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Shadow Plateau Places

The Shadow Plateau is a large plateau that stands about 3000 feet tall just north of the Choralinthor Bay. The eastern end is higher, and was where the uz and people lived from the Darkness until the Dawn Ages.

Argan Argar forced the captive god Lodril to raise it as a beautiful palace to help him woo the goddess Esrola. She accepted, they wed and their child was Only Old One who ruled all of the sentient races that lived around them afterwards. His rule began during the Dark Time and lasted long into history until Belintar the Stranger murdered him. Most of the living places upon and within Shadow Plateau were smashed and uninhabited at first. Later swarms of trollkin were released upon its surface, or else they gathered there. In either case, the ravenous things have denuded the entire plateau now of all edible things, including the topsoil itself and the lichen that elsewhere gathers upon the bare rocks.

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Arganic Hills. A series of steep hills rise from a base of eroded litter. Most are low, but Xemtower rises high, with a larger base and smaller finer rising almost 4000 feet into the air.

Axehall. Babeester Gor chose this place as her own. No one argued. No one else goes near it. "Dimal is as good as dead," say men, which refers to a near miss that can be a fatality.

Blackwash. A water cut.

Citadel. The highest point on the Plateau, a crater that is steep on three sides, open on the last. Inside the crater are steep declines, at the bottom of which is the Tarpit.

Dekor. A region, uz name.

Diki. A riverbed.

Dimal. A region, uz name.

Direm. Uz name for the Citadel.

Esrola's Throne. Made by Argan Argar as a place for his wife to sit when she overlooked her favorite lands. The seat and both arms are visible, and on some holy days, worshippers see her sitting here.

Gagol. Uz name of the Palace.

Gate Gap. This used to be the gateway through which people approached Only Old One in his citadel. A pair of statues stood on either side, each twenty feet tall.

High Valley. A riverbed that is the approach to The Gate.

Hurler Cliff. The higher cliff, from which uz throw rocks at the attackers below.

Kikh. A region, uz name.

Lead Hills. The body of the Great Serpent, which can still be seen in the way it lies. The Spike marks its tail, the Tarpit its head.

Loop. The loop of the Great Serpent lies here, still clutching remnants of the great tower in its coil.

New River Canyon. The Pharaoh dug a deep ditch to connect the Creekstream River with the Runnel River. It has steep banks, sometimes a hundred feet tall depending upon the water flow. It is very difficult to cross.

Old Entry. This used to be the main entryway into the plateau for outsiders, but Palangio ruined it long ago and now it is a face of slag.

Palace. This high plateau was once covered with thousands of buildings and caves, all created with artistry by Argan Argar to woo his wife. There lived thousands of uz, people and other races all in harmony. The entire city was smashed to bits by battle between Only Old One and Pharaoh so that now it is a boot-chopping plain of broken glass in every conceivable size.

Pharaoh's Marsh. The Pharaoh dammed the Creekstream River when he slew the dammed up by the dead Great wyrm. It filled here until the Pharaoh dug the New River.

Senden. A region, uz name.

Spike. A prominent arched stone that is the spike of the Great Serpent.

Tak's cut. Tak was an uz hero who made this valley.

Tangle. A region of twisted plants and jagged stone that lies between the Shadow Plateau and the Bottomland Marsh. It is extremely difficult to traverse. "It's better to risk the crocs of the marsh than walk across the Tangle."

Tarpit.

Teken. A region, uz name. A low area lies between the Tarpit and the other Lead Hills.

The Patio. This area used to be used by Only Old One's people and uz to have a market and other events to meet together. Many Orlanthi friendship ceremonies were held there.

The Wall. This is a cliff that was the wall to the palace, upon which uz could gather to defend the citadel from surface people.

Thruster Cliff. Upon this used to stand uz to cast off attackers. Only ladders were used to get up to it, though Palangio once blasted stairways wide enough for his army to march up. Later uz ate them away.

Towerbits. This region is scattered with the shattered remnants of the Great Tower of Only Old One, marking where it fell when the Great Wyrm seized it in a loop and snapped it during its death throes.

Uz Vale. The central region in the center of the plateau is cut by a river that drains northward. It is sometimes called Manroad because people used it to approach the Palace. Argan Argar made it so floods washed the road clean periodically. It used to be a beautiful garden, though now nothing lives there.

Vaden. A region, uz name.

Verol. A region, uz name. A low spot is washed by a pair of rivers. It was once verdant, populated by many people and remembered in stories of the Esrolians as a fine place. Now even the topsoil has been eaten by the trollkin.

Zeder Hill. The high place between Dekor and Kikh.