Desert of Fallen Stars

The Desert of Fallen Stars, located in the southwestern extreme of Idiri, is one of the most isolated and thinly populated regions in Avaria. Although it adjoins the well-traveled Gilded Plain and the lands of confederated Niyone, the intervening terrain is difficult to outright dangerous to cross, and many careless, overconfident, or simply disoriented travelers have lost their lives even on the desert's harsh margins.

Geography

Very little is known about the interior of the Desert of Fallen Stars, as most people sensibly venture no further than the edges of this perilous land. Extensive salt plains span the rift valley that makes up the desert's easternmost regions, and it is only many miles past the far side of the shallow but extremely long Drowning Moon Lake that they begin to peter out into alkali scrubland. These are the borderlands with Niyone and the source of much wealth among those people, as they mine the salt on their periphery and trade this lucrative commodity for much profit. During the rainy season, and particularly during wet years, the lake overflows its basin and spreads out across the flatlands, creating a vast dazzling expanse of extremely saline water that adds a new layer of salt upon its eventual retreat.

The desert's northern boundary consists of mile upon mile of broken rocky land, as if a great sheet of stone had been dropped from the sky and shattered upon striking the earth. This region, known as the Chaos Crags, is virtually impassable save along a few narrow foot paths known only to the most seasoned guides. On the other side of the Crags the waving meadow grasses of the Gilded Plain begin, studded with a few erratic boulders still strewn like scattered crumbs for several miles north.

The little ship traffic that passes along the southwestern coast of Idiri reports nothing but endless reaches of dry mountains thrusting their sharp peaks needle-like into the sky, giving no hint as to what lies in the mysterious interior beyond.

People

Harsh and remote as the Desert of Fallen stars is, it is inhabited by a very few people. Traveling bands of Kiliku range the desolate landscape, finding a refuge from the pressures of civilization and cherishing a wild sort of freedom in their home that is forsaken by most.