The Ash Meheel (also known as the Angel's Desert in more modern tongues) is a vast expance of white, extremely fine sand that spans a great deal of the south-midlands of Menes.
History[]
The desert is actually man-made, in a loose sense of the term. Once, in its place stood the Koh Tor (White Mountain), the conduit through which the gods of Aesira channeled their influence. Unfortunately, it was chipped away at by the gods no less than three times (each time creating something new, including the moon, Altana, and the goddesses Tarrea and Xiovi), weakening its structure. Were it not for this weakness, it would not have suffered the fate it did: crumbling under the might of the warriors of two great armies, one of the Hespero and Aureus, and the other of the Coalition and Ralthos. In their wake was left only the dust of the mountain, pure white sand that is warm to the touch, whether or not the sun has laid upon it recently.
Inhabitants[]
The eastern end of the Ash Meheel is controlled by the Lion tribes of the Coalition, who travel across it as nomads and herders of cattle. They call it by its given name, the Angel's Desert, in the belief that it was formed by the tears of angels, who wept over the horror and destruction of the centuries-spanning war between their nation and their neighbour to the west. The tears of something so pure were not supposed to exist, and so crystalized into the pure white sand. The western end of the desert, meanwhile, it controlled by the Jackals of the Hespero, who have built a grand city on the coast of the Angel's Lake. The Jackals themselves simply refer to the region as the Ash Meheel, and believe it is their right as the children of Aureus to command and protect the place. Surprisingly, the Jackals and Lions encounter each other very little, and when they do the encounters tend to be very dry and unpleasant, but otherwise non-violent.
The far north region of the desert is considered a part of the Free Territories, and thus far is too far away from a stable settlement for any one nation to have made, or even attempted to make a claim upon it.
Landmarks[]
- Near the heart of the desert is a single body of water, called the Angel's Lake (other names exist, but these tend to be exclusive to individual groups). It is around this fresh water, inland sea that the only plant life of the region thrives - a few species of which are exclusive to that one region alone! It is, quite literally, an oasis in an otherwise barren landscape.
- In the far north of the desert, as far as one can get from any active settlements on foot or horseback, is a fortress - an old, forgotten castle that the Doma had commissioned the construction of. This fort was to be stockpiled with arms, armour and supplies enough to sustain an army for months, and the moment the stocks were full, they would use it as a way station to carry on an expedition all the way to the far northern end of the Ash Meheel. This project was abandoned some time ago, however, when the war meant that "frivolous" endeavors had to be put aside - this was some three hundred years ago.