The Ivory Triangle

“I strangled my owner with the leather rope that fettered me, and fled into the desert without food, water, or weapon. I nearly died. The Triangle is a hard land, and I may die yet. But I promise you that I’ll die free.”
—Tol Thamar, escaped mul slave

Lying in the center of the Tyr Region, the Ivory Triangle is a crossroads and a wasteland. Most of the area is desolate, home only to monsters and desert raiders, but it sits astride the trade routes from the cities of Raam and Draj in the north to rich Balic in the south. Every day, gigantic mekillot-drawn argosies and fleetfooted kank or crodlu pack trains make their way across the blistering salt flats. The rival city-states of Gulg and Nibenay are found in the Ivory Triangle; they lie in a narrow verdant strip along its northern edge at either end of the Crescent Forest—one of the last lowland forests on Athas. The sorcerer-queen Lalali-Puy rules as a goddess over the forest city of Gulg, and the sorcerer-king Nibenay, also known as the Shadow King, holds dominion over the ancient metropolis that bears his name.

The Ivory Triangle consists of the Great Ivory Plain and the surrounding lands. It extends from the North Fork of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue to the ruins of Giustenal on the Bay of Maray in the northeast and the Salt Meres in the southeast. Outside the verdant belt supporting the Crescent Forest and the city-states of Gulg and Nibenay, only a handful of small villages and outposts are scattered over this vast area. Most are forts manned by garrisons hired to protect mines, caravan stops, or other resources from raiding bands and monsters, and to repair any facilities that are damaged by storms. Battlefields and wrecked sites dot the landscape as well—some recent, others so old that no one remembers who fought there or why. In addition, the Triangle holds raider tribes, slave villages, haunted ruins, and other mysterious locales.

Ivory Triangle Background

People from all over the Tyr Region live in the Ivory Triangle; it has a reputation as an open frontier where you can make a fortune if you’re tough, smart, and handy with a blade. Mercenaries working for the merchant houses bring customs and beliefs from their homelands, which mingle with those brought by slaves from far-flung territories. Folk of all the civilized races roam the waste, and bands of halflings and thri-kreen can be found in the wilds.

Beleaguered Sentry: After spending years protecting a crumbling fortress from raiders, storms, and monsters, you set out to find a new life. Did you desert your employer, or did you part ways when your contract ended? Where did you serve? Did you make any allies or enemies? What will you do now?

Driven Bounty Hunter: You hunted slave and criminal alike, chasing down those on the run and bringing them back to face justice. Are you still in this business? If so, whom are you hunting now? What did they do to deserve your attention? If you aren’t bringing in fugitives, why did you stop?

Hardened Traveler: You have crossed the Ivory Triangle more times than you can count, each trip more harrowing than the last. Are you a merchant, a guard, an envoy, or a raider? Do you have any favorite or most despised stops? If so, what are they, and why?

Wanted in the Seven Cities: You have earned a death sentence that you can’t shake. With few places left for you to run, the Ivory Triangle seemed as good a hiding spot as any. How have you eluded your pursuers so far? What did you do to gain so many enemies? Have you worked with a raiding band, or do you hide under a false identity?

February 24th, 2021

Exploring the Ivory Triangle

The dominant feature of the Ivory Triangle is the Great Ivory Plain, a salt flat stretching for hundreds of miles. Although the flat is nearly uninhabitable, it offers travelers a smooth, level passage from one end of the Triangle to the other. Dune traders and nomadic tribes skirt out onto the flat to make good time, but they stay close to the edges so they can take shelter in the surrounding terrain when the sun hammers down on the glistening white plain.

February 24th, 2021