The Illuminated Southern Regions

Our maps are all lies, or at least they are distortions of the real world. They tell a story, but not the truth, if that makes any sense? Think of it like this...
When you look at a map, what you're seeing isn't the real world, but an approximation of the real world, right? So, just suppose you were the person in charge of making the map, and you decided that you wanted to draw it 'this' way instead of 'that' way, right? So now you've got a map that tells a story, only it's not just any story; it's the map-maker's story. And let's say that this map-maker wanted to trick everyone who saw the map into thinking that the whole world was really smaller than it is. Who would know? Who would know about all of the space outside of the map? Would you? Would anyone?
That's what I think when I see the maps of the so-called "Illuminated Southern Region"... 'southern' to what? What's out there beyond the edges of the map? Is that where the real world is?
I don't know. I think I'll just keep drinking until I believe the map-maker's story. Want one?

Lightsman Alia Ghensi, unbonded out of Thalinspire

Geography

While much of the border of the Illuminated Southern Regions is rugged and mountainous, the interior and along the coast is largely composed of rolling hills and grasslands. After the coming of the Dark, much of the vegetation that covered the land has died, turning what once were forests and prairies into endless wastes of dust and sand. Now, the only greenery to be found lies within the sheltered areas beneath the spires and lamps. In these oases are forests, meadows, marshes and bogs, rocky hills and the occasional badland of stunted trees and blue-green sagebrush.
The region is frequented by vast dust storms and occasionally by heavy rains. Some unknown arcane process regulates the temperatures of the region, meaning that it rarely grows too hot or too cold, though it can go uncomfortably either way. The Spires are tall enough to generate their own small weather patterns, and it's not uncommon for light rains to fall from the clouds that gather around the massive towers.
For the most part, the region might be classified as temperate, though as one moves south, the air grows hotter and more humid, and the vegetation grows thicker.

Fauna & Flora

There is a surprising variety of life in the region, thanks largely to cultural attitudes about the importance of species conservation. Humans in the region rarely hunt for anything other than sustenance, and even then their hunts are highly ritualized. When meat is consumed, it usually comes from giant cave salamanders farmed in large numbers in many of the small communities throughout the region. There is also fish, fowl, and occasionally beef or pork, though such items are considered rare.
Plant life is incredibly varied, with hundreds of species of fungi and thousands of species of plants, trees, and food crops to be found. There also appears to be some sort of mutating effect that has been observed in some plants that grow in the deep Penumbra, and occasionally aberrant traits will find their way into nearby crop fields, with unpredictable results.

Natural Resources

The region is rich in both natural and artificial resources. Minerals and stone are mined from the mountains, while the many ruins in the region provide copious amounts of concrete and reclaimed metals. Dawnglass, while uncommon, can nevertheless be harvested from the ruins. The region also produces wood, and large amounts of vegetables, fruits, and other edibles.

Alternative Name(s)

Spirelands, the Known World

Type

Region

Note: Though the average citizen of the Southern Illuminated Region knows little about the world beyond, some of the more learned scholars of the region do. They know that theirs is not the only place where spires stand in profusion or where humanity might yet thrive. There are other continents, and whole other cultures who are separated by vast distances, and who might never set foot anywhere within the Southern Region.