Geography of The Dark Ring

Average Dark Ring desert has short, moist, and moderately warm summers with fairly long, cold winters. The mean winter temperature is between 20 to 34 degrees fahrenheit and the mean summer temperature is between 70-82 degrees fahrenheit.

The winters receive quite a bit of snow with snowfalls in excess of 1 foot being common. The soil is heavy, silty, and salty. It contains alluvial fans where soil is relatively porous and drainage is good so that most of the salt has been leached out.

The plants are widely scattered. These cling to life wherever they can but prefer sticking to shaded areas or underground caves. Many species have evolved to retract their leaves and stem beneath the ground during turbulent weather. The main plants are deciduous and more or less contain spiny leaves.

A vast majority of the animals are burrowers. Several lizards do some burrowing and moving of soil. Even the Rael Deer, the only species of deer native to the Dark Ring, burrow into the soil. Their shovel-like antlers are perfectly suited for scooping away the sand and allowing them to dig for their favorite food, tumors.

Across the Dark Ring the deserts are covered in dark gray sand. This sand, made from crushed igneous rock, is extremely fine. Sometimes after a storm the sand is blown into waves giving it the look of an endless gray ocean.

Flayer Wastes

Far to the West of the Sea of Screams is the flayer wastes. These lands are characterized by red plateaus, composed largely of oxidized ore, that rise from the flat gray sand. Other than the plateaus, there is no cover for miles. Explorers have reported a severe lack of water or natural fauna.

This is due to the mind flayers. They have built great hives inside the numerous plateaus of the wastes. Any animal is quickly picked off by a hunting party. All water was drained below ground long ago with the mind flayers using it to lure unsuspecting travelers.

While the mind flayers wish to expand, the combined might of Doud and the garrison at Bakar limit their raiding capabilities. If one of these two were to fall, the mind flayers would have free access to the Sea of Screams.

Gray Peaks

Separating the Desert of Ash from the rest of the Sea of Screams, the gray peaks are an ancient mountain range. Rounded and snow capped, the peaks mark the separation between civilization and the apocalyptic lands of Doud and the flayer wastes. Undead have been known to have a strong presence in the mountains, particularly during the winter months when the lands are at their darkest.

Pallid Desert

While most of the Dark Ring is covered with gray sand, the pallid desert possesses white sand. This startling shock of color is thought to have occurred due to a massive shift in the Ring’s landmass a myriad prior. Large quantities of sedimentary rock were thrust to the surface. This has left the pallid desert with its pale white color, sand perfect for digging through, and an abundance of natural resources below the surface. Rare minerals, ores, and even natural gas deposits are plentiful throughout the desert.

Red Forest

Toward the East below the Veld Gale mountains lies the red forest. This area of land, covered in Garnet Beech trees, is a shock of color on the gloomy Ring. The leaves of these trees possess deep red leaves year round. Within the thick underbrush live the tabaxi. The red forest is their ancestral home with dozens if not hundreds of scattered tribes living within. Many of these tribes are not friendly and will hunt any creatures, including humanoids, that dare enter their domain.

Sea of Screams

While many would assume the body of water would be a lake, the Sea of Screams is in fact a sea due to it being saltwater. This has puzzled scholars due to the sea’s tributary rivers being all fresh water and the Thonis River, which the Sea of Screams drains into, also being fresh water. To this day, nobody knows where the salt comes from or why the Sea of Screams contains almost zero flora or fauna. Some suggest the sea is cursed while others suggest that the Dark Ring’s low magic properties might naturally turn all water salty over time. Both of these theories are not well respected.

Thonis River

The Thonis River provides life to the region. Stemming from the Sea of Screams, the Thonis flows southward until it drops off the side of the Dark Ring. Every year the river floods out of its banks leaving behind rich natural nutrients. This flooding provides exemplary farming land for those that inhabit the river’s banks. It is an oasis in the otherwise gray desert of the Rings. Many believe that without the Thonis River, there would be no life south of the Sea of Screams.

Veld Gale Mountains

Like the teeth of a great dragon, the Veld Gale mountains rise from the Dark Ring. On top of their highest peak sits the legendary dwarven monastery of Eydenwald Darkseer. This is a secret monastery known only to the elite of the dwarven race and investigative scholars (like myself).

The Veld Gale are characterized by their sheer cliff sides and constant shaking which makes scaling the peaks often impossible for any but the most ardent aether souls. There is a break in the Veld Gale, created long ago by Eshai the Pious in an act of great engineering, known as the Eshai’s Crossing. It is the only known safe avenue to pass through the Veld Gale. Other routes to circumvent the mountains take a traveler perilously near the flayer wastes or deep into Signoria lands controlled by the Nyx. Either option is not desirable.

In recent years, scholars have begun compiling a series of interesting reports about the Veld Gale. It appears that the High Gods are active far more than average on the mountain’s cliffs. Disciples, travelers, clerics, and the non-believers alike have reported a three-thousand percent increase in High God contact upon the mountains. Most of these contacts occur during the Autumn season near the Autumnal Equinox.