The Great Desert

Although referred to as a single desert — the Great Desert, or Al-Mafazah ("The Wilderness") — Persia's central dry lands are composed of two distinct regions, called Dasht-i Kavir in the north and Dasht-i Lut in the south. The Great Desert belongs to no province; it is a no-

The Simurgh

Faerie Might: 50 (Animal)

Characteristics: Int +1, Per +2, Pre 0, Com +1, Str +15, Sta +3, Dex +1, Qik 0

Size: +9

Virtues and Flaws: External Vis, Huge x8; Faerie Beast, Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Focus Power (Heart of the Whirlwind), Greater Immunity (Bludgeoning Weapons), Greater Immunity (Slashing Weapons), Greater Immunity (Piercing Weapons), Improved Characteristics x9, Improved Powers x6, Positive Folk Tales, Reputation as Confidence, Ritual Power (Grant Fertility) x3; Compassionate; Incognizant, Traditional Ward

Personality Traits: Kind +6, Curious +3 Reputations: Bird of God 5 (Local) Combat:

Claws: Init 0, Attack +12, Defense +8, Damage +19

Soak: +12

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–14), –3 (15–28), –5 (29–42), Incapacitated (43–56), Dead (57+)

Pretenses: Area Lore: Arabia 5 (wars), Area Lore: Persia 8 (legendary figures), Area Lore: Transoxiana 5 (peoples), Artes Liberales 8 (Persian literature), Athletics 5 (flying), Awareness 4 (wrongdoers), Brawl 5 (claws), Philosophiae 8 (natural sciences), Survival 6 (mountains), Teaching 5 (Area Lore)

Powers:

Heart of the Whirlwind, 1–10 points, Init –(Might cost), Auram: This Focus Power allows the Simurgh to duplicate any non-ritual wind-related spell up to 50th level, at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude of the spell.

Grant Fertility, 2 points, Init –22, Herbam: As the Simurgh flies over fields, she can use this power to create an effect similar to The Bountiful Feast, except that it affects an area ten times greater, and grants fertility to animals as well as plants. CrHe(An) 55 (Base 1, +3 Sight, +4 Year, +4 Bound, +2 Size, +1 Animal requisite) Ritual Power (55 levels, –9 Might cost, including 5 points from Improved Powers)

Vis: 15 pawns of Animal, in breast feathers Appearance: The Simurgh is an enormous creature, large enough to carry off an elephant. She appears as an eagle with the head of a dog and claws of a lion. Her feathers are the color of highly polished copper, although her peacock-like tail is patterned with thirty different colors.

The Simurgh is not designed to be a player character.

man's-land where outlaws find shelter and there are no permanent villages except for the three oases. The roads that join towns on opposite sides of the Great Desert have water tanks and domes built every three to four leagues, and it is in the best interests of merchants to keep these tanks full. Both deserts are the haunt of jinn.

This salt desert is found to the north of Persia's central plateau. It is about 500 miles west to east, and about 200 miles north to south. Although the center of the desert receives virtually no rainfall, there are marshes, wadis, and steppe-like regions within the Dasht-i Kavir, and in the west a great salt lake. Unlike the Dasht-i Lut (see later), the Dasht-i Kavir is home to many birds, such as the ubiquitous sand grouse and the impressively large bustard, as well as the fabled Persian gazelle and the Hyrcanian tigers who hunt it.

Garmah

In the center of the Dasht-i Kavir, halfway between Isfahan and Tabas, is one of the three oases of the Great Des-

ert. It consists of three hamlets camped around a small fort, some palm trees, and pasture where cattle can forage. The emir of the fort is charged with keeping the desert routes clear for merchants and other travelers.

Naband

The middle of the three oases of the Dasht-i Kavir, Naband sits between Kirman and Quhistan. Despite possessing a guard house, the domed water tanks of

Characteristics: Cun –2, Per +1, Pre –4, Com –4, Str –2, Sta +3, Dex +1, Qik +3

Size: –1

Virtues and Flaws: Improved Abilities, Long Winded, Well-Traveled; Compassionate

Qualities: Defensive Fighter, Fast Runner, Herd Leader*, Keen Eyesight, Large Horns*, Herd Animal, Tireless * Males only.

Personality Traits: Gentle +3

Combat:

Horns: Init +5, Attack +8, Defense +9, Damage +1

Dodge: Init +3, Attack n/a, Defense +10, Damage n/a

Soak: +4

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0/0, –1/–1, –3/–3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8), –5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16), Dead (17+)

Abilities: Area Lore: Dasht-i Kavir 4 (finding water), Athletics 4 (running), Awareness 3 (predators), Brawl 4 (dodging), Leadership 5 (gazelles)*, Survival 3 (semi-desert)

* Males only.

Appearance: A small, delicate ante-

lope with fawn hide; its flanks are marked with a dark stripe. The male has horns that it uses to defend itself.

The gazelle (Arabic ghazal), is called "dorcas" in the Western bestiaries. It has exceptionally sharp sight (+3 to visionrelated rolls) and is swift (+3 to running-related rolls). Only the male gazelle engages in combat; when forced to do so, he temporarily gains the Ferocity Virtue (grants 3 temporary Confidence Points). It is common in the Dasht-i Kavir of Persia.

An area of sand dunes in the central Dasht-i Kavir is home to a tribe of jinn. The Rig-i Jinn is avoided by the traders who cross the desert, but the jinn, while mischievous, are not malicious. The Rig-i Jinn is found within a Faerie Aura of 3, but it is an extension of the glamour of the tribe, and moves when they do. Travelers encountering the jinn spy a lush oasis where there should be none. They may encounter either hospitality or hostility depending on the mood of the jinn, but whether they are given food and drink or wounds, the oasis will have moved during the encounter, and when the faeries retreat, the characters could be tens of leagues away from where they started.

It is difficult to imagine why characters would ever come to Gandom Beriyan. However, there are a few reasons why they might. It is a place of Infernal pilgrimage, and a group of characters might chase a villain here before he can dedicate himself more fully to the path of Hell. Characters might accidentally stumble upon it while fleeing from the Balu tribesman; if this occurs, they may find themselves being rescued by their pursuers, who are loathe to allow the land more victims than is necessary. Alternatively, as the hottest place on earth, the Gandom Beriyan might be important in a mystery initiation, or as a place to forge or destroy an item of power.

Naband are notorious hiding places for desert raiders.

The "emptiness desert" is approximately 300 miles along its northwest-to-southeast axis and 200 miles wide. The eastern part of the Dasht-i Lut is a low plateau of salt flats. The southeast is principally sandy. Unlike the Dasht-i Kavir, animal and plant life is much more scarce in the southern desert.

Gandom Beriyan

The central portion of the Dasht-i Lut is called Gandom Beriyan ("the toasted wheat"). It is a volcanic wasteland covered in black lava. It is the most treacherous of terrains, riddled with ravines and sinkholes, and blasted by a terrifically strong wind. The Gandom Beriyan is the hottest place in Persia, and is completely devoid of animal or plant life.

The Gandom Beriyan is, however, the home of the most malicious and evil of the jinn tribes, since an Infernal aura of 4 covers this area. The aura is corrupted with a Debauched aura of exhaustion (Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 14) that prevents anyone from spending Confidence points while here. At the heart of the Gandom Beriyan is the entrance to a Tartaran regio with an Aura of 7 where the air itself burns, and the rock is molten. One of the most powerful corrupt jinn in Persia lurks in this regio.

Sanij

The southernmost oasis of the Great Desert, Sanij links Kirman with Seistan. The Balu tribesmen (see Kirman, earlier) know this valley oasis well, and are a constant threat to the sizable population that lives here.