The Lands of the South

**Summary:** A great desert that stretches from east to west for other a thousand miles, and is filled with ruins of an ancient civilization.

Nowhere else in Avemoria is as desolate and barren as the Kha-Ruud Expanse. The desert stretches for over a thousand miles, from the west coast to beyond Drakeheimer. Very few people live in the Kha-Ruud. Those that do are either nomads or people living in remote outposts along the massive roads that go through the desert. The roads themselves were built long ago, before the expanse was even a desert in the first place. Before the third era, an empire known as the Ruudian Empire, hence the name Kha-Ruud, had existed where the desert is now. It was more technologically advanced, and more powerful, than any other empires that had come before, and that had come since. The land had been very fertile as well, but for some reason in only a matter of years the land became unusable and dry, and within a few hundred years it became the desert it is now. The legends say that the great dragon conqueror Paranthor is responsible for the catastrophe. Whatever the cause, the fall of the Ruudian Empire and the creation of the Kha-Ruud expanse is what marked the beginning of the third era.

The ruins of the Ruudian Empire still stand today, and there are many stories of treasure hunters travelling to them. Some have become rich, but the majority have never been heard from again. As the legends say that the Kha-Ruud Expanse was formed unnaturally, there have also been many druids and followers of Yavanna, goddess of nature and life, who have travelled to the Expanse to try and bring back the fertile land that was once there. While many of the expeditions have ended in failure for them as well, a few have succeeded and allowed for small, self-sufficient agrarian communities to be formed. Some scholars suggest that there may be many more of these villages than is commonly believed, as the vast size of the desert means word of them wouldn’t always reach the other realms. Other scholars argue that the only places that such villages would be formed are on the main roads and near to the Great Plains.

### Inhabitants

Lizardfolk, Humans, Halflings, Dwarves, High Elves, Gnomes, Tieflings

**Summary:** A large marsh largely isolated from the rest of civilization chiefly inhabited by the native lizardfolk, and fishing villages composed of a myriad of races.

While the Kha-Ruud Expanse is desolate due to it being a desert, the Illium Marsh is desolate due to its poor location. Like Kha-Ruud, Illium was heavily populated before the third era, but since the collapse of the Ruudian Empire the distance between the marshes and the rest of the realms has been too great for trade or emigration to occur regularly. Unlike Kha-Ruud, however, Illium does have considerably sized populations of both native lizardfolk, and all kinds of races from around Avemoria.

The lizardfolk of Illium are reclusive and very detached from the rest of the continent, which is exactly how they like it. They’re cold and distant minds make them more like dragons and reptiles than other humanoids, meaning many don’t even attempt to incorporate themselves into other societies, let alone travel to the other realms. Some do try live with the other humanoids that live in fishing villages around Illium, though most keep to their own parts of the swamps. Due to their desire to stay away from other humanoids, conflict rarely occurs with the lizardfolk, though occasional skirmishes do occur.

One might wonder why there are so many different races living in small, isolated fishing villages in Illium Marsh. The answer to this is still debated, but the most widely accepted reasoning is the story the natives themselves tell. According to local legends, in the final years of the Ruudian Empire’s collapse, many of the higher ranking members of society tried to escape by boat across the sea, aiming for Vaalbara and hoping to recreate their empire there. Once the Ruudians arrived at the docks, which were in Illium, they found that there weren’t enough ships left for everyone. Those unfortunate enough to be left behind are the ancestors of those that currently live in Illium.