SUNDUSK

The realm of Sundusk is surrounded on all sides by a great mountain range known by many names, but most broadly as the Duskrim. Within the Duskrim is the vast basin of the Ashlands. Civilization is almost entirely relegated to the edges of this desert, and most folk live in one of the Rim Cities in the foothills. Beyond this is the inhospitable Dune Sea, inhabited only by the Ashdrow nomads. At the center of the Ashlands are two volcanic peaks called the Searing Sisters, whose eruption devastated this land long, long ago, and at the foot of these are the Glasslands, known to the Ashdrow as "Get In and You'll Never Get Out."

The Duskrim opens only twice: once to the west in a narrow and dangerous mountain pass called the Gash, and again to the south-west by way of a wide tableland. Both of these offer passage to the sprawling jungles of Soulspear beyond. Across the mountains to the north and the east is only the sea.

The Duskrim

Colloquially just "the Rim." The outlanders of Soulspear call them the Ashkeepers, and revere them as the only barrier standing between the lush jungles and devastating ash. The Rimfolk know them as the Corona Range, or the Coronas, and often depict them in maps as rays of sunlight ringing the dismal Ash Wastes. The Ashdrow name for them means Arena.

The mountains are immense and brutal, and only the fiercest monsters and harshest of folk call them home, including orcs, goblins and giants. In the west, the orcish tribes have been united under one chieftain, who rules from the city of Orkhorum, overlooking the Gash.

The Rim Cities

There are nine major cities spread more or less evenly around the Rim. These city-states have been united within kingdoms and empires of ages past, but are most often independent and in varying degrees of enmity, rivalry and alliance. The Rim Cities include Seydaneen, Sarrakeen, Tatooeen, Ruun and Barsuum.

The Table

The Table is a vast steppe which spans or interrupts the Duskrim in the south-west. Resting above the Dune Sea, the land here is less arid and more lively, though still quite barren. Seydaneen and Sarrakeen rest in the foothills at opposite ends of the Table, and their competing claims to this territory have been the source of many conflicts across the ages.

The Table is the homeland of the Diba, hyenafolk nomads dedicated to hunting and destroying the Gnolls which roam the steppe. The Table is also populated by Thri-kreen.

Long ago, the Children of Lloth lived in great kingdoms of their own making. But war came and the kingdoms fell, and the Drow became fugitives in their own lands. When they needed her most, the Lady Lloth came to her children and rescued them from the Underdark. She guided them through the perils of the Duskrim and led them unto the Valley of the Dawn.

Yet as they neared the Valley, they were stopped by the mighty Ra Hoor, who was the companion of Soth. Lloth commanded Ra Hoor to go in peace, but when he refused, it is true that she slaid him. Having done so, the guided her Children into the Valley that they may build their kingdoms again.

When the Lightbearer discovered the death of Ra Hoor, he became furious. He came to Lloth on the twin peaks which survey all of the Valley and demanded his revenge. There the siblings did battle and the fate of Lloth was sealed. But truly no victory could quell the fury of Soth, so great was his love for Ra Hoor. He turned his ire upon the Children of Lloth and the Valley which she had promised them, devastating it in light and fire and ash.

Having done this, Soth returned to the body of Ra Hoor and cast a brilliant and fiery light upon it. He fashioned it onto his spear and thrust it into the heavens, so that all may see the glory of Ra Hoor and remember what was done to him. And the Drow were made to feel the light as punishment for the actions of their Lady.

And so great is the arm of mighty Soth that the Soul of Ra Hoor crosses all of the heavens before descending into the Netherworld. And every night, Ra Hoor must journey through the world of the Dead to be reunited with the Lightbearer. And every dawn, the Soul-Spear is thrust again into the sky.

And the people of Sundusk remember.

Many in the world believe that Lloth was merely defeated and banished from the World Above, but survives as the god of darkness, locked in a perpetual struggle with Soth, observed as the cycle of night and day. The people of Sundusk, however, know that Lloth was slain and is a dead god, unable to defend the realm from Soth's eternal fury.

After slaying Lloth, Soth took up her body and tore it to pieces, scattering it across the realm. In this way, Lloth was truly and utterly destroyed, and none could give her a new life in the world—as he had given Ra Hoor by creating the Sun. According to the Rimfolk, wherever Lloth's remains landed, there her people were born. And so, with the death of Lloth, the Drow were born not as one people but many.

The Ashdrow are a diaspora of dark elves who live in Sundusk. While "Ashdrow" generally refers to the nomadic drow of the Dune Sea—also known as the Ashlanders—many of their descendants have settled in the Rim—sometimes called "Rimdrow" to distinguish them from the nomads—and a few have left Sundusk entirely. All of these folk share a common ancestry, as the descendants of exiles fleeing persecution in the Underdark, and most believe in the Sun-Dusk myth as the shared story of their origin.

The Ashdrow nomads are mysterious to the people of the Rim, who consider the Dune Sea to be uninhabitable. How they survive and live is not well understood, although it is known that they rely on a deep understanding of Ashland ecology. Nomadic clans occasionally come to the cities to trade. While Ashdrow wares are admired and sought after, their most essential and valuable commodity is ash-salt, a mysterious substance of rare magical properties that is found only in the Dune Sea, and thus purveyed almost solely by the nomads.

As they have moved in and out of the Ashlands over time, leaving and rejoining their clans over generations, the Ashdrow have mingled with other races. As a result, even the most reclusive of clans consist of folk of diverse features and skin colors, ranging from shades of grey to deep browns and indigos to nearly jet black. Some Ashdrow clans even include individuals who are not drow or even elven. Ashdrow hair is typically light, and their eyes are often a vibrant red, the effect of generations of a diet rich with ash-salt.