Large ruins are scattered across the landscape, huge stone buildings turned sideways or even on top of their heads. All of these ruins sit inside small craters of some kind. Despite this, the landscape is serene and beautiful. The Imam of The Church of The Immortals maintains it however they can, and The Chosen Prince and local Rabiya enforce strict poaching and resource extraction laws. The Leonin tribes and Thri-Kreen also do the same, both living lock and step with the savanna and its creatures.
Ecosystem
The Almahd Almuqadas has many different species of tall grass that grow under the hot dry climate of the region. The region's trees grow with open canopies, meaning they are spread apart and have wide roots. The Savanna ecosystem is also crowded with grazing herbivores that usually live in a herd. These herbivores rely on their speed to survive against predators; Slow ones, unfortunately, become prey to the predators. That is unless they have the weight to throw around in order to defend themselves. The vegetation, including mostly grasses and dispersed trees, has adapted to the climatic conditions of the Savanna ecosystem. Only those plant species can survive in the Savanna ecosystem that can resist hot weather and little rain water. Thusly The Almahd Almuqadas have many unique mundane and magical flora that have developed interesting ways of surviving the try landscape. Grass in the Almahd Almuqadas ecosystem tends to grow rapidly in wet months, whereas, in the dry season, the grasses become brown and are comparatively shorter in size due to frequent fires. Some plants and trees have developed long roots to reach the water level underground to survive in the dry weather of the Savanna ecosystem.
Ecosystem Cycles
The Almahd Almuqadas is a thornbush Savana, meaning it has a 5-month dry period. This large period of time uniquely has little impact on the region's health due to a large number of rivers, however, the rivers and ponds shrink in size causing some animals to die off. Thrii-Kreen, Leonin, and Ishalan Humans never have a problem finding water. That being said imports of food from more fertile parts of the nation are required for the survival of Ishalans during this time period. In wet sessions, animals graze in semi-random patterns, usually following riverways and keeping their distance from other herds to avoid food conflicts. During dry seasons animals always travel from the edges of the desert to the mountains, where more water will be available.
Localized Phenomena
Aleirq Alsihriu or The Deep Swelter is a type of weather phenomenon speculated by scholars to be caused by the unique mixture of deep dry heats and ambient mana in the region. The phenomena can last from either 1-2 hours to 24-28 hours. During this weather people not only sweat out water from their bodies, but also their mana. A combination of shade and water is required for survival, and any creature exposed to these heats for 30 minutes or more will die due to lack of mana.
Fauna & Flora
Mundane Fauna:
Meerkats, Jackals, spotted Hyenas, gazelle, buffalo, lions, leopards, Aardwolf hyenas, black mambas, capybaras, termites, grasshoppers, beetles, ants, and mosquitos.Magic Fauna:
Altanafus Alnaar (Giant Fire Breathing Ants), Water Dance Meerkats, Liubardis Dakin Layt (Dark Light Leopards).Dire Fauna:
Almahd Almuqadas has large amounts of ambient magic energies, causing the rare formation of Dire creatures. Dire creatures are larger, more ferocious versions of their mundane counterparts. Their presence can be cause for the hiring of adventurers, raising militia, or requesting aid from allies. Any creature can become dire fuana, with their aggressiveness increasing depending on the creatures normal aggressiveness.Mundane Flora:
Wise grass, knife root shrubs, Hooska's kiss, Qadasa weed, shujayra bush, and caska trees.Natural Resources
Wood from the savanna trees, wild melons, fruit, Alt Aln glands, meat from bison and capybaras, and pelts from lions leopards, and hyenas. There are limited coal resources in the mountains, but only enough to sustain the religious institutions of the region. Grains and vegetables are also grown in limited capacity during the wet season.
History
Almahd Almuqadas was a powerful region after The Wrath (an event that created the Ishal desert). It was spared the apocalyptic desertification of the Ishal Desert and was granted protection from invaders by the mountains to the west. Various small magedoms and petty kingdoms contested the region and even exerted their power over the resource-rich lands in the desert. In these older times, the Leonin and Thrii-kreen were much more prominent and eclipsed human civilization in the region. The ambient mana of the region was far more potent, leading to large amounts of sorcerers, dire creatures, and mana poisoning. It has also been recorded that in the times after The Wrath Aleirq Alsihriu (Deep Swelters) plagued Almahd Almuqadas more frequently, and often spelled a death sentence for entire petty kingdoms. During the rise of The Church of The Immortals, the non-human civilizations and magedoms were slowly whittled down in Holy Wars called by High Imams who claimed that the region was the holy land of their people and the current occupants were tests that needed to be overcome by faith and action. Soon only loosely aligned Ishalan communities existed and they warred and vied for dominance. The calls for more unity by the High Imam fell on deaf ears as the greed of man overpowered the religious guidance of women. It was during this time that the Great Mosque was constructed and the beginnings of Almuqadasa formed around it. However, it is said that the gods punished the pride of arrogance of men, many of whom started to style themselves as kings, an affront to the one true king Cadceed. A powerful Blue Dragon tore through the disconnected rabiya and overwhelmed the meager church defenses. The great mosque was destroyed and its ruins were the lair of the blue dragon, who plundered the wealth of all of Ishal and held its people as slaves. During this period the oppressed and beaten Thrii-Kreen and Leonin tribes reemerged with a vengeance and sunk the beautiful savanna into war. This ended with the holy paladin slaying the blue dragon and establishing the organized principality as the first Chosen Prince of the Desert Principality of Ishal. In the preceding years, this holy paladin slaughtered the Thrii-Kreen and made agreements with the Leonin effectively stabilizing the region. The region has remained a powerful and stable seat of the Principality's government into the current age.
Alternative Name(s)
The Holy Cradle
Type
Savannah
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Contested By
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