She was completely surrounded by a greyish-red, stony plain, scored by ravines and faults, with mounds of stones and huge, strangely shaped rocks. High above the plain hung an enormous, golden burning sun, turning the entire sky yellow, distorting visibility with its blinding glare and making the air shimmer. | |||
- pg. 255 Time of Contempt (U.K. edition) |
The Korath desert, also called the Frying Pan by those who live on its edge, lies far to the south and east of the Northern Kingdoms, beyond Tir Tochair, between the Nilfgaardian Empire and Zerrikania and Hakland. It is a wild and hostile place, perilous to any creature not adapted to the lack of water and extreme heat. It's so hostile that it's unimaginable for a person to ever cross it and survive, believing the person would soon die from thirst, heat, or the monsters that live there.[1][2]
The western border of this desert was crossed by the Suchak, until the river dried up.
History[]
Legends have it that its sands cover the necropolises and catacombs of a long-forgotten race or extinct human civilization. How and why they declined and disappeared from the pages of recorded history remains unknown.[3]
At one point of her life Ciri reportedly acquired the sword Gveir in one of those necropolises.[4]
In July 1267, Ciri wandered through this desert after her escape from the Thanedd Island during the coup through the Benavent's portal in Tor Lara. Because the portal was unstable, the girl was simply ejected in mid-air over the desert. When she finally regained consciousness, Ciri had no idea where she was, nor how to get out of the desert. She had no food nor water with her and her only defense was a small dagger and her wits. She met a young unicorn named Ihuarraquax, and together they were better able to proceed than alone. Just as she reached the edge of the desert, Sweers and the Trappers found her and took her captive to turn in for a bounty.[1]
At one point of history a Magnese unit was sent on expedition against a crew of outlaw nomads. The unit was ambushed and the sole soldier to escape was young Jan Calveit. Wounded and exhausted, he wandered through the sands for weeks until he eventually returned home, changed forever.[5]
Fauna and flora[]
A particularly gruesome species, known only as sand monsters, live in the desert, having adapted to burrow beneath the sand and creating pitfalls for unwitting creatures that should run across them. Common insects include glossy brown beetles, hairy/thin-legged spiders, ants and small reddish-yellow/large black scorpions. Vultures, long-tailed green lizards, multicolored larger lizards and snakes, and rodents resembling mice can be found in the desert as well.[1] Chironices are necrophages, the cousins of ghouls and rotfiends, who migrated to the Korath desert during the Conjunction of the Spheres.[5]
While due to the arid nature of the desert, little grows in the way of flora, save the rare small green plants, no bigger than a finger, that miraculously manage to survive between the rocks; thistles also manage to grow nearing the boundaries of the desert. Near the rare sources of water, grass reeds grow in abundances.[1]
Society[]
There is no (known) fixed community inhabiting the desert. All who live here are outlaw nomads who tend to ambush anyone who would dare enter the deep desert.[5] They apparently identify themselves with fiery emblem on bronze shield.[6]
There are attempts by Zerrikanians[7] and Nilfgaardians to control some parts of the region. The latter are represented by Magne Division who often patrol the border.[5]
Locations[]
- Behelt Nar[8]
- Suchak river