D is for Desert

The Desert of Sighs lies to the north of Tsolyánu. Most of it is part of Milumanayá, a squalid desert kingdom whose people are mostly desert nomads and with little in the way of a central government. What government there is is restricted to the cities; in the west, one faction supports Yán Kór and in the east, the other Tsolyánu; the nomads themselves are fiercely democratic and support no one but themselves.*

In ages past the region was the site of a shallow sea, but the land rose up and now the coast is many hundreds of tsán to the north. The sifting sands occasionally uncover the ruined quays and warehouses of lost port cities and the ruins of an ancient Sákbe road that once followed it's shore snakes across the wastes. The nomads know all the wells and other hidden places but they share their secrets with no one.

* While this description may sound strangely familiar, remember that Professor Barker wrote this background several decades ago...