You are standing on the edge of a desert, unbearably hot and forbidding. Waves of heat shimmer and dance before you. You can almost believe you witness the beginning of Ah'hirak, the creation of Vulcan itself. In the distance the L-Langon Mountains crouch, dark and mysterious. If you are Vulcan, the oppressive heat and gravity do not bother you. If you are of another race, be sure you are wearing adequate clothing and eye protection, and carry plenty of water. Although the city walls of ShirKahr do not lie far behind you, the desert is unforgiving of mistakes.

Hungry plants and the le-matya roam freely in the desert, looking for an easy meal. It is not long until dusk now, you imagine you feel the heavy air cool slightly. You set your sights on a distant purplish rock formation, and begin to walk that way, formaji sliding and rolling underfoot. After a short, exhausting walk, you reach the rock outcropping and climb up to the top, sinking down to rest, panting.

Dusk is within reach, and you wait, breathless, for the reason you have braved the desert. To watch T'Khut rise in all her glory.The air is definately cooling and you sigh in relief.

As the sky darkens and becomes speckled with khiori, a glow permeates the horizon. Kas'khiori flash across the black velvet above you. As you wait, the glow intensifies, then T'Khut edges over the horizon majestically gold and shining.

At first you are awestruck by her beauty, then comes the nervous fear that she is too close, that the great orb of misshappen rock will fall from the sky and crush you! Then T'Khut rises farther, and the fear dissipates as you marvel at her beauty. There is nothing to compare.

Then you look back the way you came, and see the distant lights of ShirKahr flicker and beckon in the distance. It is dangerous to stay on the desert with T'Kuht on the rise. So you take a last look at the desert, eerie in T'Khut's light, and prepare to make your way back to the security of the city walls. It is time to return to ShirKahr. This journey has ended. Others will follow.
 

Historians who have studied the development of ShirKahr believe the city was sacked and rebuilt dozens of times during its history. Each invader made his own mark on the city, changing some areas and often obliterating any signs of the previous ruler.

Of all the conquerors and invaders who sacked ShirKahr, only under the teachings of Surak, did ShirKahr truely prosper and begin to develop into a powerful city.  Once the teachings of Surak took hold,  and Vulcans devoted their energies toward the sciences and the arts, ShirKahr expanded from being just a strategic target to its present  day setting as the foremost Vulcan city.

Today Shirkahr is where the greatest artists and thinkers on Vulcan work and live, including many who have come from different parts of Vulcan and the Federation to see the new things that are being created. Of all of Vulcans cities, Shirkahr receives the most offworld and Vulcan tourists. While many come to see the variuos works of art, or debate in the great lecture halls of the Science Academy, others come to see the past, to remind themselves or show their children what life was like before Surak and the Awakening. Shirkahr's varied past and its explosive growth after the Awakening has left the city divided into many quarters and neighborhoods, some still separated by walls built millenia ago, others with modern gravrails running through them.