Kara Desert

From Almeopedia

The Kara Desert is a triangular-shaped piece of land wedged in between the Estë Mišicama range to the north, which forms the southern border of Ismahi and Azgami, and the Ctelm Mountains to the east, across which lies Dhekhnam and occupied Sarnáe, with Verduria to the southwest. Its existence is due to the fact that the storm systems that wash in off the Zëi Mišicama and water Eretald are unable to provide rain to the area in the rain shadow of the Estë Mišicama range, which is very high and apparently caused by a crumpling in the tectonic plate over which Eretald lies.

The desert is nearly uninhabited, since no Almean species is well adapted to desert terrain. This is likely to change in the future, due to the abundance of cüe Kare or oil of Kara, which can be found at the surface in many regions— petroleum.

Verduria claims all of Sereor (the Serea valley) and the Kara desert, and sometimes mounts expeditions against bandits and smugglers, but its effective permanent control does not extend far past the river. There is also a region of the river whose nobles exercise a precarious but persistent independence; the chief city of this region is Muďuca.

The northeastern corner of the desert, the Novok plateau, has some intermittent water sources and thus a scattering of habitation. There is a difficult pass at the head of the Sfaic river which has been used by Dhekhnam as a corridor into the littoral— this was a factor in the establishment of its client state of Azgami— and is used as well by Verdurian spies (who are usually recruited from Érenat, for skin color reasons) to enter Dhekhnam.

Article begun by BGMan, largely rewritten by Zompist