Stormlands
Compiled by Harlen Draeth, Sc. in 3201 IR and reviewed by the Council of the University of Ten Trees 23 Fors., 3202 IR.
Geography
The Stormlands are a desert in the center of the Principality of Akvakkion . Considered to be one of the most inhospitable regions in the known world, the area is dominated with constant lightning storms and a near-total lack of rain. The Hardwater River flows north through Mel's Gap from the Gem Mountains of Forsephion, moving rapidly and carrying a high concentration of salt and minerals. The river terminates in the Eye of the Storm, a large lake in the center of the Stormlands. The lake, unusually, drains into two rivers: the Lower Hardwater to the west, and Mel's Fork to the Northeast. These rivers border the Stormlands on the North, and they are bordered to the south and the sides by Avak's Spine to the west and south, and by the Valeridge to the south and east. These natural barriers seem to contain the lightning storms of the region to a specific geological region.
The Eastern Stormlands lie between the Hardwater River to the west, Mel's Fork to the north, and the Greater Valeridge to the east and south. While largely uninhabitable, small trickles of water that flow north from the Daleridge provide some additional sources of clean water to the Eastern Stormlands, and the lightning storms on this side of the Hardwater River are gentler. No definitive answer is known, but some scholars suggest that a magical nexus at the Eye of the Storm is the source of the magic and controls at least some part of the pattern of storms, while others suggest that (more plausibly) the gentler weather patterns of the Valeridge, compared to Avak's Spine, serves to temper the storms. Here, the terrain is primarily composed of black, sharp sand. The sand is blown into steep dunes by the wild winds that are constantly shifting. The only steady ground is at the base of the valeridge, where caves of black rock form some shelter from the winds and lightning.
While the Eastern Stormlands have a somewhat tempered climate, the Western Stormlands do not, and travel through this area is universally considered dangerous and foolish by seasoned explorers. The harsh winds from the tall peaks of Avak's Spine seem to intensify the lightning storms, and all of the snowmelt either runs into the swamp on the windward side of the range, or seems to disappear before flowing down into the desert. The ground here is composed of cracked, dry plateaus of rock and black glass, created when lightning strikes fuse the sand below.
Ecosystem
The ecosystem of the Western Stormlands is quite easy to describe: there is none. Nothing lives in the wretched wastes of glass and rock. If anything undiscovered does, it surely lives deep underneath the ground. Occasionally, various air and lightning elementals have been spotted at the borders of the area, suggesting that these unnatural creatures may dwell here, but nothing resembling natural life has ever been reported.
However, the ecosystem of the Eastern Stormlands is quite fascinating, and features an array of organisms that have specifically adapted for life in the harsh climate. Several of these (both plants and animals) have some degree of lightning resistance, and methods to remain rooted or quickly regain footing in the constantly shifting sand. The most amazing of these mutations are the horns of icpalin, which naturally act as lightning rods, described later.
The base layer of the ecosystem is formed by a few types of hardy plants, which cling to the ground and are seem to lack any necessity for water. (Some scholars of ill-repute claim that they draw water directly from the air. This, of course, is nonsense.) These plants are consumed by a variety of burrowing insects and small reptiles, as well as a handful of larger reptiles and mammals. The only reported carnivore is the burrowing sand snake, described in further detail below. While the species diversity of the Eastern Stormlands is relatively low (likely due to the lack of available resources), the species endemic to the region are highly specialized.
Ecosystem Cycles
For the most part, the ecosystem of the Eastern Stormlands is dominated by the flooding cycle of the Hardwater River. At the end of winter, the snowmelt in the Gem Mountains causes the water level in the Hardwater River to rise, flooding the low-lying areas of the Stormlands for miles inward. This submerges certain plants and animal dwellings, but is believed to provide essential water to the region that can be stored for long periods of time by the local fauna. However, some scholars believe that the lengthening flood cycles could eventually lead to the extinction of several endemic species.
The dry season, after the snowmelt ends, sees a steady reduction of water levels, until the Hardwater River, once of the fastest flowing rivers in the known world, is reduced to the size of a small brook by the time it flows into the Eye of the Storm. Despite the effect on the local ecosystem, somehow, the forks of the river leading out of the lake never seem to dry up. For this reason, much of the plant life of the Eastern Stormlands is concentrated along the edge of Mel's Fork.
Localized Phenomena
The storms which rage over the Stormlands, and their curious interaction with the river system and the Eye of the Storm has long been a curiosity of scholars. A number of theories have been proposed.
One claims that the area is the site of a portal to the Elemental Chaos, and the storms that blow across the land are indeed otherworldly. This portal is claimed to be high in the Spine of Avak, explaining why the storms begin relentlessly strong in the west and ameliorate as they travel eastward across the river. Some even say that this portal forms a gate to the Eternal Tempest, a plane within the Elemental Chaos where a great beast of primordial and evil air and lightning dwells. This beast seeks the destruction of the mortal plane, or at least to make the mortal plane more similar to its home, but its power is too diluted by traveling across the planes. Some occultists claim that those who serve the beast will be given great magical powers. The Holy Order of the Sacred Watchers considers this to be a potential generator of a new Dark Age, and maintains a monastery in the mountains as near as is safe.
Another primary theory claims instead that the isle at the center of the Eye of the Storm is a magical nexus, a focal point for energy from the Elemental Chaos to flow into our plane, created by some long-ago accidental spell or ritual. Perhaps this occurred simultaneously with the previous theory, and this nexus was created in an attempt to bring this great beast of lightning into our world. However, this theory does not explain the pattern of stormwinds, nor the sweet water of Mel's Fork, though it does explain why the central island of the Eye is unchartable and unreachable, which the previous theory does not.
Some scholars have also theorized that Mel's Fork is not a natural river, and instead the Eye of the Storm was created by powerful magic in ages past. The central ritual site could be the center of the lake, explaining the island and the clean water of the fork. However, residual magic could have created the Stormlands, or these could have been created by one of the other phenomena previously described.
It also remains to be discussed that the storm patterns could be entirely naturalistic, caused by interaction between the hot, dry winds rolling in from the deserts and down the leeward side of Avak's Spine and the Daleridge, and some type of mineral or soil in the earth below. The climate is inhospitable to geological studies, so while this theory appears implausible, there is no evidence from the site to refute it as of yet.
Fauna & Flora
The most well-known fauna of the region are icpalin (singular icpali), a type of small deer-like creature which stands, on average, three cubits in height, with a delicate frame. The creature is covered over in light gray fur, dappled with spots of white and black. This coloration provides it some camouflage from the sand snakes that hunt it. They have cloven hooves and are quite nimble at climbing the sand dunes of the wastes, even as they rise and fall. However, the most striking feature of the icpalin are their large horns, which appear to be made of the same black glass that dots the surface of the wasteland. These horns twist in spirals up to a cubit above the head, although the icpalin seem to have no trouble balancing with their horns. The horns develop during adolescence (at around six months of age) and continue growing throughout life. Notably, the horns act as natural lightning rods -- while the icpalin occasionally eat plants and bugs from the Stormlands, their primary source of energy seems to be using their horns to absorb lightning that would otherwise strike the ground. Explorers report that lightning is often seen flickering between their horns, and duels between icpalin release charged blasts of lightning in every direction. These horns are quite prized by alchemists, wizards, and artificers for their magical properies.
This now brings us to the discussion of that famous predator, the sand snake. Having no relation to serpents of any kind, the naming scheme is of uncertain origin. Rather, the snake snack appears as a large feline, black of coat, with head at the shoulders of a man, even six cubits in height. The beast is stocky of shoulder, but lithe otherwise. The beast appears somewhat as a mountain lion regularly, but when charged by the lightning of the surrounding region, the beast becomes charged and forms a large mane of lightning, appearing somewhat as hair, around the head, and its long and wicked claws become tinged with sparks. Notably, the beast uses these claws to burrow deep under the shifting sand dunes, and can appear out of the ground, grabbing prey in their beastly maw from below. They move nearly silent, and their main pray is the icpalin, whose lightning they absorb into their own manes. They seem to be of one sex, and spawn by shedding their manes of lightning, which seem to mingle with the black sands to form a cub.
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