Plateau of Tsang

:Not to be confused with the Plateau of Sung in Burma.
The Plateau of Tsang is an area in central Tibet, now part of the Ü-Tsang region.Wikipedia, "Ü-Tsang." The location was incorporated into the Cthulhu Mythos by Frank Belknap Long in his novel The Horror from the Hills.
==Description==
The Plateau of Tsang is a remote region in central Asia that consists mostly of a cold, arid, thoroughly inhospitable desert. Among the men who died trying to cross it are explorers like Steelbrath, Talman, McWilliams, Henley and Holmes. Among the few who did manage to return alive is an American archaeologist named Richardson, who came across a cave in Tsang inhabited by Chaugnar Faugn worshipers, and guarded by faceless yellow creatures who also venerate the primordial elephantine deity. After days of torture, Richardson's endurance impressed the cultists enough that they allowed him to escape and return to America. He was followed by another explorer, Clark Ulman, who likewise managed to brave the plateau and find the cave, where Chaugnar Faugn fed on his blood. (: The Horror from the Hills)
Professor Harold Copeland, in his 1913 expedition to central Asia, crossed the Plateau of Tsang to get to the northern mountains, where he discovered the tomb of the Muvian wizard Zanthu (: "The Dweller in the Tomb", "Out of the Ages", "The Horror in the Gallery") who escaped the destruction of Mu. On September 24, 1913, Copeland wrote in his journal that "only poor Richardson and the unfortunate Clark Ulman have gone as far as I into this forbidden Tsang Plateau region". Copeland also noted the Plateau's dryness, utter sterility and incredibly ancient fossil strata with no sea life, suggesting that the region might have remained on dry land since Pre-Cambrian times. (: "The Dweller in the Tomb")
Water obtained from the Plateau's snows has a bad taste as if it was somehow contaminated (: "The Dweller in the Tomb"), forcing those who cross the desert to drink their own blood or that of their mount animals to survive (: The Horror from the Hills, : "The Dweller in the Tomb"). Copeland also reports having many encounters with the Mi-Go in this area (: "The Dweller in the Tomb"), but it's not known whether they correspond to the "faceless guardians" encountered by Richardson and Clark Ulman.
It is possible that the Plateau of Tsang might be dimensionally connected to the Plateau of Leng (: "The Dweller in the Tomb"), which the Necronomicon claims to be located in central Asia as well (: "The Hound", At the Mountains of Madness), but which might exist simultaneously in Antarctica (: At the Mountains of Madness) and the Dreamlands (: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath).
==Behind the Mythos==
The Tibetan region of Ü-Tsang is referenced in "The Last Test", by H. P. Lovecraft and Adolphe de Castro.
== References ==
Category:Locations Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Regions/Territories