Sa-kemet
Summary
An enormous, hot desert, often regarded as an endless sea of sand and dirt to most outsiders. A number of arid, rocky spots dot the lands, accompanied by large hills verging on the territory of mountains. Some great rivers flow from the mountains on the east, bringing the only avenues of life with them. Underground water pockets sprout upward, creating oases and offering another place to survive in an otherwise unforgiving landscape. Yet life is an ever resilient thing, and there are those who made Sa-kemet their home. Chief among them are the nebusah and muurun, two ancestral enemies/friends who have long vied for total control of the region. While the muurun and their tribes continued their nomadic, war-like way of life, the nebusah founded a great city, which would later come to be Atenkhet. Many have found their histories played by either side, ally or enemy, but in the grand scheme, it was the nebusah who won control of the deserts. So it would be that many others, such as the mertakan, nuhara, nebura, and even lindwurms found themselves within the vast vision of Atenkhet's divine destiny. As such, much of the history of the deserts are seen through the eyes of the nebusah, for better or worse. With such a powerful nation, however, Sa-kemet's neighbors of Immensio, Akpahm, and Temu started to more earnestly involve themselves. Foreign trade and investment flows in, touching not only Atenkhet's shining cities, but the many other peoples who live (independently or not) in the area. Sa-kemet is, after all, vastly rich in material resources, a fact that satiates Atenkhet from aggressive expansionism, but worries its inhabitants of foreign exploitation.Geography
The vast deserts of Sa-kemet is a harshly unforgiving place, with life adapting in extreme ways to survive. Oases, some particularly large rivers, and underground reservoirs form the bulk of its water supply, and much of life concentrates in these green-spots. The rest eek out a living in the ever shifting sands, dry arid grounds, and other desolate places. Very little rainfall comes to Sa-kemet, and what does arrive tends to become caught on the mountain ranges on its east front. Despite having direct contact with two oceans and a sea, the water supply from such is heavily salted, and thus undrinkable.
One must be prepared to weather its treacherous grounds day and night. Scorching heats create terrifying mirages across the shifting sands, and near-freezing temperatures shock the ground when the sun falls. The lack of available drinking water outside of developed zones makes it a life-or-death commodity, and to run out is to spell a quick end. Sandstorms present the largest natural weather problem, though rainless lightning storms also wreak havoc across the sands. The blast marks from these storms create patches of glass work that are then churned up by normal weather and scattered about. As such, even traversing the sands in a good day can be dangerous after such storms. On the exceedingly rare occasion natural rainfall comes about, the loose earth helps create flash floods and quicksand basins, adding another layer of problems.
Natural Resources
Despite its near barren vegetation, Sa-kemet is rich with mineral, magical, and oil-based wealth. A great deal of surface-accessible veins, seams, and other locations offer easy access with minimal amounts of digging. As nearly all of it is solely exploited by Atenkhet, this has enabled them to become the region's superpower, and forego almost any need for trade with external powers or lands. Nonetheless, several microeconomics run about Sa-kemet, typically through the tribes and other outer people. Trade, as a whole, is difficult to do through the treacherous grounds, making such convoys infrequent, but enormously wealthy when they do migrate through.
Salt is a prime export opportunity. While newer methods produce water better, the traditional remains the harvesting of sea water, evaporation to separate out said water, and then the reclaiming of the newly formed salt crystals. While those in Sa-kemet consider salt to be a pauper's additive to meals, its popularity in foreign nations has led many trade companies to primarily deal in salt exportation.
Alternative Name(s)
The Sun Cradle
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