The Desert of Lark'Hal
Rolling dunes of pale golden sands stretch on for as far as the eye can see. The desert region seems uninhabitable and the Dune Sea is, in fact, incredibly ruthless. Yet, as one glances over the rolling dunes, caravans, nomads, and individuals brave its rolling waves on the backs of camels or, more commonly, pulled by the famous sand seal. Despite the hospitality of the desert, the Dune Sea is not without forgiveness. Around the many oases scattered throughout, settlements and even cities have sprung forth. Pressure might bring about diamonds, but it is the harshness of the desert – the Dune Sea, the sand storms, and the blazing sun – that brings about the most brilliant colors, the most unique works of art, and a resilient people. And if I might make a suggestion to all of the traveling masses… The heart of the desert is more than worth the journey.
Overview
The Dune Sea, rolling waves of pale golden sands that stretch on for miles and miles, covers the majority of the region. While the Dune Sea shows no mercy to the unprepared traveler, it shows respect to those that respect it – who do not force it to conform to the wills of mortals, but who ride its swells without complaint even if they may change. Those who have grown up amidst the harsh desert know that although she may be harsh, she is not without forgiveness. She has granted those with the patience and skills the means to travel her rolling dunes. Camels and Sand seals are the most common method of travel, bringing visitors, travelers, merchants, and locals alike from the rocky terrain of Ragna or the forest-covered lands of Oshiv’Ran to the Heart of the Desert or to the eastern coast beyond.
While much of the region is mostly uninhabitable, various oases exist scattered through the dunes. It is here that various settlements, towns, and even cities have sprung up. Many such settlements are nothing more than a few buildings – a place for travelers to stop, restock, perhaps exchange goods, and spend a few moments in a shady respite. Others are small towns in their own rights with marketplaces, homes, bars, and even palaces or estates. One oasis has been converted in a sand seal paradise and the family that owns it provides the majority of the top performing sand seals for the professional sand seal racing leagues! Yet, the largest settlement of all is referred to as the Heart of the Desert. Serving as the capital of the region, it is a sprawling community with multiple marketplaces, a university, various performing halls, and a gorgeous palace, home to the genasi royal families. It is at the desert's heart that the majority of the people of Lark’Hal reside.
Despite the harshness of its land, Lark’Hal is the center of creation of all forms. As the sands and the Dunes shift with the flow of the wind, so to do the people of Lark’Hal. Groups of nomads roam the desert, traveling in caravans pulled by sand seals or, if you venture closer to the Sea of Moving Art, nomads have tamed massive dune dwelling leviathans. Regardless if one is nomadic or sedentary, the roaring dessert winds, grating sand, and hot sun destroy one's hard exterior and allow creative expression to thrive. The best creators and inventors often call Lark’Hal home or must express their gratitude for inspiration, at the least. For even if the world may change and shift like the sands of the Dune Sea, creation – no matter how short-lived – changes the foundation of the world all the same. Even if you only inspire one person, is that not one live changed?
Basic History
Long before the Calendar, the dessert was a vast, barren place and it is believed to be one of the last regions of Dremora to be settled. The nomadic tribes – many of which still exist in the present day – were the first to brave the desert's bitter wrath. In the earliest days, records and relics uncovered from and divulged by the Dune Sea reveal routes that linger on the outskirts of the desert, for there was still too much risk in venturing deeper into its confines. What permitted the early peoples of Lark’Hal to eventually brave the Dune Sea? To venture inward and uncover its hidden heart? Many of the nomadic tribes today claim to be responsible for the domestication of the sand seal, but no record survives to prove any one tribe’s claim over the other. Thus, it is generally assumed that all tribes contributed, in one way, shape, or form, to this pivotal shift in Lark’Hal history.
With travel into the Dune Sea now more feasible, people began to wander deeper into the Dunes. Although harsh, unforgiving, and always changing, to one who knows how to respect the desert and navigate it, they offer a degree of protection from those who do not. Over hundreds of years, some nomadic tribes settled down around small oases, building up small farms, settlements, and trading posts for their nomadic brethren as they passed through. According to legend, the entire desert was considered the Sea of Moving Art at this time. Travelers would create markings in the sand, arrange stones in intricate patterns, or leave an offering of pottery, textiles, or jewelry in the hopes of gaining Lark’s attention and blessing as they travelled across the desert. Every now and then, one can uncover a piece of ancient art if you are lucky… or perhaps, it's more appropriate to say "if the Dune Sea is feeling generous".
The history of the founding of the Heart of the Desert is difficult to discern from surviving myth and legend. One myth holds that the boundary between the material planes and the elemental ones were once blurred. Lark, the God of Creativity, is said to have harnessed the energy of each elemental plane to imbue the spark of the elements into some of his followers and thus creating the genasi. Once the elemental planes were separated from the material once more, these followers of Lark founded the Heart of the Desert and became the first of the royal genasi families. Another myth holds there once was a great Sivat, a sand leviathan of unimaginable size, who tired of the grating of the sand. They dug a channel through the Dune Sea and then spun round and round until they had created a massive pit in the sands. There, the great Sivat called out to the rain. It is said that Lark took pity on the creature and permitted a torrential rain to occur over the desert. The great Sivat felt the sand wash from their form. So content was the Sivat in the cleansing feeling of water that it drifted into a peaceful sleep… as the water continued to rise and rise. They say that the bones of the Sivat still exist at the bottom of the Oasis where the Heart of the Desert thus sprung forth. A sacrifice to bring water and nourish the desert’s heart. Regardless of which founding myth one believes, a group of nomadic tribes eventually discovered and settled around the large Oasis, building up the settlement into a the burgeoning city that it is today.
Although located in the most prosperous area in the Dune Sea, the development of the Heart of the Desert took many, many years. The desert city relied heavily on trade form Oshiv’Ran in order to obtain food staples needed to survive and thrive. However, the desert city benefited most from trade with the City of Fortune. Like an artistic patron, the city of Fortune delighted in the textiles, art, and performers that the Heart of the Desert produced and were more than happy to provide gold and funding to encourage more and more of such crafts. Without the City of Fortune, the Heart of the Desert would have withered and died.
Thus, when the Dread King’s War began, the royal genasi families were initially torn on how to proceed. Did they abandon their closest ally? Or did they rally an army and declare war on the other nations? For the beginning of the war, Lark’Hal remained distant from the conflict. They were a desert nation, after all. What could they provide? That is what their leaders asserted. Eventually, however, Queen Zephyra chose to side with the rest of the continent. Some historical accounts claim that the Queen’s decision was made in the hopes to secure peace for the continent. Perhaps, if Judas’ greatest ally joined the opposing side, the people of Judas would rise up against the tyrannical Dread King. Other accounts, however, cite another motivation: Greed. The Heart of the Desert had grown in many years and many believed that they no longer required the patronage from the City of Fortune. Perhaps, if they were to defeat the Dread King, the Heart of the Desert could replace Judas as the City of Great Fortune. Regardless of the reasoning, Lark’Hal formally chose to oppose the Dread King, though not all of the nomadic tribes did so.
In the aftermath of the Dread King’s War, the Heart of the Desert and the region of Lark’Hal continued and, regardless of intent, did replace the City of Fortune. Once Elios began to close its borders, there was no questioning the place of prominence and prestige that Lark’Hal held, particularly in the East.
Politics
The Heart of the Desert, Dune Sea, and rest of the region of Lark’Hal are overseen and ruled by a monarchy. Power, however, is not transferred from parent to offspring, though this is possible and has occurred in the monarchy’s history. Rather, when it is time for a new monarch – upon the current monarch’s death or being deemed unsuitable for continued rule – all members of the royal genasi families are called, per their political duty, to vote for the next in line to the throne. In the interim, the three other major political positions: The Prime Minister, First Advisor to the Monarch, and High Dremoran Council rep share rulership. To avoid one family gaining too much power, the family that currently holds the position of monarch can not hold the Council representative, Minister, or Advisor positions, though they may hold smaller political positions.
Economy
Although Lark’Hal primarily relies on the import of various foodstuffs, it does produce a variety of foods unique to the desert: prickly pears, cacti, and other unique products that are often exported or used in Lark’Hal to create drinks, medicines, desserts and foods, or even paints and other materials for artistic expression. Textiles are a particular large export from Lark’Hal and trade between Carmenthia and the desert often consists of an exchange of dyes. While the desert does export some pigments and paints, their most pristine line of paints – commonly referred to as The Muses – are reserved for Lark’Hal artists only and, even still, are often only used by the genasi royal families. Artistic works painted with The Muses are said to be more life-like and imbued with various, almost mystical properties.
The rare Sivat and certain sub-species of sand seals are known to grow ivory tusks, which is often harvested to create jewelry and other items. While poaching is an issue, the almost sacred position of the sand seal has resulted in vary strict laws with very severe punishment for any caught poaching. The Sivat, however, has not been as lucky and their numbers have dwindled as a result.
Many locals often make a living serving as guards or guides for merchant caravans, assisting them in navigating the Dune Sea. However, the lifeblood of the Lark’Hal economy is creative expression: artistic pieces, performers, writers, and more. Entertainers of all kinds thrive here.
People
Lark’Hal is a melting pot of people and different races. It is quite common to find individuals who share features of a multitude of races and simply shrug if asked what specific race they might be. Is it really necessary to confine oneself to a narrow box? Does it really matter all that much? There are more important things to consider than whether or not you are 40% elf or only 20%. Each individual is their own person with their own unique potential to create and inspire, whether they be humans, tabaxi, gnomes, lizard-folk, half-elf, or some unknown combination of some or all of those races.
That said, there are some who do care about lineage and pedigree: the royal genasi families. Being able to prove a pure, elemental lineage is paramount to one’s chances of ever achieving a high-standing political position. Arranged marriages are incredibly common and illegitimate children or those born of non-elemental races are often looked down upon, unless born from a political alliance with another region (i.e. the noble elven families of Varoona).
Although most people reside in settlements around oases or the larger Heart of the Desert, there are many who still adhere to a more nomadic lifestyle. One of the most notable groups is the Bhediya. This, however, is more of a unifying banner under which multiple smaller tribes are places. For much of the year, the smaller tribes move about independently, moving from oases to oases to the Eastern shores all the way to the borders of Oshiv’Ran and Ragna. In the winter, they often gather around an oasis of the grandmother’s choosing, forming a huge tent city amidst the Dune Sea. It is only in these months where all of the tribes become one.
Religion
Over the years, the understanding of Lark and his domains as a deity has changed considerably and the visualizations of the god have changed accordingly. Like the dynamic nature of the Dune Sea, Lark does not seem to linger in one form long and, as time continues, he seems to prefer looser, ambiguous forms. Some of his High Priests and Priestesses have taken to referring to Lark as more of a concept than a tangible deity like the other members of the pantheon.
In practice, religious worship of Lark is a unique path that every individual must discover. Developing one’s inner creativity is the most personal, deep, and beautiful worship of Lark. One does not need to be the most well-known bard, the most eloquent poet, or the most nimble of acrobats to worship Lark. A child’s first finger painting on the walls of their parents’ home is worship to Lark. A poem without structure, rhyme, or reason that conveys the deepest emotions of the heart is worship to Lark. Like Lark’s visualizations, there is often no easily tangible or definable form of worship besides… create.
One of the few formal forms of worship to Lark, however, is a pilgrimage or contribution to the Sea of Moving Art located just outside of the Heart of the Desert. It is said that Lark resides, drifting from piece to piece and watching as they are engulfed by the Dune Sea. Miraculous works of art – deeply inspired, boldly colors, and imbued with impressive detail – are simply consumed by the desert. It is a reminder that everything is fleeting. The artist and their individual works may be lost to time… but the impact they had remains. You should not fear the temporality of your contributions. You should only fear not doing anything at all. For even the smallest, most minute contributions can make an impact.
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State
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Related Reports (Secondary)
Queen Zephyra of the Air Genasi
Sivat – Sand Leviathan
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