A geographic introduction to Araktor, the continental home of the Onyx Empire.
Araktor is a large continent which straddles the Gæa’s equator. Situated to the South-East of Gæa (the continent), Araktor’s northern most tip is only a few degrees in latitude south of the Wika-Waka wetlands, Gæa’s southern most point. It is a warm continent covered for the moist part by lush grassland, forest and jungle, bar an arid lowland region which spans much of the north west “horn”.
The equator bisects Araktor a few degrees south of its widest point. As such, much of the area it lies across is highland terrain, including the towering Cimmerii Cloud peaks. As a result, the vegetation is mostly very dense forest with only small tracks of equatorial jungle near the coast. Further south, once the highland plateau drops off, the vegetation rapidly becomes a dense, impenetrable jungle. The land to the north of the equator is separated into two “horns” by the Tranquil Bay, so named for its glassy waters, calm air and lack of storms. The two horns could not be more different. In the east, the dense forests from the equatorial highlands continue, gradually changing from the evergreen hardwoods further south to deciduous hardwoods the further north one travels. The woodlands north of Lake Kyror are all deciduous and are the last place left on Araktor where elves can be found.
The western horn is very different. The highlands north of the Cimmerii Cloud peaks continue for some time before an escarpment is reached. A great rift valley extends from the escarpment to Water Town, in the far north. If the valley were any lower and if the range of hills along the Tranquil Bay were not present, the land would have been sea bottom. The climate of the valley is hot. The hills to the west and highlands to the south and east block all but the most persistent rain clouds from bringing their moisture to the interior. Certain areas still support the fragile grassland that once covered lowlands, but in the most part, it is desert, some natural, other man/giss made.
The warm jungles of the south are the ancestral home of Lizard Men, a race of intelligent bipedal lizards who, over many centuries, have carved a vast empire, spanning the entire continent of Araktor as well as parts of Gæa and Vasniss.
This article was last updated XX August MMII
