Encyclopaedia Elyden Updates #23 - the Umbra Sokhar (Patreon)

Here's the 23rd Encyclopaedia update for your perusal, based on the map of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. This is a long entry (around 10,000-words, so you may want to use the attached PDF for ease of reference.

Please let me know what you think and let me  know if there's any mistakes or typos as these entries are heading straight to the Encyclopaedia at the end of the month :)  

You can keep up with these entries by looking for the  'Encyclopaedia Entries' tag.  

If you have any queries about any of the following entries, please don't hesitate to ask :)

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ABCESS WASTES, the: Atramental wasteland in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. It is noted for its vile stench and tar-like substance that covers everything in the region. Explorers have described a maw-like cave that rots in the middle of a grotesque hill, like a hollowed out cadaver. 

AELLO, THE GODHEAD: ancient monument, commonly known as a godhead,  of mystic origin that takes the form of a gigantic stone head in the Umbra Sokhar in the N–E of Kharkharadotis. Like so many of Elyden’s ancient edifices, there is little that can today explain the strangeness that is the Godhead.

Aello is more than a colossal head, as it is regarded as a semi-aware abomination that locals revere as a dei. out of fear. The Godhead lies on the ground at an angle, as a decapitated head would, the stone in its neck soft and soap-like and weeping a pungent liquid that can only be described as sap or blood. Its humanoid features only serve to make the edifice, whose origins are unknown, all the stranger, as do the unique trees and creepers that grow about it. The wood from those unholy plants is used by its worshippers in divine rituals, where resins produced by the sap are burnt. Those who breathe in the smoke are said to converse with the Godhead, hearing portentous words. See Vol IV: the Gods and Religions of Elyden.

AHRAMA: 7 ruined 5-sided pyramids in the far S–E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea. Little is known of the culture that built them or later adopted them as their own, though what treasures the ruins once contained have long-since been plundered. Various half-sunken and colossi made of a corroded metallic substances echo the culture of their unknown creators.

The pyramids themselves vary greatly in size, averaging around 500-feet in hight, with the smallest some 100-feet high, and the largest, Malra, possibly taller than 1,000-feet.

ALLAIKONSAGGO: fantastical region in the S of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. The region takes the form of a multi-levelled labyrinth hewn from the granite bedrock of a highland plateau to the E of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. that serve as a border between the Kharkharadontid desert nad the Umbra Sokhar. 

The labyrinth, which covers some 100-square miles and is rumoured to lead into the depths of the Prison Carceri, is attributed by scholars to the stillborn Demiurge Ryhassharauch and is said to have been created in a fever-dream in the First Age of Mortal Life. No-one who is known to have entered the labyrinth has emerged. 

ALYSMIA: small fortified city in the W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea. The city is a protectorate of the city of Kadota and is a major source of troops, who train in the harsh terrain E of the city (Pop. c. 18,000).

ATHOT KHO: tribal settlement in the N of the Umbra Sokhar, around 80-miles S of the Karakhasid city of Kithaloi. Its leaders are adept Atramentists and they maintain lose contact with the Korachani enclave of Tagagnach (Pop. c. 3,000).

ATUM: 1. Small city in the W of the Umbra Sokhar, and a protectorate of the city of Kadota. His. it was renowned for its alchemists, who studied the effects of the Atramenta on the Material plane, and whose shapers were manipulators of the tainted regions of the Umbra Sokhar. Today it continues its tradition of alchemical research, and its scholars are amongst the most knowledgeable with regards to the Umbra Sokhar (Pop. c. 15,000). 

2. In the above city, a rank of scholar that is held in high regard, many individuals of which become individuals of power.

BASAL DEPTHS: steep canyon, over 100-miles long, forming part of the larger Ndephara system. The Basal Depths are unnaturally deep and appear to have been formed long after the r. Spicia ran dry in the area. The cliff-faces are hewn into doorways and tunnels in which live degenerate saurholms shunned even by their own kind, who normally worship the sun, from which they draw strength. 

BLIND TOWER, the: Old Korachani citadel in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea. It is a relic of imperial colonialism from a time when the Shadow in the Desert was not as pronounced as it is today.

It was once used to guard the now-abandoned trade route between Kithaloi in Karakhas, and Noavatur in the far S - E of Kharkharadontis. The tower was abandoned in c. 2100 RM following years of struggling with siphon filters to keep it free of corruption. Its abandonment signalled the start of the waning of the trade-route linking Korachan with its colony in Noavatur, which by then had become an independent ntn. 

BOTHAMMAT:  fortress in the region of Cataflaque in the N of the Umbra sokhar, situated along a rise in the N-foothills of the Caton Mtns.   

BUCCELLARIA: small fortified city in the N of the Umbra Sokhra. It maintains a tentative trade-route with the S of Karakhas (Pop. c. 18,000).  

CALIGA: r. in the W of the Umbra sokhar wastes, flowing for 275-miles from sources in the Sahodom Mtns. before meeting its distributary, the r. Spicia, at l. Kadota. 

CALIGO MARSHES: fetid marshes along the course of the r. Caliga in the W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes.

CATAFLAQUE: major city in the N of the Umbra Solare wastes, in the N of Sammaea. Like most cities in the Umbra Solare, it has a metropolitan populace, with humans, etheri, plagi, and shie all calling it home. Despite this, it is known for its distrust of outsides and xenophobia of foreigners. It operates numerous zinc and lead mines in the surrounding lands, which it trades with other regions, through official trade chargers that allow foreign merchants within its walls (Pop. c. 150,000). 

CATON: Mtn. range in the c N - W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. It has been a source of lead and zinc for many centuries, and most such mines are operated by the city of Cataflaque.

CHUMBRAIA: current name for the once-fortified city in the N–W of the Umbra Sokhar. It was once a fortified outpost of the empire, though due to the encroachment of the Shadow in the Desert, it was abandoned in c. 2840 RM after decades of trying to abade the advance with siphon engines.

The Shadow March once passed through the city, which served as hostelry to pilgrims, though the route has since moved away from the ruin, which is said to be haunted by weirdlings and degenerates and other creatures of the Atramenta, which skitter across empty streets and lurk behind concrete buttresses.  Chumbraia is the name given to it by etheri nomads, who shun the place. Its original name as now lost to time.

CLAMANT: city in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar, in untainted lands between the Marasmus and the Abcess Wastes. It is known for its caste of mil. Shapers, who make up an elite force in its armies (Pop. c. 42,500).

DEARTH: Atramentally-tainted area in Sammaea, stretching from the S border of Paraiya to the N - W border of Aethios, dominating over 160,000 square-miles of the N - E of the Umbra Sokhar. Though Atramentally-active, its effects are not as dire as other such regions and temporary exposure has been found to be of little consequence to body and mind, though prolonged exposure to it remains detrimental to health, particular sanity. Those spending long within its borders, such as they are, have been known to become paranoid, with troubling dreams plaguing them.

The Dearth is known for its shadowisps, which are created in its heart, and are carried on prevailing winds N - E into N’rach and Aethios, poisoning that which they come to rest upon. 

DIVASHA: black-skinned female oracles who live in the region of Katoprach in the far S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea. They are guardians of the many oases that dot the region and serve as hosts to nomads and merchants seeking shelter there. They are known for their large septum piercings from which they hang delicate chain masks that cover their mouths and cheeks.

DREAM CITY, the: see Oneirachan.

ERIDANA: ancient now-dry tainted r. in the Umbra Sokhar that once flowed N from the N-face of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. before meeting its distributary, the r. Spicia, at the Ndephara Canyon. The r. was last described as flowing in c. 2800 RM and it is unknown exactly when and why it ran dry. Its corruption stemmed from tainted aquifers that were part of the r. source, beneath the Atramentally-tainted region of Telluria. 

ESCULEA: small agricultural city in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar (Pop. c. 15,000).

ETHER: (plr. etheri) nomads of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Though humanoid in form, their mannerisms are quite unlike those of humans, as are their language and customs. They are tall, thin and of grey skin and black eyes. Though the effects of the Atramenta do not seen to manifest in physical corruption in them, they are far from immune to its touch. Though nomadic they maintain a large metropolis in the Umbra Sokhar by the name of Miharast. 

It is postulated that they are the descendants of unions between plagi and other mortals, commonly humans, formed after the plagi left Kharkharadontis between the Fourth and Fifth Ages, following the imprisonment of Rachanael beneath Daekyn. See Vol II: nomads of Elyden, and Asicthai.

ETHER-ZOTHAZA: the religion and cosmogony of the etheri nomads of the Umbra Sokhar. The cosmogony is characterised by two separate pantheons: the Inner Gods and the Outer Gods. The Inner Gods are prayed to as part of day-to-day life and, offerings are also made to them in the hopes of swaying their favor. The Outer Gods are alien and unknowable and are considered indifferent to the petty affairs of mortals. 

Many of the godheads scattered around the Umbra Sokhar are believed to be attributed to early representations of the Outer Gods, before the rel. turned to the worship of the Inner Gods, and have since been abandoned. See Vol IV: Religions and Cults.

FANA KHAR’ILLAE: ancient temple to Khar’illae 60-miles S of the Karakhasid border, in the N of the Umbra Sokhar. The temple is expansive, covering about a square mile, and is hewn from the living rock of the region. It was almost completely buried when discovered by imperial explorers in c. 900 RM and was partially excavated over the next centuries, with its treasures and archeological finds taken to Korachan, where many are still displayed with the Imperial Museum of Archeology, in Khadon. Much of the complex remains unexplored to this day. 

FANES: 1. last known keratin civilisation, in the c N of Sammaea, in what is now the S of Karakhas and the W of the Umbra Sokhar. It was  largely destroyed following events towards the end of the Shadow War in the Fourth Age, in c. -1700 RM, though evidence suggests that it struggled on until c. -1300 RM, before disappearing into the increasing corruption of the Tescora region, in which many of its ruins now lie.

Fanes was a huge metropolis-state, a singular city exerting its influence for hundreds of miles around. All settlements within its thrall were little more than slave-states and temple-cities, that existed only to serve the central-city, which was a place of decadence, home to aristocracy, many of whom claimed descent from the scion Ikhra. The city-state rose in c. -2000 RM, following the dissolution of a larger and more united Keratin state, of which very little is known. The region of influence of Fanes extended to the N–E of present-day Karakhas; dominating the lands S–E of the Kathan Mtn., S and E of the Haimoth and Kelachot, and N of hills N of the Caton hills. Most of its settlements have since been reclaimed by the wastes of the area, corrupted by the Atramenta, or built over by Karakhas, though the main city was so expansive that large portions of its crumbling ruins remain inhabited today by a small group of keratin that refuse to bow to the rule of Karakhas. 

2. Settlement to the S of Karakhas and the Atramentally-tainted region of Tescora, inhabited by keratin who refuse to acknowledge the rule of Karakhas. The keratin of Fanes are descendants of a Fourth Age empire, that was known for aristocracy that claimed to be descended from Ikhra, a scion of the Demiurge Kharani (Pop. c. 10,000).

FLAESCUS: Lit. ‘dead earth’. Also the Deadlands. Expansive region of Atramental taint, covering some 74,000 square-miles, dominating the c W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in the N of Sammaea.  The Atramenta affects living creatures, desiccating bodies, slowly leeching them of strength. While life struggles, the land perversely seems to thrive in some areas of the Flæschus, where it is covered in a thick humus of undecayed bodies – the only nourishment to living creatures in the area. 

As in many places in Kharkharadontis, both fau. and flo. are greatly corrupted here, and the land itself can, in place, take on aspects of the flesh that decayes around it – with laconically blinking eyes observing trespassers from fleshy lids, or jaws and teeth sprouting obscenely from what should be unliving matter. The worst such area is known as the Plain of Flesh.

It was first discovered by the Korachani explorer Tahlosh in 324 RM and many expeditions have been mounted here, due to morbid fascination with the nature of the region here, and many foreigners’ conception of Atramentally-tainted lands comes from the widespread accounts of the flaescus. 

The region has grown steadily, in both size and severity, since its discovery in 324 RM, when it was surveyed as being around 24,000 square-miles.  

FLOSCULLA: Atramentally-tainted r. in the c W of the Umbra Sokhar. Its source was once in the N-face of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. though it ran dry in c. 2,300 RM after the Atramentally-tainted area known as Flaescus increased in size, crossing the r. flow. This caused its waters to grow thick, eventually into a tar-like substance that drive over decades under the sun. The r. Remains to this day, its bulbous expanse cracked and stretching for close to 200-miles.

GAP OF ASHOM:  major pass across the c N - E of the Moloth Khammathul Mtns. Despite the relative ease with which one can cross the Mtns. at this pass, the region is little-used for it leads to the tainted lands of Kharkharadontis. 

GAP OF SHADOWS: major pass across the Moloth Khammathul Mtns. which, in the first millennium of the Fifth Age, served as a passage for those fleeing N - E from the growing Shadow in the Desert, into the Umbra Sokhar. This mass migration of degenerates and other peoples fleeing the growing grotesqueries of the Kharkharadontid desert would lead to the downfall of the Sokharan empire, from the ruins of which extant Umra Sokharan cities would emerge.

GARRARU: reverse ziggurat-like pits hollowed out of the bedrock in what is now the S of Paraiya and the N of the Umbra Sokhar in Kharkharadontis. The structures are remnants of an ancient culture that coexisted with the Parian culture of the region and are believed by imperial scholars and explorers to be temples to a deity of the chthonic world. The centre of each garraru is fashioned into a narrow pit that leads down into the caverns that pepper the region. Explorations of the caverns have revealed bones and waste of ancient cultures.

The culture that fashioned these pits has long since vanished, and most now lie ruined, caved-in, though a few remain active, serving now as the centre of some Paraiyan settlements.

GLOAMING, the: region (twilight/ dusk) expansive, low light conditions during the day permanently there. in the far S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea, where the sky is covered by insipid clouds beneath which the day is never brighter than twilight.

The region is dominated by the gigantic rock-pillars and stone-stacks of the Merehim badlands in which are carved the dwellings of long-since corrupted people. Corrupted r., thick with shadowstuff, snake through the region, rendering it inimical to most life.

GNATHALLO: mildly Atramentally-tainted region along the border between the S of Karakhas and the N of the Umbra Sokhar. The taint is largely felt through its effects on the rocks in the region, with duststone formations and avalanches being common.

GODHEAD: relics of ancient times; large often marble hand-carved heads thought to be dedicated to ancient deities that rose in the wake of the Demiurge’s loss of divinity amongst alienated mortals. Found scattered throughout the Umbra Sokhar and parts of Karakhas and Aethios, these decayed relics have defaced the lands around them through impure energies, causing them to be shunned by extant mortals. The largest and most infamous of them all is Ællo, the Godhead.

GREY CITADEL, the: seat of power in the etheri city of Miharast in the Umbra Sokhar. It houses many ancient relics and reliquaries of the etheri people, and even etheri nomads who would otherwise not set foot in a permanent settlement are said to make a pilgrimage to the citadel at least once in their lives to look upon the relics. 

HAARAZHAL: etheri enclave in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, The enclave is built within the labyrinthine roots of a dead Atramental tree; its skeleton gigantic and grotesquely shaped. 

The Salt Road is documented as reaching this far S in c. 2950 RM, at which point Siriphagos became very powerful. The route S did not last long though, but some customs from the N remain and the descendants of Siriphagan merchants can still be found here (Pop. c. 7,500).

HAARU: 1. Ancient idol in the c E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes made out of a single block of sunstone - a clear crystal with gold veins. The idol is the focus of a Sun cult worshipped by the etheri nomads and other natives of the Umbra Sokhar.   

2. sun-cult prevalent in the Umbra Sokhar. Perhaps due to the general lack of sunlight in the Umbra Sokhar, many etheri nomads and other mortals venerate a faceless idol known only as Haaru. There is a growing conflict amongst those who cling to the old rel. of ether-zothaza and those who are turning towards the relatively new cult of Haaru.

HALDATA: relatively uncorrupted dry region in the E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea. It is home to the city of Oneirachan, amongst others.

HAMARTIA: desert in the E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, in Sammaea. The desert is characterised by grey dunes composed of ground down duststone from the surrounding areas, and has grown in recent centuries to encompass what was once the great endorheic r.-system of Eridana.

HERENSUEGE, THE SPAWN OF ASHTERATH: brutal draconic scion of the Demiurge Ashterath that has terrorised lands in and bordering the Kharkharadontid desert since the Third Age. He is a paragon of destruction and greed and features in many oral etheri accounts of the Umbra Sokhar and other legends in lands including Aethios. 

The spawn is a large emaciated draconic creature with decayed leathery wings, serpentine body and long arms. Its body is half-mummified, and in most accounts is seated on a Shale Throne in the wasteland of Jaka in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar in Sammaea. Deranged, and drunk on power, the scion sits in a torpid state, looking upon the Shale desert, and its subjects as they bring it tributes. Exiles, weirdlings, pariahs, and degenerates all, many of them Saurholm, they wander the region of Jaka, their bodies wracked by the foul Atramental winds that wrack the region, bringing blood offerings from their victims to the catatonic mummy that reigns from the Throne of Ashterath.

HORDE-KING, the: (D. 584 RM) degenerate warlord who emerged in the region of the Umbra Sokhar in c. 580, filling a vacuum left by the collapse of the Sokharan empire around two-centuries earlier. He united disparate degenerate tribes together alongside marauder and scavenger clans, and swept across the Umbra sokhar, pillaging settlements as they went. 

His death in 584 RM from aepathy left the horde leaderless and it later fragmented, consuming itself over the next decades. The remnants settled the region and would go on to mingle with other people, including refugees from Kharkharadontis, and would alter found the great cities of Cataflaque, Kadota, and Tlathat.

HORRIPILATIA: grotesque land in the far N of the Kharkharadontid desert, just S of the Gap of Ashom. The region is expansive, covering over 65,000 square-miles, and is renowned for its strange appearance. The earth here is homogenous,and though contours exist, the land is smooth, noted for its gigantic gooseflesh-like protrusions, each between one and two yards wide. In the centre of each such protrusion is a stiff lash-like ‘tree’ reaching some 10-ft. high. These odd flo. remain largely uncatalogued, and are known to cause severe tinnitus to anyone approaching them. This is followed by severe nausea and vomiting of blood. 

IDLEON: strange twin-faced basalt idol, half buried in the S of the dust dunes of the Hamartia desert in the E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. The idol is a craven relic of ancient days and its eyes inexplicably weep a resin-like substance that has slowly collected at the base of the idol, pooling into a strange reddish amber. The air about it is rife with a nauseating buzzing that penetrates the thoughts of mortals who wander too close.

ILRORDORITUL: fantastical sky portal suspended over the c S - E wastes of the Umbra sokhar, to the N - E of the Moloth Kommothul Mtns. The supranatural feature appears as a whirlpool some 200-ft in the air, from which emerge dark snake-like appendages that hang down, almost touching the ground. They hang inert most of the time though have been observed to writhe and lash out wildly for short bursts, before hanging limp again. 

The land surrounding the portal is rich in mineral resources, though what few attempts have been made to claim them have invariably ended in failure. The tentacles hanging from the portal seem to have an aversion to movement and spring to life whenever something moves close enough.

INNER GODS: one of two pantheons of the ether-zothaza rel. of the etheri nomads of the Umbra Sokhar, the other being the Outer Pantheon. The Inner pantheon consists of the unnumbered knowable entities that govern everyday facets of life. These gods are associated with common elements such as fire, lightning, dark, ency, death, life, and so on. 

There are thousands of Inner Gods, each of which represents a very specific domain, and the etheri nomads pay tribute to specific gods depending on their needs at a particular time.

JAKA: Shale wasteland in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, in Sammaea, just W of Aethios. The desert is the domain of Herensuege, scion of the Demiurge Ashterath, and is largely inhospitable to life, though some saurholm tribes and degenerates do manage to eke out a living here, paying blood tributes to the scion. They are a nuisance to the people of Aethios, and its W borders are constantly patrolled from incursions. 

KADOTA: 1. large city in the W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, in the N of Kharkharadontis. The city is responsible for damming the r. Spicia in c. 2800 RM, resulting in the death of the river beyond its borders. The city is populated by an ancient caste of humans descended from Fourth Age aristocracy, who has enslaved degenerates and other minorities. Its people’s culture is heavily influenced by its mil. and its forces have dominated most settlements in the region, and only allow etheri nomads to enter its territories because they offer their services as guides to its merchants and armies (Pop. c. 180,000). 

2. l. near the above city formed from the damming of the r. Spicia. The l. serves as an electrical source to the city, through hydroelectric power.

KATOPRACH: region in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, known for its oases. These oases were traditionally safe territory, where merchants and nomads could stop and rest and replenish their water without fear of attack or enmity. 

Following the founding of the Korachani colony of Noavatur, Korachani trailblazers forged a route linking N Korachani territories with the colony. This route passed through the Umbra sokhar, and utilised the oases of Katoprach, many of which were converted into caravanserais, most of which are now abandoned, allowed to be reclaimed by nature by the etheri nomads who continue to use the oases today. 

KEBRACHAN: major Korachani caravanserai in the region of Katoprach, in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. It was abandoned in c. 2040 RM following a wane in contact between Korachan and Noavatur, which by then had become an independent ntn. 

KEEPER OF FABLES: etheri holy figures who safeguard the oral histories of their people. Most etheri nomadic groups are centered around a Keeper of Fables, who every night tells a tale or parable from their history. This serves to unite the group in its understanding of history. Each group will have favourite tales that it identifies with, giving each group a unique character that may lead to disagreements between groups based on the historical and fantastical figures they follow. 

STASIL: colosseum-city in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar. The city is built within the ruin of an ancient amphitheatre that is today half-buried. The dwellings are built in the old structures beneath the seating of the ancient amphitheatre, on top of which is a large market. The exterior of the colosseum is now half-buried beneath the accumulated debris of the land outside.

KOUKON: expansive region of petrified silk cocoons in the S of the Umbra Sokhar, in Sammaea. The cocoons contain the fossilised remains of grotesque beings thought to have been the prey of some ancient creature. The once-silk strands are now hard and calcified, partially buried and broken, but where dense they are strong, covering an area of about half a square-mile, bordered by jagged rocks to the E and honeycombed basalt mesas to the S.

LACHESIS: shamen common in the Umbra Sokhar and scattered parts of Kharkharadontis. They are known to cast lots as means of divination and are commonly employed as advisors by ruling classes i across the Umbra Sokhar.

LACTH: settlement in the far N of the Umbra Sokhar, 35-miles S of the border with Paraiya. The majority of its populace is human, though it is also home to many plagi and etheri. and it is known to trade with the Paraiyan settlement of Tombaltou (Pop. c. 13,800).

LAMIA: 2. Region of heavy Atramental taint in the N of the Umbra Sokhar in Kharkharadontis, just S of the border with Karakhas, where the land is said to bleed a thick poisonous ichor.

MALRA: largest of the Ahramani pyramids in the Umbra Sokhar, believed to be over 1,000-ft. High.

MARASMUS: 3. region in the c N–E of Kharkharadontis in the Umbra Sokhar wastes, noted for its sulphuric mires and bogs. The Korachani empire and other ntns. have attempted to use the area to extract the plentiful pyrite deposits (mostly for use in creating coppers for use in the creation of iron gall ink), though the land is too hostile to support such activity and it is inevitably reclaimed by ‘nature’, such as it is.

MEREHIM: expansive badlands region in the far S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea. It is known for it many petrified arks that lie, half-buried there. Their distance from open water indicate that the region was vastly different in the past.

MIHARAST: major city in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar. It is a sprawling metropolis, dominated by a tall citadel perched on a rocky pinnacle at its centre that commands an unsurpassed view of the Umbra Sokharan skyline. The city is relatively close to the civilised lands of N Sammaea – some 200-miles S - W of the Paraiyan border, and 350-miles S–E of the Karakhasid border and maintains well-guarded trade-routes with both.

Though the city is often called an etheri metropolis, the population is split evenly between humans and etheri, and it is also home to shie, dverg, as well as plagi. Indeed, it is known for having the largest urban concentration of plagi, which traditionally avoid large urban areas. Miharast maintains little contact with other settlements within the Umbra Sokhar, though it is said that every etheri nomad travels to the city at least once in his life to revere the relics of their kind, which are kept in open view within the Grey Citadel (pop. c. 430,000).

MITTU: gigantic sinkhole about 9-miles across in the N–E most part of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Its walls vary in height though are on average a sheer 100-foot drop onto the table below, which is noted for its treacherous terrain composed of craggy mesas and canyons from which seeps thick gaseous shadowstuff that has laid claim to all life in the region. The gas is often carried by winds across more civilised areas in the N–E of the continent, bringing with it black rain and Atramental diseases. N’rachi culture shuns the place, calling it the Demonsmouth.

Seasonal rivers flow into Mittu, disappearing within cracks and small caves that are thought to lead to the depths of the Qabarru cave system.

MOLOTH KHAMMOTHUL: expansive Mtn. chain in the N of Sammaea serving as a border between the great Kharkharadontid desert in the S and the Umbra Sokhar wastes in the N. The Mtns. stretch for over 3,000-miles from the Sahodom Mtns. in the W to the ntn. of Ethistonith in the S - E. The Mtns. are treacherous and riddled with duststone formations, and cave-ins and landslides are all-too common. Aberrant features are also recorded, and many of the more interesting Atramentally-corrupted features in Kharkharadontis and the Umbra Sokhar can be found in its shadow. 

The Mtn. chain is believed to act as a barrier to the worst of the Atramental corruption that is prevalent in the Kharkhoradontid desert, and without it, most N Sammaean territories would be close to uninhabitable. 

MORSUBEIL: major fortress in the far N - W of the Umbra sokhar wastes in the N of Sammaea. It was founded in c. 1100 RM by the Korachani empire, though is not currently affiliated with any singular ntn. It is operated and funded by benefactors from across the Inner Sea, and is well-guarded by private troops who protect pilgrims undergoing the Shadow March through the Umbra Sokhar. It asks a small tax of those passing through, but provides free lodging and hot food to anyone who needs it. It is the last refuge to those undertaking the March and those who leave it for the S will cross over 1,000-miles before coming across another settlement, in the form of Atleas. 

NDEPHARRA: expansive canyon system in the c of the Umbra Sokhar wastes stretching for some 500-miles. 

A large endorheic r., known as the Spicia, once flowed through the canyon, shaping the Numinian plains that dominate the central basin of the Umbra Sokha into the distinctive canyon formations, though the r. is now dry, its major sources spent, and the dwindled r. redirected to other regions by damming in the . The canyons are noted for the many temples and ancient abodes carved into their cliff-faces.

NECROPOLIS OF KEISHHAAG: an ancient necropolis in the Umbra Sokhar, taking the form of a deep sinkhole with hundreds of temples hewn into its sides. It is unknown how the people who built the temples would gain access to them, as they are unlinked with doors facing the abyss. Scholars believe they may have been constructed by a winged race, such as the al akhi or illidraen, or more pragmatically, there may once have been a wooden scaffold linking them together. 

Each of the temples has a single small room with a stone altar inside, and dozens of small niches on its facade, each of which is large enough to house a disassembled mortal skeleton. 

NUMINIA: 1. plains dominating the c basin of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in the N of Kharkharadontis. The plains are dominated by the Ndephara canyon system, which until c. 2500 RM was the drainage system of the expansive endorheic r. Spicia, which today is greatly diminished, ending far W, where it is dammed by the city of Kadota.

2. once l. and terminus of the r. Spicia, in the far N - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, in what is today occupied by the Sokharen Desert.

The l. was once a spiritual place to the etheri nomads, who abandoned it following its drying up, which was seen as a sign of it having been forsaken by the Inner Gods.

OBELISK OF ASHOM: pylon-like obelisk of monumental size in the far N - E of Kharkharadontis, S of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. It is close to 1,000-ft. long, and 120-ft. wide at its widest point and lies incomplete, half-quarried, cracked. Though thought to date back to the Third Age, it is likely an effort of mortals at replicating the architecture of the Demiurges following their waning and disappearance. Despite being incomplete, the obelisk bears carved writings that are alien to modern scholars.

ONEIRACHAN: 1. Also ‘the Dream City’. Metropolis in the region of Haldata in the E of the Umbra Sokhar. The city is renowned across the Inner Sea as a fantastical place, where mortals of all races and creeds mingle like nowhere else in the Material plane, only it does not exist in a physical sense. The city exists only in the dreams of a cyclopean being, possibly a Scion, known only as The Sleeper, whose body lies in state deep beneath the surface of the small material settlement. 

Whatever the origins of this being, its dreams leak onto the Material Plane in a manner unique to itself. Where the dreams and nightmares of Demiurges physically manifest in the Material Plane, corrupting it, the dreams of this being remain intangible, yet with the unique effect that they can be collectively experienced by Oneirmancers anywhere in Elyden, and by other mortals who are close-enough to the settlement situated above the body of It That Sleeps.

Oneiromancers across Elyden can sense and ‘travel’ to Oneirachan, which is known as the True City to many, to differentiate it from the physical settlement that exists to cater to those who wish to visit Oneirachan but who are not oneiromancers.  

The city is gigantic, considered near-endless by those who have explored it at length, and though its street plan is the same to all who travel there, details and appearances of its individual buildings can vary greatly between individuals, or even to the same person experiencing the same area at different times. (Pop. unknown).

2. The Material plane settlement above the body of The Sleeper is a bustling caravanserai that caters to mortals wishing to experience the true city of Oneirochan, who would otherwise be unable to who visit it. There are dreaming dens, where individuals are put into a deep sleep so that they can travel to the true city. Some opt for intravenous feeding so that they can remain in the true city without ever having to wake. Others prefer to travel there under the guidance of an oneiromancer, who puts them to sleep and serves as a guide in the true city. 

The material city is wealthy from its business of dream tourism, and employs a powerful mil. That patrols the lands directly surrounding it, keeping them clear of those who would try to visit the true city without first entering the material city. 

The Sleeper is considered a god amongst the people of Oneirachan, and it is protected from mortal attention, and has a dedicated and devout following amongst those who call city home (Pop. c. 40,000).

OUTER GODS: one of two pantheons of the ether-zothaza rel. of the etheri nomads of the Umbra Sokhar, the other being the Inner Pantheon. The Outer Gods are unknowable and distant, and are seen by the priesthood of the etheri as being unreachable and so distant and alien as to be ignorant and uncaring of the matters of mortals. 

Scholars postulate that the Outer Gods may be a corrupt representation of the Two-and-Twenty Demiurges, though if this is case the entities in the pantheon have been warped so much from the original representation of the Demiurges as to be different entities entirely.

The etheri fear the Outer Gods, yet do not pray to them, and in most cases do not even acknowledge them openly due to superstition, however they do know that their actions and the reactions of the world around them are all governed by their whims.

Many of the godheads scattered around the Umbra Sokhar are believed to be attributed to early representations of the Outer Gods, before the rel. turned to the worship of the Inner Gods.

PERSIFLAGA: trade city in the far E of the Umbra Sokhar, close to the border with N’rach. The city was once a major human metropolis, though for all of recorded history has been known as a diminished city, with a large degenerate and weirdling population. Where degenerates are shunned in most other cities, living in ghettos or as destitutes, here they fill the role of a lower class, serving as manual labourers and doing other menial jobs. 

The city is one of few in the Umbra Sokhar to trade E with N’rach and has diplomats with knowledge of the aanth ntn. (Pop. c. 47,500). 

PLAIN OF FLESH: severe area of Atramental-taint in the region of Flaescus in the c W of the Umbra sokhar wastes. The earth here takes on a fleshy texture, with unthinking eyes observing from beneath pink lids and grotesque formations of teeth growing like plants in foul mockery of mortal bodies. The region was studied heavily between c. 540 - 730 RM, though little was learnt of the origins and makeup of the area, which remains as much a mystery today as it was the day it was found. 

RED TREE, the: flo. tree and site of Rel. importance in the Umbra Sokhar in the N of Sammaea, in the Atramentally-tainted region of Marasmus. It is visited by etheri nomads who still hold to the ancient etheri rel. of ether-zothoza, and the Inner Gods are paid tribute there.

REQUIESCA: temple city in the N - W of the Umbra Sokhar. It is a necropolis where the ribcages of the dead are interred in small shrines. In Sokharan rel. the ribcage is considered to be the vessel of the soul and it is kept intact as a means of protecting the soul, which is believed to dwell in the ribcage after mortal death. The necropolis is expansive and was a traditional resting place for the dead amongst the disparate settlements of the Umbra Sokhar, with families travelling for months to secure a final resting place for their departed. Requiesca is considered a holy place, where the otherworld is close to the material, making it a perfect spot for interment.

RIPHAEA: Mtn. in the S –E of Paraiya, forming a natural border with the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Its  face is a desiccated monument to all that is dead – its black peaks and cliffs riddled with the fossils of abominations from past ages. The shells of ancient citadels dot its crags, hidden from the world, most famous of which is the Tower of Zarb.

SABONOL: city in the E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, and one of the largest closest enclaves of the plagi in the civilised world. The plagi of this city are not the insular xenophobes of the Kharkharadontid desert, and are known to trade with the people of Aethios, Ethistonith and Rhinocoloura. The city is named for and built over the ruins of an ancient Sokharan city. 

Its priests are known to sacrifice specially bred three-eyed aurochs to their deity in times of uncertainty (Pop. c. 70,000).

SCLERO SOMA: ruined temple in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar Wastes in Sammaea. It is built into a cliff-face at the foot of the N - E-face of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. and spreads deep beneath the Mtns. with branching passages,m chambers and catacombs. Little is known of its history, though it is thought to date back to the Fourth Age and was possibly built by plagi refugees fleeing tainted lands in the S following the imprisonment of Rachanael in Daekyn.  

SESSAL: scree-slopes in the N–E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, on the W face of the T’illu Mtns. noted for the Illurcauls (soul-pearls) deposited there. The region was discovered in c. 2075 RM by Ba’akhi explorers searching for soul-pearls for use in their siphon engines. Though unpopulated, the region was guarded by an order of halfbloods (believed to be wyrds) who harassed mining efforts throughout the regions exploitation, which lasted until c. 2450 RM, with the soul-pearls apparent consumption.

The halfbloods remained in the region, mourning the loss of their ward, allowing their failure to consume them. To this day the remains of armoured halfbloods can be found in the shifting dust of the abandoned mines.

SIGIL OF SYNCHTHONITH: in world Myt., a large stone tablet found in 1734 RM just N of the Koukon region in the Umbra Sokhar wastes. It measures some 20-feet across, depicting what many believe to be the sigils and titles of the Two-and-Twenty Demiurges; an unprecedented find. The tablet is broken and badly weathered and few details can be reliably read off it. The tablet was moved north, and it now rests in the library of Nuthachan.

The Sigil is named after Synchthonith, to whom its construction is most commonly attributed.

When the Sigil was discovered it was guarded by a caste of dverg templars who were dispersed by the explorers who claimed the site in the name of the Archpotentate. The dverg now roam the wastes of the S - E Umbra Sokhar, homeless, doing what they can to honour the name of their Demiurge primogenitor. Some have even ventured N seeking the sigil.  

SIMILANA: Atramentally-tainted region in the far N–E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, close to the border with N’rach. The air here is difficult to breathe and those travelling within its borders for more than a few hours become short of breath, with some extreme cases of asphyxiation noted.    

SKEIN: convoluted knotted land serving as a border between the S of the Umbra Sokhar and the N of Kharkharadontis. The region is extremely difficult to navigate, and is labyrinthine, impossible to navigate.

SOKHARA: ancient empire that dominated the area now largely-occupied by the Umbra Sokhar, possibly from the Fourth Age or earlier. The empire emerged from refugees fleeing N from the wastes of Kharkharadontis, which were suffering under the increasing influence of the so-called Shadow in the Desert, which left the desert grotesquely tainted and inhospitable to civilised life.

These refugees and immigrants mingled with the native populace, which had gathered in small numbers in the fertil endorheic basin N of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. Eventually they would spread and found city-states, from which the empire of Sokhara would emerge in c. -300 RM. 

The empire prospered and grew until around 290 RM, when territorial clashes with Karakhas, then under Korachani rule, became common. This political pressure increased greatly until the expansionist policies of Korachan brought war to Sokhara by 300 RM. Simultaneously Sokhara saw another mass exodus of refugees from Kharkharadonts following an increase in Atramental activity there turned it into the wasteland we now recognise today. 

Sokhara took in what refugees it could, and put them to use in the war against Korachan, which had encompassed all life in Sokhara by 340 RM. By then its royal household had grown decadent and tyrannical, ruling over a nation that was made up of slaves that knew nothing but war. 

Amid the war with Korachan the slaves revolted, overrunning the palaces of the ruling dynasty. The empire crumbled in 348 RM, allowing Korachani armies to march south, expanding their territories. Unease in Karakhas however made this Korachani victory short-lived, and its new territories were lost over the next 100-years as its armies were forced into the heartland of Karakhas to quell unrest.

During this time different branches of the Sokharan dynastic family would vie for control as degenerates continued pouring into Sokhara from the south and freed slaves caused havoc, reducing once-proud cities to rubble even as the corruption of Kharkharadontis began to expand north into Sokhara itself. It is around this time that the Korachani empire began to refer to the region as the Umbra Sokhar - the Shadow over Sokhar. 

In around 580 the so-called Horde-King emerged, bringing together hundreds of disparate tribes under his banner. He rolled across the remnants of Sokhara from east to west, destroying all in his wake, wiping the last traces of civilisation from the basin before dying to aepathy a few years later. The power vacuum left by his death led to the fragmentation of the horde, which would consume itself over the next decades.

This allowed the remnants of the Sokharan people, most of which were the descendants of freed slaves, nobles, and refugees from the south, to rebuild. They scattered, founding what would later become the major cities of the Umbra Sokhar - Cataflaque, Kadota, and Tlathat. See Vol III: Extant Nations and Realms.

SOKHAREN DESERT: unnatural desert in the N of the Umbra Sokhar, forming part of the Atramentally-tainted region of Dearth. Until as recently as c. 2500 RM the S-most reaches of the desert were occupied by l. Numinia, the endorheic terminus of the r. Spicia, though drying of sources and damming of the r. In various areas led to the drying of the l. after which the Sokharen desert was allowed to expand. The ruins of cities that once hugged the shore of the l. remain in the region. 

SOLARAN: 1. Language of the now-extinct Sokharan empire in the Umbra Sokhara wastes in the N of Kharkharadontis. The language is used to this day by etheri nomads as well the many settlements in the wastes, though is corrupted from its original form. 

2. currency in the Umbra Sokhar in Sammaea. The currency is actually an ancient coinage leftover from the now-extinct empire of Sokhara. Individual coins are recovered in ancient stashes uncovered by the etheri nomads during their wanderings of the wastes, and they are quite wealthy as a result. See Vol II: Currency and Coinage in Elyden.

SPICIA: major endorheic r. once dominating the Numinian plains in the c of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in the far N of Kharkharadontis. The r. once flowed E for a combined length of 2,800-miles from sources in the N - W of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. before ending in the endorheic l. Numinia in the N - E of the Umbra Sokhar, to the E of the Riphaea Mtns. 

The r. has diminished greatly since c. 2000 RM, due to the drying and redirection of various sources, though it remains in a lesser form in the W of the Umbra Sokhar, where it flows for just under 1,000-miles before reaching its end at the city of Kadota, where it is dammed.   

STARGAZERS, the: An ancient Paraiyan legend, remembered now only in a few settlements in the S of Belln and amongst the etheri nomads of the Umbra sokhar:

The Stargazers are gigantic spidery-limbed otherworlders that dwell in the badlands in the north of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Each claims a butte as its own and begins its life’s work.

Each stargazer finds a bright soul amongst billions and attunes itself to the mortal in possession of that soul, and spends every moment psychically corrupting it. This dramatic act influences the mortal’s actions in life, and when it finally dies, its soul becomes a new star in the night sky. It is this star that the stargazer sits silently watching, sometimes for days, sometimes for centuries, until it finally disappears, after which a new stargazer is ‘born’. Old stargazers eventually die, their bodies mummifying and remaining empty until eventually the death of a star gives them life once anew.

Paraiyan legend identifies a particular domain of the sky as the target of these ‘stargazers’ vigilance; so-called Ortlu.

T’ILLU: 1. rugged Mtns. running S–E just W of the border between N’rach and the Umbra Sokhar wastes. The formation is grey and dusty, and much of it crumbles under the influence of the Atramenta. The waters flowing from the hills are dark and shunned by living creatures, though those that thrive on the Atramenta, such as umbraphagi, seek out its waters.

The W reaches of the Mtns. are composed of pumice, which is used in engineering works throughout N’rach.

2. (2,250-ft.) volcano in the eponymous Mtn. range.

TAGAGNACH: Korachani enclave in the far N - W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, 65-miles S of the border with Karakhas. The enclave is home to the Minasteria of Æharockear, which was forced out of their old headquarters in Kithaloi in the S Karakhas in 3706 RM following the Sundering of the empire.

It is an influential force in the study of the Atramenta and mounts many expeditions into the Umbra Sokhar and Kharkharadontis to perform experiments. Its members often accompany the Shadow March S as experts to help against Atramental diseases that may befall pilgrims along the route S (Pop. c. 18,500). 

TAKANA: Atramentally- and geologically-active region dominating the N foothills of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. in the S of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Earthquakes are common here, as are landslides. Where the terrain levels out it is dominated by rends and cracks and otherwise uneven terrain from previous quakes. Thin strands of shadowisps float from these rends and float on prevailing winds across the Umbra Sokhar and beyond, poisoning whatever they touch. Very little life survives in the region, and what does is unlike that found elsewhere, having learnt to survive in the otherwise inimical landscape.

TELLURIA: 1. Atramentally-tainted region in the c S of the Umbra Sokhar. The corruption has left the earth of the entire region brittle, like duststone, and the terrain is unstable, filled with sinkholes, buttes and honeycomb formations that are avoided due to their danger. 

2. Vast cavern network in the above Atramentally-tainted region, formed by ancient water carving through stone rendered brittle by the taint. 

TERRACE OF THE SYBARITE: ruin along the border between the S of Paraiya and the N of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. The ruin takes the form of a half-crumbled platform with granite tiles set in an intricate pattern that can only be appreciated fully from above. It is the site of a sporadic pilgrimage of Shie and other related individuals that takes place every six years, at the time of the  closest full Blood Moon to the Summer Solstice. Occasions when the full moon falls on the night of the solstice attract the most pilgrims. This event was last documented in 4007 RM, when both moons were full on the night of the Summer Solstice and the howls of the revels could be heard from miles away and lasted for days.

THE SLEEPER: an unidentified being, possibly an ancient otherworlder or scion, buried deep in the region of Haldata in the E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Above it is a settlement and caravanserai, which is famed as the ‘entrance’ into the so-called Dream City of Oneirachan, where oneiromancers and other mortals experience a dreamscape unlike any other. 

The being is revered as a deity by the people of Oneriachan, who have come to see its construct as the true world and Elyden as an ends to a means in reaching the Dream City. See Vol IV: Religions and Cults.

THERNAX: Atramental flo. possibly a corrupted form of giant cactus. Only one example of this tree has been found, some 600-miles S of the border between Karakhas and Paraiya border in the Umbra Sokhar wastes.

The tree takes the form of a gigantic fleshy tendril, well over 100-ft. long, and 20-ft. wide at the base. The thing’s fleshy trunk is covered in large pearl-like growths and gigantic poison-dripping downward-facing thorns. It tapers into a whip-like tendril that writhes as though of its own volition. The land around it is strewn with the bones of all manner of creatures and protruding roots, and it has been the focus of some etheri manhood odysseys, where daredevils seek out the skulls of exotic and malformed creatures as prizes. 

The pearl-like tumours along its surface resemble historical and mythological accounts of soul-pearls, though are somewhat smaller.

THREE WASTES: region just S of Karakhas, in the far N - W of the Umbra Sokhar wastes, in which the Korachani outpost of Tagagnach is located. The region was named in c. 1800 following imperial explorers in the region first encountered it, noting three distinct different wastelands that have since merged into one. 

Though not Atramentally-tainted, the region is nevertheless inhospitable to most mortal life.

THRONE OF ASHTERATH, the: A gigantic shale throne in the Desert of Jaka, in the S - E of the Umbra Sokhar in Sammaea. Built by Herensuege, the crazed draconic scion of the Demiurge Ashterath millennia ago, it is now unknown if the throne was once part of a larger structure, though if that is the case, no trace of such a structure remains today. 

The scion Herensuege sits on the throne to this day, its body mummified and half-decayed. Unblinking eyes looking upon its wasteland-realm even as its body rots, though the scion is far from dead. Crazed followers - saurholms, degenerates and worse beast-folk - bring tribute to the scion in the form of fresh corpses, which they lay at the throne’s feet. The bones of millennia of such offerings litter the immediate area around the Throne.

TLATHAT: once one of three major cities to rise in the c N of the Umbra Sokhar following the decline of the Horde-kings barbarism in the region, Tlathat was adversely-affected by drying conditions and the expanding Atramental wastes and was largely abandoned following a plague in c. 2800 RM. It recovered since then, though today it is but a shadow of the former metropolis it once was, and much of it lies in ruins populated by a growing degenerate threat (Pop. c. 18,000). 

TMESIA: large steel bridge over the E-most expanses of the Ndepharan canyon in the E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes. Though in ill-repair, the bridge is used to this day and links the otherwise isolated city of Oneirachan with the settlement of Esculea, in the N - W. The bridge is maintained by a coalition of troops from both settlement, who tax those crossing it.

TUARTAR MAZE, the: arid limestone formation in the c s of the Umbra Sokhar wastes in Sammaea, carved by ancient floodwaters carried N - E from the Moloth Khammothul Mtn. into a labyrinthine maze of gullies and chasms that once lead to the now-dry r. Uarurndat. The area is home to various tribes of degenerates and weirdlings.

UARURNDAT: ancient now-dry r. that once flowed N from the N-face of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. in the S of the Umbra Sokhar. The r. was a tributary of the larger r. Spicia, flowing N into l. Numinia. The r. was responsible for carving the so-called Tuartar Maze, and flash floods were once a common sight in the area now occupied by the Maze. 

UBBAT HAMMAR: blighted part of the Ndepharra canyon system in the c of the Umbra Sokhar. A black sphere, perhaps two-ft. wide is at the centre of an expanse that is around 5-miles in radius. Within this radius the stone of the area is white and lattice-like, losing strength closer to the sphere, close to which the land is just an expanse of white dust unable to support any weight but for that of the sphere, which is thought by some explorers to be an ancient soulstone. 

UMBRA SOKHAR: Lit. ‘Shadow over Sokhara’. Atramentally-tainted region in the far N of Kharkharadontis, in the c N of Sammaea, situated to the S of the ntns. of Karakhas and Paraiya; and W of the ntns. of N’rach, Aethios, Rhinocoloura and Ethistonith. The region takes the form of an endorheic basin,though it is largely dry, with a continental climate exacerbated by it being in the rainshadow of various Mtn.-ranges. It was once of a more hospitable climate, and some 2 millennia past was known for its many r. which emptied into the endorheic l. Numinia, which dried centuries past. 

From c. -550 RM onwards the region started receiving increasing numbers of refugees from Kharkharadontis, fleeing the Atramental phenomenon known as the Shadow in the Desert, which rendered the desert of Kharkharadontis (already a dry continental region that was inimical to civilised life) an Atramental wasteland. These immigrants mingled with the native cultures, and soon city-states appeared from which the Sokharan empire would later appear.

The Sokharan empire quickly encompassed the Sokharan basin, and a decadent nobility emerged, ruling over a downtrodden salve caste. The empire eventually fell to its own corruption, which, coupled with war with Karakhas in the N and increasing degenerate attacks from the S, led to its downfall in 348 RM.

The century following this was dominated by warring degenerate tribes sweeping across the basin, pillaging all settlements. This was under the leadership of the warlord known was the Horde-king, whose death led to the scattering of the the horde, allowing new city-states to emerge.

These city-states occupied the more fertile N - W of the basin, which itself is not as badly-affected by the Shadow in the Desert, which continued to expand, eventually affecting the Umbra Sokhar in the same way it had Kharkharadontis millennia before. Today the major cities are Cataflaque, Kadota and Miharast. See Vol III: Extant Nations and Realms.

UMBRAKHALA: apocryphal city of umbraphages (its true name unknown) that exists in imperial legend, though maintained by some scholars to be true or based on truth. The city is said to exist in the S–W of the Umbra Sokhar and is dominated by strange solidified Atramental growths. The formations warp life and light, twisting the spectrum in iridescent ways that are maddening to most mortals.

The populace subsists on Atramentally-laced mosses and vegetation cultivated outside the city, granting them dark skin and eyes. Over generations their bodies have developed an affinity for the Atramenta, even as it withers their bodies. 

The city is ruled by basalt-skinned Atramentist with mystical links to the city’s first ancestors, who are thought to have been heretics exiled from the Sokharan empire early in the Fifth Age.

VELUTINA: small city in the region of Cataflaque in the N of the Umbra sokhar (Pop. c. 15,000). 

WEIRDLING: diminutive degenerate that is common in the Umbra Sokhar region of the Sammaea, as well as other areas of long-term stable Atramental taint. The beings are small, standing little more than four feet tall (though their frames, if stretched out, would be closer to five-ft. tall), with spindly limbs and skull-like faces. Their skin is pale, with dark veins showing beneath and they are often covered in lesions and other signs of their Atramental corruption. 

They are thought to have once been dverg that over time became corrupted by the Atramenta. There are scattered signs of an ancient dverg civilisation predating the Sokharan empire, possibly in the Fourth Age, or earlier, and extant weirdlings are thought to be descendants of these dverg.  

WHISPER HEADS, the: concentration of godheads in the Tuartar Maze in the c S of the Umbra Sokhar region. The godheads, numbering in their hundreds, in a region of some 100 square-miles, are a mystery and little is known about them. 

XERICA: sandy desert in the far N of the Kharkhardontid desert, just S of the Moloth Khammothul Mtns. The desert is expansive and featureless.

YBOT: ancient petrified ark lying half buried in the badlands of Merehim, in the far S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes.  

YSTRA: ancient petrified ark lying half buried in the badlands of Merehim, in the far S - E of the Umbra Sokhar wastes.

ZARB, TOWER OF: ancient Mtn. stronghold in the far N of the Umbra Sokhar, close to the border with Karakhas. Its towers were toppled centuries ago, and all that remains now is the untarnished parament bearing the livery of its forgotten household. Attempts to penetrate the rubble surrounding the ruin have thus-far been unsuccessful.

ZENIZAIA: etheri outcasts. Laws amongst the etheri nomads are harsh and individuals not adhering to these laws are branded on their forehead and cast out of their family group to wander the wastes alone. The brands mark them as outcasts so no etheri will acknowledge them. 

Most either travel to civilised lands or continue to live solitary lives until they are eventually claimed by the Umbra Sokhar. The cities within the Umbra Sokhar care little for their marks and employ them as expedition guides in the wastes, where their talents are of great use.