World of Kralis

Inhabitants

Regional Information
Population:	2,869,500 (65% Human, 10% Fhen Khanur, 10% Chovah, 5% Formorian,5% Rhakas, 5% Other)
Borders:	Northern Realms and Southern Realms
Major Religions:	Elal, Akiri, Anthia, Hadak
Highest Point:	Blue Spire 24,650 feet
Longest River:	Iron Snake River 1,750 miles
Largest Lake:	Khul Joro, 1,025 sq miles
Climate:	Temperate to Sub-Arctic
Terrain:	Mountains, High Plateaus, Grassy Steppe, Moors
Natural Resources:	Copper, Horses, Limestone, Marble, Precious Stones, Salt, Wildlife
Natural Hazard:	Grassland and forest fires, damaging floods and harsh storms, sinkholes, tsunamis

The Eastern Realms

Alanu’da tang’ji yal nagha! Aribu kwaya chawiwa irdi yal Riki’sha Aneo.

My beggings, please, mine common is not so good. Let me say over “Hellos wanderer of the west! Welcome to the chanted lands of Eastern Realms”*, yes, yes, that is much betterer. Call me Gháshish Ait-Khaga, which in my words means “I am son of Khaga”. I am a koyote kanus of the pakyti, many sorries, of the pack Khaguris, of the western valley of the Urith Dal Mountains in Zak-Cha. I am wanderer to, on a grand adventurer to anywhere my dust lust takes me. Come sit and eat my sharing of food while we wait for the caravan to move on. Let me tell you the tales of my travels so far. I have traveled for many, many suns from the Spring Dawning to the Feast of Ice, my dust lust has driven me very far from my pakyti and have seen much. A bigger world exists beyond my home mountains! One that I wish to hiriki, um to share, with you.

The Eastern Realms is a region of duality. Its southern half is stricken with dry lands, sand desert, salt flats, rocky uplands, rugged mountains, dead volcanoes and desolate valleys. Its northern half are lavish rolling fields of tall, green grasses, low running rivers and streams, pastoral hills, and abundant forest. These two worlds are separated by the deep and wide river called the Flowing Road or Pultharista. On one side there is desolation, sand and heat, on the other greenery, cool winds and lush vegetation. The Flowing Road not only divides the realm in two, it also divides that realms largest forest in two. Spanning from Zak-Cha to the shores of the Sea of Tarn stands the great Forest of Nahzru. The Eastern Realms home to the kingdoms of: the Barony of Michan, the Kingdom of Nazhryn, rhaka nations of Garu-Zak, Azthak and Kal-Jurik, the Kingdom of Sadhaka and the City-State of Pash Tar. Depending from which direction you come into the Eastern Realms you are either faced with the great southern deserts or the lush green of the north. It has been inhabited by my people since time immortal, though we prefer the mountains, many pakyti have made their homes in the deserts and the green fields of the Eastern Shire beyond the Kingdom of Nazhryn. Since there is so much to see, and so much to tell, i will begin by telling of what makes up the Eastern Realms. There are three major mountain ranges that help travelers know where they are: Southern Rim of the Baligrog Mountains, the high Urith Dal Mountains, which is where my pakyti roams, and the low rising Greca Nor Mountains to the south, which stop the sands of the Great Desert from moving north. The Eastern Realms are border to the north by the Baligrog Mountains and the Baronies of Vishraan, to the east and south by the blue-green waters Sea of Tarn and the Vaheem: The Western Reach, to the west by the Sea of Magnara, Narafu - The Great Desert, and the plains of the Great Dale where the Kingdom of Sadhaka sits. Ah, the Eastern Realms are truly skuzuri (beautiful) and chawida (enchanting) and are able to seduce one so that kauda kar aki (could lose their minds) and end up wandering with dust lust. There is a network of trade routes that connect much of the region to one another, but there is only one great road that leads out of the Eastern Realms towards the Great Sapphire of the Southern Realms. It is called the Grey Corridor as it weaves its way from the Barony of Michan through Kal-Jurik along the shores of the Sea of Tarn to the outlet waters of the Flowing Road, it then picks up where the Flowing Road divides into its main channel running down from the Urith Dal Mountains and its little sister the Dhal River that seeps its way out from deep underground. It follows this smaller river to its head waters and then continues to the Pass of Ghal Tyn in the foothills of the Baligrog Mountains, then makes its way through the Kingdom of Sadhaka to pass through the small rhakas nation of Baztha and arriving in Dardura Sheva where it is called the Sunrise Road. The ashara jia (trade routes) spread across the lands like a spiders web without a center. There paths, roads and trails that seem to lead to every village, town and the few cities in the region. The great number of these routes is to ensure that trade merchants and patrols can either avoid the numerous bandits that hunt these paths, the monsters or to be able to quickly arrive to a location when they are needed. Very rarely will you find beings traveling alone in the east, most travel in large caravans to dissuade the various monsters that stalk through the wild. The khunia (ecosystems, environment or world) that makes up the Eastern Realms is undoubtedly two different worlds, unlike the khunia of the West and North where there is a slow transition from a temperate region to a sub-arctic to an arctic region that can take place over hundreds of miles and kusa'ji (travelers) have some time to easily transition for winters, cold weather, heavy snows and thick rains. Kusa'ji to the Eastern Realms do not have this luxury. There are four regions of khunia that the Eastern Realms experiences. The Urith Dal Mountains in Zak-Cha has several snowcapped peaks. Its north-western slopes receive rain and support high meadows of alpine flowers and grasses, dense thickets of shrub, forests of cedar and pine, and trees such as cypress and olive. Its south-eastern slopes are dry with desert vegetation such as date palms and halfah grass. Unique alpine khunia exist above the tree line in the Urith Dal Mountains where the temperature has been described as “summer every day, winter every night.” Below this the are various types of trees, particularly the juhn tree and bamboo. Numerous animals are native to the mountains, including mountain gorillas, monkeys, elephants, buffaloes, and rodents. The region north and west of the Flowing Road sits on a plateau that rises from the shores of the river towards the Baligrog Mountains, a rise of nearly 5,000 feet. As one travels along the shore of the seas, there is almost no rain, but cold water currents offshore make the region humid and foggy. This is true even along the Eastern Shire Shores. The Forest of Nahzru, which occupies one-quarter of the realm and spreads out from the Flowing River. One-half of the forest that sits along the north-eastern side of the river are semi-tropical with thick, high-branched trees that give way to savanna woodland. The open spacing lets numerous bushes, and other tall grasses to grow and make for great hiding spots both by prey and predators alike. Quickly after this as you move southwest the savanna grasslands turn towards semi-desert and desert. The first five hundred or so miles the region moves quickly from a savanna to a steppe where it is typically hot, sunny, dry and somewhat windy all year long. It is mostly covered in grassland and savanna, with very small areas of woodland and shrubland that beasts monsters and travelers use to escape the high heat of midday. Grass cover is fairly continuous across the region. Much of the ground changes quickly between semi-arid grasslands, savannas, steppes, and thorn shrublands lying between the wooded forest of Nahzru and the Sledurr Desert. The Sledurr Desert extends from the shrubland, just south of the Forest of Nahzru, to the southwest until it reaches the mountains of Greca Nor. Much of the desert is not dunes, it is a region of stationary high rising dunes, combined with an expanse of dry, rocky plains, which is well known for its numerous scattered and colorful lakes and interspersed with smaller moving dunes. The dunes are also well known for what has been called the Whistling, rare occasion through out these dunes that a sharp, loud booming noise that often lasts several minutes. If it was not for the several megadunes and high barren hills, collectively called the Shield Wall, at the edge of the Sledurr Desert the sands would have taken over the Nahzru and turn the entire Eastern Realms into a vast desert ocean. The middle and lower layers of the highest dunes have been compacted for more than 20,000 years causing the sand particles to harden resulting in solid layers of sand and sandstone. The temperatures in this region range from low 70’s to highs over 130 degrees in the desert. The evening and night temperatures rarely get below 35 to 70 degrees, which mostly occurs near the shoreline of the Sea of Tarn. Most of the Sledurr Desert is empty of traditionally normal life, the shifting sands do not allow for any permanent buildings, the occasional sandstorms bury encampments, winter storms flood the hollows sweeping away any remnants of life and burying it under a thick layer of sand. The southern region of the desert is known for its numerous high plateaus that are buffeted by the sands. Sages think that this whole region of dune sand is a result of the sandstone that is blown off the sides of these plateaus. It is a good thing that the vas kapocs (gods) made the desert, their work has proven to be useful to protect the world from the vile cruelty of Pash Tar, the Kingdom of Azahak. Surrounded by the sea, the desert and high red monadnock ridges, the gods have seen fit to keep the evil powers of that place contained. There are no roads or trails that lead to that vile city, but one called the Road of Tears, it is a haunted road that has been dug out and built with thick, granite stones that disappears into the Sledurr Desert. Why it ends in the center of the desert is beyond imagining, my malak (friend). Though it is thought that it actually disappears beneath the sands, through a hidden gateway that can be opened by the priests of Azahak. Kal-Jurik and Azthak are newly created states of the rhakas when you compare them to the nation of Kanus and the Kingdom of Nazhryn. They were formed as a result of their defeat when they rose against the Barony of Michan. Backed by Pish Tar in an effort to destroy the Barony and the southern Knights of Elal, they were defeated by a large army of acires that rose out of the western deserts. Many think that the rhakas leaders and conquerers are like children trying to find their way in the world, they are loud, impetuous, often flailing about the world in an attempt to find out who they are as a people. It is because of this they are often fighting battles that they do not need to, Ta Los is a huge place and there is room for many. The Eastern Realms is not an evil place, though its land does lend itself to those with nefarious and dark intentions, as though the vile gods have cursed the Eastern Realms. While Zak-Cha is a proud nation filled with great people, I would not say that it is a bright spot in these Realms that belongs to both the Barony of Michan and the Kingdom of Sadhaka. Sadhaka was founded by a knight of Elal, and the Barony of Michan was founded by a crusader that escaped the iron fist of Pash Tar. One was founded to fight against the evil of Pash Tar and the other to bring justice to the east. Both have proven vital to the survival of all the good folk that call the east home. Traveling through the east is not as simple as getting a horse or a camel and going from where you are to where you want to be. As I have stated before there are many dangers that await the untested traveler, even the great caravans that move from village to town to city. The most common attack are raids by the local population known as Bejarg Tribes, which are mostly made up of dejah humans that have made the outer bands of the Sledurr Desert their homes. As people of the desert, they survive by raiding the caravans as well as each other. Unlike, the barbarous acts that raiders of the north do, the Tribes have a sense of honor and tradition that they follow. Raids are conducted most often in the early mornings just before the break of dawn, death to those that they raid is not a goal, they raid to acquire goods and supplies. The successful theft of livestock in these raids, is considered a mark of brave and honorable person. Most of the caravans prepare for this and often will carry a "raid wagon" where they keep some of their goods, donations from all those in the caravan. This wagon is often marked and left just outside of the caravan camp, in hopes that raiders will accept it instead of raiding the camp. The Bejarg code of honor demands that women who do not partake in the fighting against the raid cannot be touched and must be left alone. This includes if they are in their tents as well as anything that she wears on her person. The Berjag find it dishonorable for them to harm them in any manner. North of the Flowing Road things greatly change, and not just the khunia changing. Beyond the forest is a sea of grass, rolling hills and deep crevasses that make up entirety of the Kingdom of Nazhryn and the Eastern Shire. This region is anything but flat. With the rolling hills and the high grass its rare to see more than a half a mile with no interference. This makes traveling through very difficult for you never know if you will fall into a crevasses, run into a very unpleasant party, or come upon a beast and its meal. Though Mount Qoloa can be seen from nearly everywhere in the region. Its gray-green sides reflect in the sun and is used by every being as a point of reference when traveling through the region. Those not under the control of the Nhabav (sorcerers) of Nazhryn are known as the Nomadic Tribes. They are referred to as the Mhentilik, and are of dejah bloodline. They are numerous and very diverse in traditions. Many simply roam throughout the land, living out their days herding or hunting. Others are known to travel between the various small villages trading with them on seasonal cycles. Ahh, yes the caravan is getting ready to move onward, let us gather our things, and sit on that wagon. I will tell you the stories of the time between the fall of the Az-kabin and the coming of the Nhabav as well as how my pakyti held against the onslaught of mountain Kendoj. You are in for some grand tales indeed my malak.