The Southern Wastes

“Beware the city dwellers, for they have the tongues of serpents, and their daggers are made of silver coins.”
—A Tamwar saying

The Tyr Region is rimmed by the Ringing Mountains to the west and the Sea of Silt to the east, but to the south is nothing but desert—a vast desert that never ends, as far as anyone knows. As one travels south from the shores of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, villages and outposts peter out to wild lands where only a few lonely nomads roam. Beyond that, the traveler comes to silent, empty lands where no one lives at all, and even the vicious predators that haunt the deserts of the Tablelands and the Ivory Triangle grow few and far between. These are the Southern Wastes, a desolate expanse that in all likelihood girdles the rest of the world.

The wastes have no verdant areas or oases large enough to support a city. In fact, the desert takes on a capricious, elemental character as one ventures farther south. Just as the Sea of Silt is an incursion of elemental power into the world, the Southern Wastes are home to other sorts of incursions: mazes of windcarved canyons, plains of smoking ash, forests of stone columns that drift with the gusts, rivers of fire, seas of salt, and more. Perhaps other populated lands like the Tyr Region exist somewhere beyond these terrible wastes . . . or perhaps not.

Southern Wastes Backgrounds

To the people of the Tyr Region, the far south is nothing but desolation and mystery, but the near margins of the great southern desert are home to nomadic tribes and small villages.

Secret Order: You belong to an elemental cult or a priesthood, a secret society that teaches reverence for the primal power sleeping in the world’s sand, stone, and sky. Perhaps you were brought to a hidden shrine as a child and raised there, or you might have met a wandering teacher or half-mad seer who tutored you in the power of the elements. Does your order have a high purpose, such as the restoration of Athas or the destruction of the sorcerer-kings? Does your order still exist, or are you the last member?

Tamwar Dervish: You come from the Tamwar, nomads who live on the edge of the Endless Sand Dunes. As a youth you were chosen to learn the ways of the elemental spirits and become a holy warrior of your people. Perhaps you left your tribe to seek your fortune in the wider world, hoping to earn great wealth in the civilized lands. Or maybe you are the last of your family, the sole survivor of a dark tragedy. Are you a mercenary or a scout for hire, ready to trade your desert knowledge for a few coins at a time? What do you think of the city dwellers you meet?

February 25th, 2021

Exploring the Southern Wastes

Much like the deserts of the Tyr Region, the Southern Wastes are the graveyard of ancient realms. Ruins dot this awesome expanse and seem to grow older the farther south one travels. Some sages claim that the peoples of the Tyr Region once lived in these lands and were driven northward century by century as the decay of Athas slowly enveloped the south.

February 25th, 2021