Easifatan Almatariq

Geography

These Mesa platforms that have situated themselves overtime on the Southern Shores of the Ilori Sea quite near The Slash. These towering monoliths of stone are some of the only rocky formations in the Desert region proper. Surrounded by nothing but wandering sand dunes and flat arid plains.

Though around the base of these massive structures are the only oasis beyond that of the Song of Bhal. These oases exist only due to the fact that these rocky structures reach high enough into the sky to tear at the humid trade winds that settle themselves over the Ilori. As the stream of air crashes into the sides of these towers some of the air is forced downward to create clouds ringing the Easifatan Almatariq.

These clouds press further downward, causing rain to fall to the desert floor and allowing the waters to pool in the lee side of the mesa. Where these pools spill over their shallow lakes to be drunk by the thirsty lips of the desert winds.

Ecosystem

The main driving force is the interaction between the mesa and the trade winds. The water pools and allows life to flourish around the ephemeral lakes at the base of the structures. GIving way to dense tropical forests at the bases where perpetual rainfall batters its way down the rock faces in unending waterfalls. A cone of green in the shadow of the mountains that breaks at the water's edge.

The lakes called the Sister Pools, are ringed by grassland and mahogany scrubland. Not enough rain falls here to support legitimate forests, though each green Eden is separated from the next leading to each one having its own unique ecological footprint in the area. The Sister Pools filled with many thousands of species of cichlids and pike live in the waters in a dazzling array of colors and body types. Boasting one of the few freshwater species of shark as well.

Diverse Microclimates

Riah

One of the many elements that entices many Citizens of the Caliphate to engage in their wanderlust is the wonderful fact that while these pillars remain separate from each other with inhospitable desert in a proverial sea of shifting dunes between them; the desert has made these literal islands on earthen seas. In the northernmost shadow of the pillars closest to the Ilori Sea, it has earned the name of Riah. As the winds blow across the ocean surface to crash against the rocky mass, it has thus earned the name.

Riah, boasts a much drier climate than the other pillars, though this has not diminished its intrinsic beauty. The edges of its pool are ringed with tropical palms and Mahogany forests that quickly give way to dense scrubby grassland. This is a common element shared by many of the Lighting Rods, what isn't shared by any of the others are that these are some of the only grasslands that grow flowering grasses.

In the early Season of Life, the grasslands erupt in a symphony of colors. The many species of grasses have needed to entice different ways of spreading their seeds, Riah does not host large herbivores to spread the seeds through the usual means. These flowering grasses are meant to entice the flocks of hummingbirds that migrate from the Northern Mountain ranges due north from the Valley of Mists as they fly to the Islands in the Southern seas below the Bhathic Desert Region. These flowers pollinated by the immense amount of birds over the course of a few weeks as they rest before continuing on their journey.

Riah, being the Lighting rod named after the wind, many of the predator-prey interactions typically are airborne. Small Wyverns being the Apex predators as they hunt down Hawks, Eagles, and various sea birds that call the pillar home. Though the Winged reptiles will not scoff at the occasional infant camel or desert goat. Ibex are typically the only large animal that live on the pillar itself, they alone are the only ones strong enough to repel the Wyverns, with their long sharp horns.

Localized Phenomena

Known as the Fury of Bhal in the Calphiti Culture. The mesa will on occasion become the proverbial lightning rods of the area when the trade winds become a bit more active during the Season of Waiting. Great bolts will incessantly strike the rock faces causing small avalanches and immense rock falls to crash to the waiting sands below.

It is thought to become this not because each mesa tower is the tallest, most air defying structure in the region. But, because the mesa only withstands the endless weathering of the blowing desert sands and cataclysmic storms, is that they are incredibly rich in copper deposits and banded iron formations. In a more literal sense, they direct the energy built up by the entropy in the skies and direct back to the earth to repeat its cycle anew.

Alternative Name(s)

Legs of Kin, Storm Mesa, The Lightning Rods

Type

Highlands

Location under

Bthic Desert Region

Owning Organization

Zybyine Caliphate