The Snakecoil Mountains
The Netherworld
Shady Sands
Undersands
Oasis
Copper Hills
The Vault
Vitropolis
Necropolis
Windstead
Thunderhill
Dungeons
Downward Spiral
Temple of Nine
Purple Citadel
Imagine a world with a hot searing sun. Imagine a desert where water is the most valuable thing there is. Imagine critters that have to survive in this harsh climate. They are the toughest of their kind, vicious and predatory, because that's the only way to live.
...
In this world, there are no gods. No one to pray to and ask for help, no one whose name you can curse, no one to save you from your miserable existence. There's no heaven to go to when you die, no beautiful afterlife that compensates you for your misery in life. Most of the spirits of the deceased linger in this world, trying to realize that they're dead. These spirits, your ancestors watch over you, as does Father Mountain, who gives you shadow to protect you from the sun, and the Wise Snake, who teaches you to be patient when hunting and to strike hard and fast when your prey is near.
...
In this world I was born, son to a blind mother, heir to a dried out piece of land. Although my mother couldn't see this world, she could see the next. The spirits were strong with her. When she died on a sad morning, her body became a dried out husk. Her spirit still stayed with me at our home, it comforted me. She watched over me when I slept and guided me while I worked.
...
She didn't want me to leave home but, when the critters came, I had to. She understood. The critters would have killed me and although mother assured me that death wasn't the end. I still wasn't ready to die, I still wanted to learn, I still needed to grow.
...
I've heard of a place, more to the south and the west. A grand city called Shady Sands: a promising name. How I long for the feeling of shadows on my face. I long to see other people but mother warned me: These people might not understand the way of the spirits and the sand. But I keep on hoping, for without hope, this world would even be deader than it already is.
- Shihotek
A pretty rough map of the known world.
There are five notable areas in this world: the badlands of Yaloor, the Snakecoil Mountains, the Ragged Mountains, the Rock Desert and the Deep Desert. The badlands of Yaloor are situated in the top left corner of the map and can be seen in the pictures section. The Snakecoil mountains is the mountainrange on the left hand side of the map and are visitable through the sidebar. The uppermost mountains of the map are called the Ragged Mountains, very little is known of this barren area.
The Rock Desert is, despite what its name implies, not all rocks and sand. It is in fact dotted with several fertile spots, small waterholes that provide some relieve against the ceaseless drought. Farms where once not so rare a sight in the Rock Desert. However, of late more and more of these little farms are found uninhabited, its occupants claimed as prey in the seemingly endless struggle between desert and mankind. The desert moves on, claiming more and more of this prairie-like plain as its own, creating more drought and misery in this already desolate place. Wandering through the rock desert can lead you to many interesting sites, ruins from an age long past, that might hold answers to the questions that keep you awake at night.
The same remains of an ancient civilization can be found in the Deep Desert, a desert worthy of its name. Inhabited by gigantic monsters, almost unfathomable in size, the Deep Desert is a dangerous place. Buried beneath the silent sands of the desert are the greatest riches known to mankind, guarded by the greatest creatures known to mankind: Worms and turtles and the occasional dragon. Few people have traveled here, which means two things: All the riches that where here still are and... this really is a dangerous place.
Will someone ever pierce the veil of mystery that covers this enigmatic place?