The Forgotten Desert was and forever will be a desert. It goes by many names, for it borders many nations like a dried patch of land, in Ancient Elven it is called Qualmanfauglir, in Dwarven Kurz-Gazan, Humans have called it more names throughout the ages than other races, but the common name is the Forgotten Desert. For as long as anyone could remember it was a forsaken place upon the world, a cursed boundary where the kingdoms of old would draw the borders of their nations. There was no value to claim the desert, for it was an inhospitable place, and nothing of value was ever found. Who would send legions to defend a sorry claim? Only a foolish ruler would gaze upon the tides of unforgiving sand and see any potential.
Only outcasts live there. Herding and scavenging on the picking the harsh climate offered. Though the sun shone brilliantly upon the sands, and the beautiful sunrises broke through the plateaus of stone, no plants grew and no life survived without water. And as the ancestors knew, the Forgotten Desert had no water to give. Rain never came upon the empty dunes, nor did waters ever rise from the sands, no river it had to claim and locked in by land from all sides. Only by living on the fringe did anyone survive, and yet to push on into the heart of the desert as a journey of discovery. For despite the warm days and cool nights, those who drive on, past the storming sands and chaffing winds, into the heart of this barren place, they may see the splendor that is I'zhystana.
Only the well prepared can venture forth in the great city, or anyone who wishes to make the journey by more practical means than traversing a great desert should consider chartering a passage either by magic or caravan into the city. There are even desert-ships which sail through sand like water, catching the winds upon their sails and rolling upon the dunes with their great wheels. But with its crown jewel of I'zhystana, and vessels which travel to and from it like this the Forgotten Desert is no longer quite Forgotten is it?
