The Kashora'an Desert

The Kashora’an Desert lies on the eastern coast of the main land mass on Diaemus. Three of Diaemus’s sapient species are found in the Kashora’an. Humans are live in nomadic tribes, small villages, and a couple larger cities such as Balho’dohr. Rachnyx have left extensive networks of caverns exist below the dunes, a remnant of the fallen Hrakilen Empire. Khyr, the former capital of the empire, lies beneath the rocky on the western end of the Kashora’an, and remains a powerful city today. Desert Skitches are a race of bipedal lizards. An average adult male stands around seven feet tall, and vaguely resembles a marine iguana. They have a thickset, heavy build. Desert skitches may seem sluggish and clumsy when seen on land, but this misconception is quickly abandoned when they are viewed in the water. There, they are in their element.

## Geography

**Bahlo'dohr**

Bahlo'dohr is a large, independent city state, a flourishing center of trade on the coast of the East Desert. Their biggest export is a silk derived from Rachnyx web, which can be dyed various vibrant colors. The silk is soft, smooth, and breathable. It is light, yet exceptionally durable. All these qualities are valuable assets in a hot climate. The method of creating this silk is a closely guarded secret.  Bahlo'dohran merchants trade with Khyr, exchanging foreign goods for thread. Many streets in Bahlo'dohr are shielded from the fierce sun by huge silk coverings, making the entire city look like a massive, colorful tent. Brightly colored silk catwalks hang between buildings, forming an intricate web, and it's quite possible to travel from one end of the city to the other without ever touching the ground. Locals often prefer taking these silkways, as the covered roads below are crowded with shops, markets, and foreign travelers. Those less familiar with the city might find the sagging, swaying motion of the silkways nauseating, but to those who call the city home, it's as comfortable as walking on solid ground.

**Khyr**

Once the capital of the Hrakilan Empire, Khyr is one of the oldest Rachnyx cities around. This sprawling network of tunnels and caverns is built around an immense cavern which houses the Chronicle. The Chronicle is a vast Speechknot, shaped like a huge hourglass, and represents an incredible wealth of information. The Rachnyx of Khyr continue to collect and add to the Chronicle, constantly gathering and exchanging information. Khyran Rachnyx use purple lumuoles and are master illusionists, weaving light and sound like threads in a web. They put this to use with careful precision, using their abilities to move about unseen and unheard, listen in on whispered conversations, and show others only what they wish them to see and hear. In many legends and myths, the hero must travel to Khyr, entering its dark pits in search of an answer to a vital question, providing a piece of information that’s essential to his quest.

## Flora and Fauna

**Dunestriders** resemble massive brown beetles, standing over three meters tall and eight meters long. There are cavities in base of their front legs which house colonies of blue lumuoles. These lumuoles grant the creatures the ability to sense the presence of water deep beneath the sand. When Kashora’an nomads are looking for water, they simply watch where the dunestriders dig. Local tribes rely on dunestriders in many ways, not just using them to find water, but also building huts from their shells and living off their tough meat. Domesticated dunestriders aren’t exactly common, but they aren’t unheard of either.

**Charbacks**
Medium-sized Ceratopsians, Charbacks earn their name from the colonies of red lumuoles imbedded between the plates on their backs, which are used to reflect excess heat back into the air. Enough heat is absorbed to maintain an ideal body temperature, but any excess heat is stored up and later released by their lumuole colonies, creating a powerful heat shield around the Charback. Charbacks have limited control over the intensity of this heat, increasing it when they feel threatened or lowering it when calm. Directly touching a Charback’s scales can cause severe burns, and even coming too close can be dangerous if their heat shield is flared. Domesticated Charbacks must be carefully trained to never flare their heat shields except when commanded to do so. Charbacks are often used as pack animals in caravans or ridden as mounts, though riding one requires a thick leather saddle. Charbacks have an additional use to caravans when the sun sets, providing welcome warmth during the freezing desert nights.