The Regions of Albedos, Vol. II: The Red Quarter

Haern

Named for the red sands that cover the whole of the desert, the Red Quarter consists of several areas that span the whole of the Bonro Sands. The Bonro is a vast desert that bakes in the daylight hours and then freezes in the darkness that steals across the region. It is most akin to the Gobi Desert. Rimmed by the Dramedo Crags to the south and Cloud Peaks to the north, the Bonro has long been witness to volcanic activity from the peak known as Talon's Fall that lies far to the east along the Dramedo Crags.

The Bonro is home to the town known as Hatshero, several vast oases (the Bayezin and Tal'viar), a Dreikathi mining facility known as the Aerok Quarry, and the ancient temple of Sunwash Ascent. To the far south, lies the fortress known as Dramlai Watch which oversees all passage into the Bonro to the Tavroi Plains of Albedos.

There is also a great arena, known as the Grazzin Arena, that lies close to the borders of Hatshero. If you wished to see gladiators fight great beasts from every corner of Albedos in weekly bouts, this would be a prime place. Sadly, Magister Faiz Grazzin has been unable to capture or trade in these great beasts as of late and thus the arena remains in disuse.

What is the town of Hatshero?

Hatshero is the closest township to Delve, aside from that of Helba (which has largely been seen as a glorified outpost). Under the rule of the Dreikathi, Hatshero has been a trade center for the Dreikathi enterprising in the dangerous substance known as 'mezlah'. An alternative to ylem, mezlah has been used to low-power devices such as drills for excavation work for the Dreikathi. When used in the past for airships and other machinery, it caused catastrophic failures in the devices that normally led in the loss of the airship and all hands aboard.  (Mezlah, in recent years, has been deemed far too dangerous to continue refinement work on and Hatshero has been reduced to a den of iniquity, sport, and the meeting grounds for mercenaries.) The guards loyal to the overseer of Hatshero keep the peace, but they themselves linger in squalor. 

The town of Hatshero is comprised, mostly, of Caentoi families and clans that have given up the wanderer's life. It was initially under the control of the great Domoraek clan, leading them to build a great mausoleum that is now known as the Vault of Domor. More clans wander the sands still, traveling from oasis to oasis as they partake in trade across the vast desert. All these tradesmen tend to avoid the lofty reaches of the Sunwash Ascent, now a thrice-cursed shrine overrun by the vrukh.

Vrukh?

Vrukh should be thought of as kin to the harpies of myth (not so much Ulangi), but they are fatefully unable to speak the common tongues and are bestial in nature. Beaked maws, six orb-like eyes, and humanoid hands which they walk upon are some of their more defining features. They hunt the skies and prey upon travelers that stray too close to the Sunwash Ascent. The vrukh are well-known for swooping down upon both trader and mount and dispatching them from the air by dropping them some hundred feet to their death. Or, they simply disembowel them with their odd hands and eat their fill -before- dropping them.

And what about the shrine?

The goddess Dejaani's shrine of Sunwash Ascent was constructed for the people of Hatshero to flock to, but with the coming of the vruk, the pilgrimages have since stopped and the shrine is little more than a fetid roost.