3.0 THE LAND OF SIRAYN

The land of Sirayn can be divided into five major areas: Isra, Kirmlesra (including Kirmlesran Hills and the Dalad Kirm), the eastern coast and forest (the Sara Bask), the plain of Chennacatt, and the Tur Betark (Ta. Yellow mountain's). Dominating them all, the Siresha River runs 600 miles from its source in the Tur Betark to its delta in the Bay of Ormal. The following sections detail the climate and geological peculiarities of Sirayn

CLIMATE

The northern desert portions of Chennacatt and lsra (the Haradwaith) are very inhospitable. The area is hot, with temperatures rising above one hundred degrees during the day, followed by a drop of 30 to 50 degrees during the night. Near the coast and in the fertile areas to the south, the weather is equally hot. but the land is quite arable due to the abundance of mountain rainfall and glacial runoff and the presence of rivers. The Tur Betark are very high (over 10,000 feet in height) and exhibit a true alpine environment.

The Sirani have three basic seasons; Sadayn (Ta. "F1ood''), Kramask (Ta. |"planting'') and Bauga (Ta. "Water-channels'').

Since the climate is dry, the seasons stem primarily from weather profile in the mountainside. The month of Tarsk starts the season of Bauga, when rainfall in the peaks of the Tur Betark begins, and the wadis of Isra and Chennacatt are dry no longer. The mountains receive the greatest amount of rain during Hirain, Tarsas, and Tars, before precipitation wanes again. In the month of Magaub, when mountain precipitation is tapering off, the warming temperatures melt glaciers and snowfields melt whose moisture combines with the rainfall to create the annual flooding of the Siresha and its tributaries. Thus begins the season of Sadayn. Glacial runoff and snowmelt continue strong through Gerzaud and then taper to almost nothing. As the floodwaters recede, rich sediments deposited by the river remain to rejuvenate the topsoil, and the planting and growing season, Kramask, begins in the month of Sain. The year's twelve months were based originally on the Elven calendar.

The Elven month Narwain equates to the Siranean month of Tars, the first month of the year, set in the winter. The names of the months in Elvish are Narwain, Ninui, Gwaeron.Gwirith, Lothron, Norui, Cerveth, Urui, lvanneth, Narbeth, Hithui, and Girithron.

GEOGRAPHY

The majority of northern Sirayn is covered with sand. Only the scattered oases and river valleys support human life. The Tarnet Bazain, home of clan Masra, is one of two inhabited sites between the Siresha and Tul Poac to the north. The southern territories are more fertile. Dry water channels and wadis corrugate throughout Greater Harad. Infrequent cloudbursts produce flashfloods that roar through these breaks in Kirmlesra, while annual flooding due to runoff from the Tur Betark produces seasonal flow in the gulleys of Chennacatt and Isra. The following sections describe more fully the most prominent regions and ecosystems of Greater Harad.

3 21 THE SIRESHA RIVER

The Siresha rises in the Tur Betark, in the mighty Karaskon Ravine, south of Ny Chennacatt, secret fortress of the Storm King.

Meltwater from two glaciers, as well as the torrential rains falling on the mountain peaks, feed its upper reaches to create a fast- moving current. The yellowish color of the water is due to the yellow sediment or loess eroded from the cliffs of the Tur Betark.

During Sadayn, the wettest season, a traveller following the foothills east from Ciryatandor must detour north to the Mara Gaib (Ta. "bridge of the Old-settlers'') to cross the flood-swollen Siresha. This remarkable engineering feat bridges the river at the narrowest point between Tartaust and Baud Selen.

Dropping 224' through the Skara Riscal (Ta. |"Wraith's Teeth rapids"), the river is joined at Tartaust by a small tributary and broadens to sweep smoothly along the bottom of a wide gorge. The current passes rapidly through chasms carved from mesas and rock outcroppings as well as across the vast plains of the scrubland typical of Chennacatt. Just above Rask, before the Maudar adds its flow to the Siresha, the river drops in the Skara Sarsus (Ta."cougar's Gullet rapids"), the last of the white water that makes the upper half of the Siresha unnavigable.

The lower Siresha is a tamer stream, flowing between low banks and meandering in ever greater loops as it approaches the Bay of Ormal. It shrugs once more at the ruins of Charnesra, where unusal rock formations in the river create lethal undercurents and an obstructed channel for water traffic. Young and daring adventurers sometimes brave the swirling current, but more prudent travellers and commercial bargemasters still use the old canal through the ruins to avoid the possibility of sinking their vessels.

The great forrest bordering Isra, the Sara Bask, grows right up to the river, its scrubby undergrowth and hardy trees overhanging the southern bank. Torbusaud (Ta. "greenbarks''), slow barges of herb pickers, patrol this section of the Siresha to allow workers to efficiently harvest the wood's bounty while still afloat. The lazy Sirsis River flows between trunks of the famous bausk trees (known for their wizardly corkscrewed limbs) of the forest to join the Siresha. The combined currents dump into the Mard Isauba, a finger of the greater Bay of Ormal, at Tul Harar.

ISRA

Isra is the breadbasket of Sirayn. Its gently rolling lands rise slowly from the Siresha river and the Sara Bask to the foothills of the Tur Betark, at an average elevation of 750 to 1000 feet. The soils of lsra were formed over the ages by materials eroded from the mountains to the south. Before the weather patterns changed, the area was more lush than at present. A deep, yellowish topsoil developed. Isra may be divided into two areas: the river valleys of the Maudar and the Sirsis. Of the two, the Sirsis valley is more fertile. More frequent rainfall and deeper topsoil.