The Great Desert

The Great Esh is a vast windswept desert that covers most of northwestern Tassèrus. Renown for its harsh climate, rugged peoples, and terrible denizens, the Esh interior is a corner of the World of Teréth End that few ever see. Despite this unforgiving landscape, Yrūn have managed to build civilizations here for thousands of years. The expansive region is difficult to secure however as resources are scarce at the best of times.

Regions, Geographic

• Nyr Shìraddam. A large open bay bordered by the Tor’n Naresh and the Shiráddam Peninsula. The depths of the bay are unknown, though there is evidence of Zultayan building at various points beneath its waves. The coastline of the Nyr Shiráddam is the most fertile throughout all Æzàlar. This fertile strip of land is narrow however, and quickly gives way to the arid sands of the Great Esh.
• Tor’n Naresh. Despite its proximity to the lush Dreamlands, the Great Esh exists in a perpetual rain shadow formed by surrounding mountain ranges. To the northwest, the desert is bordered by the coastal Tor’n Naresh. These mountains have fertile and green northern slopes facing the Nyr Shìraddam, and baked and barren slopes facing the southern desert. The rugged mountains are nearly impassable by any direct routes, though shepherds do tend flocks high atop their northern slopes. While few venture among the southern face of the Tor’n Naresh, those that do have found them riddled with windows, doors, halls, and tunnels, carved by a people or race lost to Yrūni history.

Regions, Political

• Æzàlar (Dekàli city-state)

Regions, Historical

• Azal (e.g., Shiráddam)
• Lands of the Nirzil
• Ziljànir

Cities, Towns, and Villages

Landmarks

People

The people of the Esh (Eshyr) are brown-skinned nomads who typically travel between seasonally occurring springs with their families and livestock. The locations of these springs are guarded secrets, rarely revealed at pain of death. Revelation of a single spring’s location might spell doom for one’s tribe and family.

The Eshyr are accustomed to the blazing heat of the summer months and deathly freezes that come during winter nights on the rocky bluffs and open sands. The Eshyr are not one people but rather a collection of hundreds of people that over time have settled in this region. Whether forced into the wastes by ancient wars or cultists exiled into this unforgiving place, most Eshi tribes have some unique history for why they trod the burning sands.

History