Alazarim Trade Confederacy
Anubast
Necropolis
Tribes of the Firelands
Crescent is a drier continent than most, and the location of the hottest desert on Therafim, the Silent Sands, though it is not without great areas of fertility and thriving life that dare to buck the stereotypes held by most non-natives to this continent. The people of Crescent are a strange mix of ruthless tribal violence, mercantile acumen, and religious fervor, the three acting to keep most of those on Crescent from slipping into extremes of behavior. Everywhere on Crescent, hospitality is vitally important, and all but the most vicious and barbaric of sentient races will acknowledge a call for hospitality, signified by a sharing of salt and water, creating a pact that none but the most wicked dare break.
Places of Note:
Valley of Tombs: A terrible, empty place in the middle of the Sea of Dust, where the dead of long ages past were buried. Once this long valley by the sea held a great civilization, its name lost to the sands of time, ruled by many races who lived and worked together in perfect harmony, and the land flourished. But then this cooperation became corrupted, and the people sought to cheat death through unnatural rites, so that they could live in their worldly paradise forever. As they ennacted unspeakable ceremonies, even the least of the citizens who chose to stay in this once thriving place became utterly corrupt, and the good and just fled or were sacrified. With the departure of those who might have saved the land, this great civilization faded into the dust, and the Sea of Dust sprang up in its place, its greatest city becoming Necropolis, though there are many tombs and smaller collections of residences for the dead and undead to be found everywhere. The only living sentient and civilized race that is known to thrive here, besides vermin and a few sickly human settlements populated by human cultists devoted to death worship, are jackal beastfolk, and their supernatural cousins the jackal lords. Because these beastfolk have made pacts with the undead that live in the Valley of Tombs, they are able to enact their holy rituals, and it is a common practice for them to bring the dead from all over Crescent, and sometimes the world, to find a place of proper burial in the Valley. The undead of the Valley of Tombs, many of them worshippers of the Nightmare King, are known to be active in the world, trying to spread the glory of undeath as far as they can.
Firelands: A large swath of seasonally fertile veldt, which expands and contracts with the Silent Sands to the south, growing larger and more fertile in the wet spring and winter months, when watered by rain and streams from the Sunset Range, and progressively smaller and more arid during the searing summer and autumn months. There are many groups of tribal nomads that live in this region, and a large and powerful gnoll population, though the catfolk-founded kingdom of Anubast is the dominant political force.
Terrain Features:
Sea of Dust: A vast, terrifying desert that runs up to the shore in the northwestern part of Crescent. While not terribly hot, the Sea of Dust is composed of fine particles, finer than most sand, which blows easily on the wind, creating storms that can choke any living creature that can blow up without warning at any moment, and which sucks up moisture faster even than sand, seeming to draw it right out of the pores of those who pass through. Nothing grows here, and nothing can, for the ground itself has been utterly blighted with the taint of evil. There is a very tiny sliver of fertile land found on the very edge of the coast, where some feeble human settlements manage to survive, but this is the end of life in the Sea of Dust.
Sunset Range: Mostly small, old, worn-down mountains run along the spine of Crescent, dividing its lands in half, and creating a natural barrier between Anubast and the Alazarim Trade Confederacy. These mountains have worn down so much from the winds that blow across the middle of Crescent that great mineral wealth is found closer to the surface there than almost anywhere else on Therafim. Thus, while this mountain range is not as rich as others, it provides its riches with far less effort. Gemstones are far more common on the easter side of the range, while precious metals, especially gold and silver, are more common on the western side, and mithril can be found throughout in surprisingly large (though still relatively rare) amounts.
Holy Spire: Autumn Land has many immigrant groups, and the Assaram School is one of them. The Old Man of the Mountain of Paradise Peak is almost constantly on the move from his new home on Autumn Land, to his old home on Crescent. The Holy Spire, the tallest mountain found in the Sunset Range, is the original mountain where Hassan founded his band of lethal assassins and ninja, and from which he and his successors still deal out death in the name of causes across the world. However, while the assassins of Paradise Peak on Autumn Land might take more seccular assignments, as suits the nature of that land, those on Crescent will not take an assignment unless it is tied to the workings of religion somehow. Seeing themselves as agents of the gods, these old school killers are implacaple and merciless once they have decreed death upon a target who has been deemed a danger to the wellbeing of the people and at defiance to the will of the gods. Former assassins may leave the Assaram School, and live out their lives in peace, but only so long as they never reveal anything of the secrets of Holy Spire. Those that do are quickly killed in a manner that makes it clear that the assassins of the Holy Spire do not take kindly to those who cannot keep secrets.
Silent Sands: A desert so hot and so dry that, even as adaptable as life can be on Therafim, only the most solitude-loving of dragons or incorporeal undead exist there for long. Many tribes of the Firelands consider it the ultimate challenge to make one's way across the Silent Sands alive, reaching the lush, fertile lands that lie beyond, which provide a good resting place for many before they begin the gruelling return trip to much glory and honor among their people. Many times in the past, aspirants desiring to be the king of Anubast have taken this challenge, making it into a great race, and even failing to win the race while still making it there and back across the desert is still considered a great achievement, worthy of high position in the court at Sekhmet.
