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The Second Age was dominated by a race known as the Tumaxi. While generally human in appearance, they possessed shape changing abilities and would commonly alter themselves for both fashion and work purposes. They were masters of arcane technologies; a number of their artifacts are still operable and greatly sought by modern day sorcerers and sages. Unfortunately, the Tumaxi were also a very fractious lot, and in the end wrought the end of their own civilization.
The end of the Second Age saw the Mages of Burj Aleanbar (The Mages of the Amber Tower) call down some of the most destructive magics ever invoked, magics that were answered by their combined foes. The magics tore through the earth and stone, literally converting the lands to a dark glass and pushing up the mountains and hills that separate this region from the rest of the continent.
The region is full of superstition and powerful magics - ancient outposts of the Second Age that survived the cataclysm, deformed monstrosities that wander the wastes, and fell demonic beings still imprisoned by old oaths. The thaumaturgic radiation in the old outposts is responsible for the giant mutated forms of spiders, snakes, scorpions, and other desert predators.
The best known city in the region is EndOGlass, which exists just over the mountains and borders the deserts. It exports Desert Glass, a smoky reddish crystal mined from the desert itself. It also sits on the western side of the safest pass through the Orcut mountains, and its troops see regular skirmishes with Orc and their allied forces.
West of the mountains the landscape turns into one of quickly shifting sands, hot and terrible simoom winds, and the occasional mesa (called "Tor") poking above the blasted landscape. Though centuries have ground much of the glass back into actual sand, periodically a new vein is uncovered and, when blown by the simoom winds, can strip the flesh from an exposed creature in minutes.
Buried under the sands, in certain places, exists a substance known as Desert Glass. The Desert Glass is composed of the fused remnants of the Second Civilization. It presents in a variety of colors, with a green jade-like color being the most common, and a deep blood-red being the most valuable. The "glass" typically contains some remainder of the thaumatic radiation that destroyed the Tumaxi; the blood-red being valuable not only for it rarity but also the high concentration. Careless prospectors sometimes find themselves mutating in horrible fashion.
A trade road exists from EndOGlass to the coastal city of Sahil, winding westward first past the Oasis Golet (a two day journey), then reaching the city of Waste (two more days), and then a seven day trek through the worst of the desert before reaching Sahil. The deep desert houses various communities of fey, faunus, and outcast societies who trade desert glass for the foodstuffs, water, and textiles carried by the caravans.
Situated halfway between the cities of EndOGlass and Waste, this oasis is a common stopping point for caravans and travelers. The desert tribes claim the oasis is hallowed ground and will tolerate no blood spilled in anger.
The site of an abandoned fortress, few are even willing to approach this mesa. Most caravans will go out of their way to avoid even viewing the tor, as the location is said to be both cursed and haunted. For those who do travel within sight of the crumbling ruins, they are told not to make a wish, lest their darkest desires be brought to a hideous mockery of life.
The city is technically a monarchy, ruled over by a sultan. The sultan, however, tends to keep to his palaces and studies, leaving the administration of the city to his generals - the most important of which, and thus the de-facto ruler of EndOGlass, is Bey Demir. The city is loosely lawful - what appears as chaos to outsiders is usually the result of a complex set of overlapping obligations of family, personal honor, oaths, and the law.
The city is likely one of the most cosmopolitan places on the entire continent - the inhabitants are much, much more interested in making money than worrying about something trifling such as if they are dealing with someone with tails, horns, tusks, ... or even a devil from the Cursed Hells. As long as everyone behaves themselves and keeps honor duels restricted to the allowed zones (or dispatches silent assassins) the authorities keep their attention focused elsewhere. This has made the inhabitants of EndOGlass some of the richest per-capita, but the downsides include a tolerance for slavery and murderous gladitorial combats.
Regular caravans set forth into the desert, either to trade with the fey and faunus who spend much of their time in the deep desert, or to hunt for lost artifacts and lore from the Second Civilization.
--- Who run Bartertown? Say louder!
Bartertown is a chaotic, but busy and prosperous, town located in the deep desert. Almost anything can be bought or sold in Bartertown - with information being the most sought after good. There are no questions asked about the origin of goods, or the intent of buyer or seller, in Bartertown. The town is run by a woman who calls herself Aunty Entity, rumored to be an escapee from the gladiator combats of EndOGlass. She rules Bartertown with a mixture of guile, persuasion, ruthlessness, and careful neglect.
Bartertown enforces a number of rules on those who would enter or remain, the chief of which is Break a Deal, Face the Wheel. Those who break an oath made within the city are forced to face the, quite literally, random justice system. Punishments for crimes are typically decided by the roll of dice, the spin of a wheel, or the casting of lots.
Magic of all types is deeply distrusted in Bartertown, and those who cast obvious spells without Aunty's explicit permission learn about Cast a Spell, Ring the Bell - one of the many charmingly rhymed laws within the town's confines.
--- Two men enter! One man leaves!
The clearest defining feature of Bartertown is an insane dome made from welded metal. It is approximately thirty foot in radius. Two combatants enter the dome and are stripped into a harness who are connected by rubber lines to the top of the dome. The harnesses amplify the acrobatics of the wearers and allow, for example, tremendous leaps and flips.
At the start of the combat, the two fighters are stretched horizontal on opposite sides of the dome, then launched towards each other. The fighters enter the dome without weapons, but weapons of various kinds are scattered throughout the dome (including at elevation). The combat ends with the death of one or both - no other outcomes are acceptable.