The southern coastline of the Steppe slowly drops down towards the sea a hundred miles or so away from the Scarthwall, where it meets the great Peladian Bay, also known as the Lion’s Maw, the heart of the Province of Peladoste (PEL-ah-DOH-steh). The region is a hot and arid desert, filled with shifting sand dunes that bake under the sun’s gaze during the day and freeze during the night. The only constants in the ever-shifting sands of the desert are the four rivers and many oases that supply water to the local inhabitants, and the great Imperial Causeways that the Vauldan Empire built during its occupation of the territory three centuries ago.
The folk of Peladoste are expert traders, farmers, and builders. The Peladostans have taken the relatively limited natural resources of their home and turned it into a strength; so long as the rivers flow, the great canals and aqueducts will keep the surrounding farms watered and the cities fed. Moreover, the ease of transport up and down the rivers and across the ocean has encouraged trade within the Province to flourish, and allowed the cities of Peladoste to grow into thriving metropolises. Peladostan cities often compete for which can construct the more magnificent temples, parks, or monuments, and the region is well-known as the richest Province in Tomarr.
Peladoste is plagued by Spirits of desiccation known as the Porosontsy, or “motes of the sun,” which feed upon sunlight and moisture in the air and turn what would be an otherwise idyllic region into a parched but fertile desert. The Porosontsy cannot be destroyed by any mortal means, but Peladostan mages long ago developed rituals that allow them to keep the little Spirits out of a delineated area for a few months at a time; the Peladostans make expert use of these rituals to maintain lush greenhouses, gardens, and oases, in defiance of the burning heat and dry air around them.