Overview
Shar Cradle, ca. 653 DR
Believed by many to be the heart of the Late World, this tropical region is home to several nations, hundreds of cultures, and countless languages. In addition to its teeming multitudes, the Great Western Jungle is a natural resource unmatched by any other forest in the world. Many of the world’s most sought after woods and precious materials are harvested from its deep and remote shadows. Merchant States rise and fall in the shade of its towering canopies as resources are discovered, exploited and abandoned. Many are the forgotten cities and roads that emerge from and disappear into the great forest.
Some consider the Shar a sister forest to the Dreamlands jungle of Tassèrus. Many trees and flowers found in one may be found in the other. The most interesting support of this notion is the ancient and ruined city of Ambòrmar, whose incomplete stones stand half on the shores of the Mar Pæði and half on the shores north of Shardra, a sea separated. Some claim that the ruins belong to twin cities, both claimed by the seas, while others believe that the ruins were one city until the lands parted and the Mar Dèkali rose to separate them. It is interesting to note that natives on both side of the sea believe that when the inhabitants of the empty stones return to their homes a great and ancient empire will rise from the sea to claim the world once again.