Dragon's Thorn
Sands hot enough to boil man and steel alike, populated by vicious creatures who scream into the night: "Light up the Forge!"
The summer brings the fires and the voices of those horrible dragon monarchs calling over the waves. Entreating their subjects to light the forges and begin the construction of horrific weapons of war. Weapons that hold the power of fire within and those that merely hold power. It is said that the king holds with him giants of fire to forge the greatest weapons of the plane. Yet to what end? To what end are these constructed? When will the tides that have been brewing on the thorn sweep out like the floods to end the reign of mortals on the Land of Sin?!The dim, grimy taverns of adventurers and travelers hold hushed stories of the low lying sands of the westernmost point of the Southern Desert. They say it is the most dangerous place in all the lands, known far and wide for the horrors of the summer floods. In the summer, Aegis knows of the floods hours or days beforehand as immense clouds of steam rise into the sky and blot out the sun as they rush inwards ahead of the water. The city of Cliffpass, mere miles away across the Strait, knows the nature of the Thorn. The glowing sands are said to bear beneath them lakes of magma. The mid-summer sands growing hot enough to melt boots as they wade through the mush. For the city of Cliffpass, the sun never truly sets; they are always warmed and given light during the darkest nights from the brightest sands. Some say that this glow can be seen as far away as Aegis, however, that’s not been proven to any degree beyond the musing of poets. The glow never lasts long, hitting the climax just before the floods rush up from the south. This landscape is battered by the floods like no other, while the Southern Floodlands may fill, the Thorn is completely wiped clean of life that doesn’t find refuge in the higher portions of the interior mountains. For once the first waves of the floods crash against the shores, the time to flee has gone the way of the orcs. Those waters never truly touch the sand instead it is turned to steam as they crash above it. The steam has no time to escape. Forming a protective barrier between the sand and the water and moving it faster than the waves ever moved in the sea. Creatures that survive and make their livings within the glowing sands often die en masse with the onset of these torrential floods. The rest having made their migrations to the hills that sprout from the center of the archipelago. Unlike the comparatively slowly rising waters of the Floodlands; the waves of the Dragon's Thorn are rarely abated by hills or other obstacles. The pure speed and wrath of the ocean pushing across the low-lying sands and down through the valleys of the Thorn, the steam powered waves crashing up against the foothills of the interior of the desert. Countless creatures that didn't move to high enough ground are killed by these waves mere hours after the first wave hits the shores of the desert. The foothills of the interior hills of the Dragon's Thorn have maze-like ravines carved into them by the boiling Waters of the floods, making traverse of the area quite dangerous. With sheer cliffs, brittle overhangs and deep tunnels under the hills, the rumors of the tyrant black dragon that serves as king of the Dragon's Thorn is nearly an afterthought to the dangers of the region. However, coupled with the inhospitality of the region, this king is said to rule with a cruel and iron fist that maintains order in the region. The region remains hellish even during the winters of the desert, the sand cooling enough to be affected by the intense winds of the area. The still heated sands becoming a whirlwind of sandstorms that are said to be capable of stripping the very scales from lesser breeds of dragons.
Geography
A desert archipelago showing what happens to areas that are exposed to the southern floods. This is the lowest coastline of the Southern desert and is flooded yearly as well. However, this area is far more mountainous and the local wildlife retreat to the mountains. This also contributes to an annual die off that keeps a most of these horrific creatures contained.Flora and Fauna
This has a high population of Dragons, Wyrms, and other feral beasts that have been driven back by civilization.Natural Resources
Rare animal hides and poisons are the biggest resources of this region.
Alternative Name(s)
The Thorn, Land of the Blinding Hammer
Type
Badlands
Location under
Contested By
Characters in Location
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