Sonsuz Desert
Stretching for hundreds and hundreds of miles in every direction, the sands of the Sonsuz Desert can seem endless. Covering more than half of the south of Turoza, the Sonsuz Desert is only brought to halt by the Esbalt Mountains at its southern tip and the Astrak Mountains at its northeastern extremity. At its northern border, the Desert is constantly threatening to encroach onto the savannah plains of the ‘Free-States’, and many feel like it will only take one dry summer to extend the Sonsuz right to the foot of the Eira-Gwyn Mountains.
Geography
The fine sand of the Sonsuz Desert is continuously forming sand dunes, some of which are as tall as small mountains, and which can be treacherous underfoot. At many points along the roadways that cut through the desert sands travellers can see the abandoned belongings of someone who has been claimed by quicksand, just feet from the safe surface of the road. For most of its expanse, the desert can seem absolutely devoid of life, but where oases emerge from the sand life springs up in abundance. Many of the Sonsuz’s oases have become the bustling towns and cities of the Sultanate of Fashaddon, who rely on the water from the oases to exist. When the desert reclaims these pockets of life, the towns and communities that surround them disappear too, either dying of thirst, or moving on to areas that are more habitable. The small mountain range that sits in the middle of the Sonsuz Desert, the Kubra Mountains, have an abundance of springs hidden beneath the rock, but rather than settle in the mountains, the people of Fashaddon funnel the water out through a huge aqueduct system to their main areas of settlement.
Here and there amongst the sands can be found whole swathes of desert that are littered with precious gems such as diamonds, rubies and emeralds. These gem-fields, as they are known are highly sought after by the Sultan, and thousands of gems can be sifted from the largest fields that are sometimes cover whole miles, and can yield gems until well over 10ft below the surface. It is unknown why these gem-fields ae found in the Sonsuz desert. Some scholars have hypothesised that the gem-fields lie on the sight of old mountains that have long since been eroded by the wind and sand, leaving only the hardier gems behind. The more superstitious folk who are sent to work on the gem-fields often whisper to one another that the fields are dragon hoards, exposed by the shifting sands.
Maps
-
The Sultanate of Fashaddon
Type
Desert
Location under
Included Locations
Included Organizations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Related Professions
Comments