Realm Year 987; Month of Resplendent Water, 14 months till calibration.<br/><br/>The Rock of the Goddess of Thrice Damned Gifts lies near the very edge of the southern lands, not far from the wyld.  About 30 miles to the north lies a first age road, which forms the core of the rarely used trade route in this reigon.  Taking any other route through the area is considered tantamount to suicide.  If you're lucky, the Goddess will find you.  Otherwise, make your peace with oblivion.<br/><br/>To the east lives the Tribe of Kohb-Ra the Resplendent Pharoh.  A tribe of beastmen who guard a network of ancient tombs.  They survive by exacting tribute from the fair folk in the local wyld, and receive weapons and finished goods from local caravans for keeping the road free of the fair folk.<br/><br/>To the Northeast live the twelve tribes of Candar, a group of ancestor worshiping nomads growing increasingly influenced by immaculate missionaries.  They know secret paths through the desert to well protected Oasises, and trade the food they grow there to the city of Furnace in exchange for firedust and alcohol from the north.  They also engage in a substantial amount of ranching, trading their surplus meat to the Guild in exchange for Ghost Flowers (which they use to communicate with their ancestors) and hardier livestock to grow better in the southern sun.<br/><br/>To the Northwest lies the little town of Scab, a strange outpost for the realm.  Although drugs are illegal in the city of furnace, and forbidden by tribal decree among the Candarians, there is still substantial interest in Cocaine, Maiden Tea, and Opium.  In the town of Scab, guild merchants provide these drugs, along with access to exotic prostitutes, and a slave market.  Both the Candarians and the residents of Furnace resent the presence of Scab, but Furnace needs the guild to give them water, textiles, and alcohol to trade with the Candarians, and the Candarians need the guild to give them Ghost Flowers and Livestock.  Somewhat ironically, Scab is built around an immaculate monestary, which acts as the hub of immaculate religion in the region.  They will take nearly anybody on as a monk who promises to dedicate their life to spreading the faith to the Candarian pagans and the sometimes forgetful people of furnace.<br/><br/>North of Scab and a little bit west of the Rock of the Goddess lies the town of Furnace; a reasonably large mining town of about a thousand people.  The inhabitants of Furnace mine copper and firedust for a living, although they greatly fear that their mines will run dry, leaving them to starve.  Thus, the people of Furnace are always praying to Sphalerite, the hearth mother of the town of Furnace, and Realgar, the local God of firedust.  Realgar, in particular, has started taking an active role in the operation of the township of furnace, and has begun teaching his trademark martial arts style, Righteous Devil Style, to the mayor of the town, a hard edged Water Aspect named Rayne of a Thousand Humors.  Rayne has shared a few of the katas of the style with the local monks.  The people of Furnace are religious and hardworking, though they often spend their entire monthly wages getting drunk in the saloon, and enjoying Furnace's impressively large red light district.