Southern Prairies

Golden Waves of Grass

If you don't know where you are and can't see anything but oceans of grass and wheat, then you're probably somewhere in the southern prairies of Allegri. Spanning nearly the entire breadth of the continent, these dry flatlands are where the few remaining nomadic folk in Allegri flourish. Cruel warbands of kakornio and skiddish clans of humans both roam year-round and forage for food or hunt the herd animals they share the land with.

With so much obvious open space, it would be a mistake to assume there's nothing of interest across the plains. Hills and valleys block lines of sight and a foe or predator can sometimes get surprisingly near before detection if the wind is blowing in their favor. Huge areas of land are occupied by nothing but wild grasses and from the larger hills the average person can see for days which can help plan routes and avoid dangers. This also has the disadvantage of potentially giving away your own position by exposing yourself from all directions, but at least you'd have the high ground if it comes to a fight.

When many folk see the prairies for the first time, all they see is a flat, homogenous tableau waiting for... something. An air of calm anticipation seems to cling to certain areas of the plains as though at any moment a hand could burst through the ground and grasp at your ankles or a gargantuan beast might swoop down from the clouds and gobble up anyone unlucky enough to be out in the open. Although those are both possible due to the spherestorms that can form at any moments across the plains. In truth, many of the actual dangers are much less direct. With any such vast, landlocked space, there are powerful gust of wind that can blow from nearly any direction and funnel clouds can usually be seen on any given day - even if only in the distance.

Unlike heblin caravans, the human and kakornio tribes here remain greatly seperate from those living in cities - so much so that the average civilian from Etude would likely consider either species of nomad to be an equal danger. The Hrom'Rachot tribe, also known as the Rumblechaser tribe is the only notable tribe of humans to have fair relations with Allegran merchants but even the briefest contact is rare and always incredibly tense. Merchants from the cities will usually only risk approaching the nomads if they have already have a buyer for nomad artifacts lined up since their tools and weapons are generally hundreds of years behind those available from the cities.