Alabasthir

The 'Gate City', the first and largest of the Wasteland cities as one heads out from civilized lands into the endless desert. The city has been decimated and rebuilt numerous times throughout history.



By Imperial decree, the city is to remain uninhabited, and it marks the edge of Imperial territory. In reality, it lies well outside the Imperial sphere of influence, more than a week's ride from the furthest outpost, and nearly a month's travel from the mesa upon which the bulk of the Empire rests. Getting to Alabasthir is torturous. Bandits, Man-Eating Lizards, and hazards mundane but ever-present haunt the path. Those arriving at Alabasthir can expect little aside from a few days rest and some water before being asked politely to move on. At various points in its history, Alabasthir has been raided when the population has gotten to a point where the Empire saw it as a problem. The current inhabitants live as ghosts in the city's catacombs, emerging only to shoo on travellers to points further into The Waste.

At the center of the city is an enormous hand-dug well, delving deep enough into the ground to reach reliable waters. In the 300 years it's been known to exist, it has never run dry; it is the only one in The Waste to have remined in service this long.

Despite its appearance from a distance, the city is in ruin. The last concerted effort to repair it occured well over 70 years ago, and many of the lesser structures have collapsed or worn away. The major edifices remain, but sunlight peers down into the towers through broken roofs, and a creaking sound of bone on bone can be heard when a breeze stirs the desert heat. Numerous holes in the defensive walls allow for free passage by vagrants and predators, and the sity at large is not safe after dark. There are stories of haunts that stalk the passages at night.

Additionally, Bandits will occasionally set up camp in the city. As the closest point in the Waien to the Empire, it is the most commonly visited location for those on the run looking for refuge, or for those looking for a secure spot from which to strike at targets in the Empire. They never stay long.