The Savagia Desert Kingdoms

Since time immemorial, the Savagia deserts marked the gateway between the lands of the east and the west. No army had ever successfully crossed the vast inhospitable landscape of rolling sand seas, barren rock, arid vegetation and dangerous wildlife, not until the miraculous discovery of the Golden Road, the only safe passage that connected the eastern border of the Teracotan Empire to the far reaches of the Crown Kingdoms. Although still rife with the dangers of long distance travel, trade via the Golden Road became a vital source of income for many enterprising merchants on both sides of the great divide. The ones who truly benefited, however, were the former nomadic tribes that once lived there, having grown into extremely wealthy kingdoms simply by controlling the most important land based trade route on the continent.

The Desert Kingdoms were an amalgamation of many individual kingdoms. They were loosely administered by a Council of Rulers, originally founded by the earliest of petty warlords in an effort to stabilize the enormous tracks of land seething with abject anarchy. Their goal was to usher in an age of civilization, to transform the deserts into a superpower capable of directly competing against the Teracotans and the Crown Kingdoms. However, the interests and ambitions of each subsequent dynasty differed too greatly from each other, ultimately dissolving ancient ties that once united their lands against common foreign rivals. Many who thought that the desert should solely belong to their own people, such as the indomitable Nehakhiri Pharaohs of the south, had set aside their differences with their immediate neighbors and formed powerful alliances to resist Teracotan invasion from the east. Those who had thought it to be wiser to side with whoever had the most coin, such as the scrupulous Al-Mufrid Merchant Alliance in the west, became choice trade partners with whoever had the upper hand in any ongoing conflict. War and intrigue in the Desert Kingdoms were commonplace. No single kingdom was at peace for very long and the region's rich history hid unknown treasures long forgotten beneath the sands, attracting numerous mercenaries and adventurers from across the world looking for fame, fortune and power.

The cultures of the Desert Kingdoms differed greatly from many other places in the continent. Within the cities, gold spoke louder than words. All sorts of people from across the known world were welcome regardless of status, influence or race, with the only exception being the wild desert elves that frequently raid the merchant caravans. Slavery was openly legal, and many who could fight, perform, fuck or cast magical spells were sometimes treated better than regular citizens. Valuable slaves would often find far better security being owned than being free, so much so that a loyal **** of a Sultan could be treated with the same amount of respect as a direct member of his household. Those who somehow lost their value, however, were often replaced before being cast into the Pits, lawless underground prison slums found below any major city, where convicted criminals, deserters and the refuse of society were thrown into to rot for the rest of their lives.

When the Dark Tower rose, the entirety of the region was devastated. The Golden Road was torn asunder by a massive magical sandstorm, cutting off all safe trade and travel between empires. Settlements were starved, looted, abandoned or burnt to ash, with every vital oasis turned into a sinking mire of polluted magical slime that was hostile to all life. The deserts were then renamed 'the Savagia Wasteland', as all that any brave traveler would see in every direction for thousands of miles was the desolation of a once thriving civilization. No kingdom or dynasty survived the oncoming onslaught, its once gleaming cities of marble, obsidian and gold left in almost complete ruin. The only remaining settlement that remained was an infamous center of evil and debauchery known only as the Dark City. Once the gleaming trade capital of the illustrious Al-Jabari Sultanate, it has become a twisted shadow of its former self, ruled by one of the Dominator's most feared **** making servants, Kabar the Conqueror. Even as the Dominator's armies were driven back, the Dark City continued to exist amidst the blackened bone ridden sands as a dreaded legendary locale. Some say that Kabar the Conqueror still lives to this day, plying his trade in secret to the criminal underworld, and biding his time until the return of his dark master.