A terrible monster slumbers deep in the Endless Sand Dunes—the beast known as Herumar, the Sand Scourge. The creature resembles a seven-headed hydra of immense size, whose breath gives rise to scouring sandstorms. A cult of vicious elementalists worships Herumar, believing that blood spilled in the dunes slakes the elemental creature’s thirst and earns the cultists its favor.
South of Balic lie the Endless Sand Dunes, a wasteland that stretches for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles. It is the domain of the nomadic people known as the Tamwar, herders who struggle to survive at the outskirts of the dunes. In centuries past, the Tamwar gathered in plundering hordes to strike at Balic, Kalidnay, or Tyr, but no great leader has appeared among them in many generations. The Tamwar tell stories of ancient kingdoms buried under the vast dune sea—the homelands of their sacred ancestors. The nomads turn on outsiders who venture into their holy places.