N/Atlas/Wastelands

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The Wastelands are a vast stretch of land located in the northern and northeastern most parts of the Midworld. The lands of Arkanros, Licida, and Serdia consist mostly of the Wastelands. Harsh, unforgiving, and uncivilized, the Wastelands are inhospitable to those not native and accustomed to its climate, and few ever venture out into them. The Wastlands form the discovered world's northern frontier and stretch from the northern most coast of the Frozen Sea to where the discovered realm ends beyond the Scrub Hills to the north. Despite its vast size, the northernmost region of the Wastelands, the Highlands, are perpetually cold because of the altitudes of this geographical portion of land. Though cold, in much of this region, the land is arid and rain is a rare occasion. This is a direct result of its being situated beyond the Crescent Mountains, thus blocking westerlies' moisture. Wind is the predomimiant weather feature of the western regions, and there the westerlies flow, carrying their water droplets with them. The Wastelands have five different types of terrain that compose the land; Tablelands, Salt Flats, Desert, Scrub Hills and the Highlands - Spinok'ta'del Mountains.

The Wastelands are one large unregulated and relatively ungoverned land but are comprised of five geographically distinct regions distiguishable by physical features. The Tablelands are in the northwest of portion of Arkanros; they are a vast stretch of moist, flat, treeless land, covered only in seemingly endless fields of tall grasses. It is always cold and windy and rainfall occurs on an annual basis. The western regions (Westlands) begin at the northern most coastline of the Frozen Sea and continues inland untill it transforms into the Tablelands. North of the Tablelands lies the Great Salt Flat, the saltiest place in the world, where it never rains, despite being very close to the coastline, because it is completely surrounded by mountains. It is also completely flat and the ground is made of closely packed salt. It was created by a Greybeard who pondered into metaphysics so that he decided that wealth was his truer purpose. After lowering the land, and therefore raising the surrounding area, he was punished with execution. This event led to The Great Winter. In Licida are is the Crescent (Licidian) Desert: a rocky, jagged and dry place peppered with chasms, ravines, rock outcroppings, mesas, buttes and scree fields. Everything here is composed of rocks and very little plant life (mostly cacti) thrives. There are numerous dried riverbeds hinting that life may have once been sustained here but are no longer. Its a dangerous and cluttered land where loose footing could spell demise. It is easy to hide in this park of windcarved rocks making it a favorite hiding spot for fugitives of other lands. Further east are the Scrub Hills, which are the foothills east of the Spinok'ta'del Mountians. Small, rolling mounds stretch as far as the eye can see before abruptly stopping and allowing the mountians to rise. The only difference from the deserts is that the land is higher, and sands are less commonly encountered. Wildlife is nearly totally gone. South of the Scrub Hills and east of the Crescent Desert is Serdia's great savanna plains. ^[1]

The Spinok'ta'del Mountains, as well as the Highlands, are enormous, snowcapped jagged shaped mountians composed entirely of hard black rock and are the northeastern most border of the known world. Almost unclimbable, the mountains have no sizable life forms living on them, but bats and insects live in the countless and unexplored cave systems in, around and underneath the mountains. Cobden, in the Spinok'ta'del Range, is the highest known mountain in the world. According to lore, it sits in the exact centre of the world where it was raised by Vayrian after the Chaos of the Gods. This thus means that much of the discovered world lies to the south of the center of the plane, as Cobden lies near the far north of the map. The location is significant because, as it is directly at the center of the 5-realm stack, it serves as a portal to the Overworld. Those who have climbed the mountain have never returned. Theories of what happened include their ill-fated death, reaching the Overworld or coming to call the mountaintop home. ^[2]

[edit] Fauna

Tokhorns

Antelope like animals with sharp twisting horns on thier head. Prized for their meat, hides and horns, the tokhorns are a favorite game animal by all peoples of the Wastes. They perfer the Tablelands.

Ravvi

Giant, flightless birds that resemble monsterous osteriches, the ravvi are a feared hunter in the Wastes. They prey on anything smaller than them using thier beaks and talons for weapons. Suprisingly fast and expectedly strong, Ravvi are the most feared thing in the Wastes, seen usaully in the scrub hills but occasionally in the tablelands. Thier eggs are tasty and so large can feed a family for days.

Esqua

Cute, small furry little rodent creatures, prized for pelts and meat. They live in flocks about a dozen each. They are very fast and nimble making them difficult to hunt. They are seen usaully only in the tablelands but sometimes in the scrub hills.

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