Desert of Thunder

The Desert of Thunder is one of the driest regions on the face of the planet. Yet large cities thrive there, thanks to gates to the elemental planes of water that keep the cities fertile. Each city is ruled by a member of an extended family of blue dragons, whose laws are harsh, but usually fair.

Industries

Life and Society

On top of the social hierarchy are indoubtedly the blue dragons. They are the ruler and tyrants of the cities, and their word is law. But without their magics, the cities and the inhabitants could not support themselves in the parched desert, and thus most humans accept their rule.
The dragons are matriarchal - the most powerful female of their family has ruled them, and it is the females who are responsible for raising the young and instilling the knowledge and values into them necessary for thriving in this society. But each dragon is a ruler of a city in its own right, and any dragon, male or female, can rise in the esteem of its peers by ruling a large and prosperous city - which means that it will get rich from the taxes and tarifs levied on the community.
The male dragons also compete at formal challenges and battles for mating rights - the females choose the dragons with the most impressive displays as suitable mates for their next clutch of eggs. Other than that, the males do not get involved with rearing the children in any way.
Some male dragons also sire a number of half-dragon offspring, in the hopes of gaining loyal and competent servants. This works often enough that the practice continues, but there also have been some spectacular failures when the half-dragon children rebelled against their parents or even managed to slay them. Many other dragons prefer human servants only, arguing that these servants are much weaker and thus much less likely to be a threat and more likely to do what they are told.
Most dragons hold a tight leash on their half-dragon offspring, but some families of half-dragons have become large enough that they have gained some autonomy, and others still found themselves without a patron when their dragon ancestor died. Thanks to their intelligence, they usually found themselves comfortable niches in the societies of the desert cities, and many humans defer to them automatically, believing them to be specially favored by the dragons. This is not necessarily true, however - a dragon will not favor any half-dragon who is not his own get, and might even see him with some suspicion.
Humans and similar races fill out the rest of the social spectrum, from rich merchant families to the lowliest slaves. The latter are bought from other regions or captured on slave raids, but while their fate is usually harsh, the dragons have decreed that the children of slaves should be free. This helps prevent slave rebellions, as the slaves know that at least their children have a chance of a better life - and might even be able to buy them free in return.
One important law bears mentioning: After centuries of problems with surathi infiltrators, the dragons have decreed that all children born with obvious birth defects (a possible sign of surathi ancestry) should be instantly slain, along with their mothers - and that the mother's brothers should be castrated immediately afterwards. As a result, the men of this society often take extreme measures to make sure that their female relatives remain virgins until marriage so that they don't bear the offspring of a surat. If a human female is found not to be a virgin during the wedding night, the prospective husband will reject her - and the male relatives will often slay her and anyone whom they suspect of violating her.

Government and Politics

Groups and Organisations

Religion

Important NPCs

- Giranbazal (male surat thin-blooded mature adult blue dragon/wilder10) is the ruler of Samzuu, and generally considered promising by his elders, and attractive and wily by his peers. He frequently participates in the mating battles, and is successful more often than not. But he is more than he seems.
For Giranbazal started manifesting strange powers unheard off among dragons when he was young. He kept this a secret (it is always wise to keep an ace in the hole among dragons, after all), and after lengthy research, he came to the conclusion that the only explanation for these powers was that he carried the blood of the surathi in his veins.
How this was possible remains unknown to him, for his mother died (apparently in combat) shortly after he hatched, and he was the only survivor of that clutch. However, he is all to aware that if his secret ever were to be uncovered, he would likely be hunted down by his draconic peers, for they do not trust the surathi in the least, and having one among their number would be seen as a stain on their blood that must be eradicated.
Thus, he has set out to study and improve upon his powers so that he will be ready for the battles once the inevitable day comes - and if he builds a large enough power base, he might even defeat the current matriarch and claim draconic rulership for his own! After that, he plans to conquer the Snake Kingdoms, and after that, the rest of the world...
For now, however, he keeps a low profile. But some of the people in Samzuu whisper that he has a fondness for women from the southern jungles, and that he pays high prices to slave traders for new specimens to add to the harem he keeps hidden in his palace. And others say that half-dragons seem to be rapidly growing in numbers in the city, and that some of them have odd deformities that would never be tolerated with humans...
- Tallanggarul (female great wyrm blue dragon) is the (for now) undisputed ruler of blue dragonkind. Wise and powerful, she keeps careful track of all threats to her family, and her schemes and stratagems often take decades to come to fruiton. Few beings - dragon or otherwise - underestimate her, and those who do only survive because they still might be of use in a future plan. Her influence extends across the Known Lands and beyond, and the tribute paid to her by her family makes her possibly the single most wealthies being in the world.
Of late, much of her attention has been occupied by the prospect of draconic off-world colonies. While she knows that she won't live to see it, she dreams that one day all the planets will be under the rule of her family. As of now, conquest of the other regions of Rothea is an unrealistic goal - the opponents would be too many and too strong - but if the dragons can carve themselves a new empire from the wilderness of outer space, then toppling human rule elsewhere should be a hatchling's play with the vast resources available to them then...

Major Geographical Features

Bhatal: This long canyon features the only running water in the whole Desert of Thunder, the river at its bottom of the same name. Consequently, a large part of the desert's sapient population live in the canyon's walls, hollowing out the cliffs for living space.
Plain of Ants: Several large formian colonies exist in these regions. They and the dragons watch each other carefully and engage in occasional skirmishes against the other side, but the situation hasn't yet escalated to a full-fledged war.
Thabashar's Bowl: Once, this depression in the desert was nothing more than a vast stretch of unremarkable desert. But now the relatively young dragon overlord of Salit has claimed it for a very special project: He is planning of transforming it into a vast, artificial lake. At the moment, he is digging a canal through the desert with an army of summoned earth elementals, and it is only a matter of time until he reaches the Dragon River on the border of the Verdant Coast. Once this happens, Thabashar's Bowl with fill with water, allowing for vast irrigation projects and even fishing. On the other hand, the people living downstream of the canal will experience severe draughts as vast amounts of water are diverted from their natural course. Many member of the Verdant Coast tribes living close to the river are calling for a war against Thabashar. So far, fear of the combined might of the blue dragons has prevented outright warfare, but as the situation becomes more desperate, many chieftains are contemplating hiring outsiders as mercenaries to get rid of the dragon for them...

Important Towns and Cities

Draxal (Large Metropolis, 2,312,746): The heart of the dragons' power and the seat of the matriarch of the clan, Draxal is a vast and majestic city of dark splendor. Tallanggarul herself lairs in a palace complex in the center of the city several square miles large. From this edefice, she commands an army of spies and informants that brings her news from both distant lands and nearby cities. Hundreds of diplomats and petitioners enter and leave the city every day, and a large bureaucracy keeps the city running smoothly. The whole city somehow seems to conspire to make a visitor feel small and insignificant - and compared to its ruler, he probably is.
Gigam (Small city, 60,312): Two hundred years ago, the shifting sands of the Desert of Thunder revealed the cyclopean ruins of an ancient city of unknown origin. Shortly afterwards, several highly productive wells were discovered there, and the resettlement began in earnest. Still, even today, only a small portion of the city is truely inhabited again, and explorers manage to find an ancient artifact now and then despite generations of looters.
The most striking feature of Gigam are the ubiquetous lion statues, which range from small figurines to a giant crouching lion more than two hundred yards long. Defacing the lions is said to bring terribly bad luck, but some outsiders claim that the "bad luck" in question is nothing more than the retribution of a local lion-worshipping cult.
Kourama (Small Metropolis, 871,432): Kourama is the largest of the cliff settlements built into the walls of the canyon of Bhatal. It is located in the region where the canyon reaches further down than anywhere else, and the city itself stretches on for many miles. Its many streets offer a grand view over the canyon, and are a sight to behold.
The many thermals near this city are a favorite gathering spot for many of the region's younger blue dragon, who often soar through the skies here for the sheer joy of it.
Nabi (Small Metropolis, 837,653): Annurax, the ruler of this city-state, is unusual for his hands-off style of managing her city. She doesn't make any decrees. She doesn't punish lawbreakers. She doesn't even collect any taxes. For the most part, she only looks after maintaining the enchantments that allow the city to survive in the desert. She leaves the actual governing to a council of mortals (who need not even be citizens of the city) with twelve members, only reserving a tie-breaking vote for herself.
These councilors serve for six years and create new laws, collect taxes, and otherwise keep the city running as they see fit. But they are not appointed by Annurax - instead, their seats are auctioned off to the highest bidder after their term is over, and the money gained from the auctions is her sole income. Two auctions take place each year, at the summer and winter solstices, and they are always cause for great celebrations (as the new councilors usually feel compelled to celebrate their new positions - someone who doesn't throw any festivities is regarded as cheap and will loose both face and poltical influence he will need on the council).
The relatively large number of councillors makes it hard to plunder the city coffers, and thus most councillors prefer to work out complicated deals and policies that benefit their merchant houses in the long run - and not coincidentally, these often work for the benefit of the city as a whole. As a result, Nabi has become one of the largest trading centers in the region.
There is no restriction on who may participate in the auctions other than that they must not be dragons or extraplanar entities, and thus a number of foreigners have become councillors from time to time. During the last auction, a rich merchant from the League of Armach with many political ties to that nation's rulers has become a councillor, which has become a cause of some alarm for many people, but Annurax seems undisturbed.
Nas (Small Metropolis, 593,931): Build on a cluster of mesas connected by gigantic stone bridges, Nas is a sight to behold. The city has attracted a large number of mystics, gamblers, excentrics and other people who don't quite fit in elsewhere, but Kazurianzan, the city's dragon overlord, tolerates all these people as long as his rule remains unquestioned. As of late, the city has attracted a fair number of thrillseekers from the west, a trend likely to increase once the Grand Road connects to this city.
Nemuta (Small Metropolis, 751,334): Located in the middle of an especially sandy region of desert, Nemuta is protected from both the sun and the frequent sandstorms by a vast, moveable scaffolding covered with magically enhanced cloth. On clear days, it can be opened to let the air circulate (and its draconic ruler and his half-dragon offspring out). But if a sandstorm arises, the scaffolding is moved and most of the sand kept at bay.
Salit (City, 124,221): Salit is one of the youngest and smallest cities of the Desert of Thunder, and somehow never managed to find its own niche. It didn't receive enough trade and didn't develop any specialities that would have allowed it to stand out among the cities of the Desert of Thunder.
Now that Thabashar, its draconic ruler, plans to turn the city into a lakeside town, many citizens are eagerly awaiting the day when they gain access to the precious water. Others, however, are fearing retribution - either from the other dragons who oppose this violation of tradition (since the free-flowing water would allow the humans to live without depending on draconic magic), or from the people of the Verdant Coast who would face serious droughts if the project is completed. Despite all the controversity surrounding the project, Tallanggarul has been uncharacteristically silent on the matter, and thus, the other dragons have not dared to act openly against the city.
Samzuu (Small Metropolis, 673,221): The southernmost settlement in the Desert of Thunder, this city serves as a neutral ground between the dragon-ruled cities, the Serpent Kingdoms, and the humans of the Verdant Coast. Shady merchants from all three regions come here to do business, and the slave trade thrives here. This lends the city a certain disorderly, even lawless feel absent in the other draconic cities, and thus it has acquired a reputation as a "Sin City" where anything, including the most exotic vices, are up for sale.

Important Sites

Garden of Delights: Feeding the masses of a city-state is a logistical challenge in the most fertile of regions. In the Desert of Thunder, possibly the most parched wasteland in the known lands, this challenge would become overwhelming to anyone of lesser power. Even magically created water often evaporates before it hits the ground here.
Yet the desert's dragon overlords have met this challenge. With the aid of nexus towers from several city-states and lengthy rituals sustained over many years, they have created a magical protective dome more than 30 miles in diameter over a part of the desert. This dome keeps the moisture inside, and allows the ground to support crop yields that would be the pride of any Flannish city.
The slaves here are worked as hard as elsewhere within the region, yet most slaves consider themselves lucky to be transferred here, as the ready supply of food and the more forgiving climate allows them to live longer and more comfortably. The Garden's administrators, on the other hand, wage subtle wars of intrigue and sabotage against their colleagues to ensure that their district of the garden grows more bountiful than that of others, and thus gives them greater prestige. The dragons tolerate this, as long as it does not get out of hand.

Regional History

About 2,300 years ago, the Desert of Thunder was a savannah settled by bands of mostly human nomads who survived by tending to herds of goats, cattle, and other domestic animals. A few blue dragons lived in the region, who raided the nomads and frequently left dead tribes in their wake. Occassionally, a group of human heroes managed to slay one of the dragons, but not enough to make a dent in their population.
At this point, a young dragon named Thurangax hit on a strange new idea: She approached several nomadic tribes, and suggested that as long as they give her an annual tithe of animals, she would not only spare them but also protect them from hostile tribes and other dragons. The tribes agreed, and both sides profited from the agreement - Thurangax became strong and powerful from the bountiful food, and both the herds and the humans multiplied.
Time passed. Thurangax had many children, which adopted the same pattern, each protecting a few tribes of their own, and even cooperating versus dragons who preyed on "their" tribes. Eventually the humans formed permanent settlements, and the tribute expanded to include coins and jewelry - something which pleased the dragons immensely.
Then, about a thousand years later, the climate changed and the savannah began to dry up. The herds could no longer support themselves, and many humans either starved or fled to more fertile regions. "Fortunately" for the dragons, around this time the Atalan Empire started to expand into the region, causing many of the younger dragons to fly off to clash with its armies in search of plunder and glory. Many of them were killed by the Empire's mighty magics, but this was just as well, for the savanah - now turning into the Desert of Thunder - could no longer support their number.
Thurangax, now ancient and powerful, studied the reports about the Atalan Empire carefully, and was intrigued by the potential of the nexus towers. For several years, she took on human form and traveled across the Empire, spying on its most sensitive installations, until she finally understood their construction and use. She then returned to the desert and built her own nexus tower, using the harnessed magical energies of a nearby community to create vast quantities of water.
Her offspring followed suit, and soon cities sprang up everywhere in the desert, supported by nexus towers and dragon magics. Most humans hailed the dragons as saviors, and despite the harsh laws and regular tithes willingly lived under their rule. The population of both humans and dragons continued to boom to this day, with young dragons periodically gathering a group of follwers and moving to a new spot of the desert to found a new community.
Still, even blue dragons are highly territorial creatures, and despite the cooperation enforced by Tallaggarul, the current matriarch of the dragons, fights between neighboring dragons increase as the population density of dragons reaches its limits. While the dragons could just try to carve out new realms in distant parts of the world (and in fact, some try to do so), the humans elsewhere are much more hostile to dragon rule, and the more friendly climates make the people there much less dependent on dragon rule, decreasing their loyality even further.
Because of this, Tallanggarul, acting on reports from distant lands, has recently decreed that all new dragon settlements should not be founded in the Desert of Thunder, but on other planets. What the mere humans of Bodenwald can do, the dragons can indoubtedly do as well, and according to the reports she has received, the other worlds are hostile and remote enough to be ideal for the symbiotic relationship between dragons and humans that has developed in her realm. In her mind, there is no reason why all the planets shouldn't be under dragon rule one day.