The Shaarwood lies just north of the River Shaar, about equidistant between Shaarmid and the Landrise. Unlike most of the forested regions of the Shaar, the Shaarwood is a dry, dusty woodland, and its trees have been twisted and stunted by the eternal winds that blow across the grasslands. The Shaarwood is composed mostly of cedar and oak, interspersed with plenty of cactus, razor-sharp grasses that grow chest-high to a human, and thorny shrubs that slash and scrape any creature that tries to pass through them. The ground is hard-packed and arid, suitable only for lizards, snakes, scorpions, and ground squirrels.
The nomads of the Shaar occasionally come to the Shaarwood to harvest some of the peppers that grow. in abundance there, which they use to season their food. Some also attempt to gather berries from the thorny bushes, though doing so is hot, tiring, bloody-fingered work. The forest is completely unsuitable for the nomads' mounts because the grasses are unpalatable to the horses, and the underbrush can quickly turn a rider's legs into raw meat without proper protection. Even the horses are susceptible to scratches and cuts from the razor grasses that grow here. Bandits occasionally hide out in the Shaarwood for brief periods, some, to avoid capture and others to rest between raids on the caravan route just to the south of the woodland.