Udan

Udan is defined by the Lake Bai-Ming (baiminkul in the Urduric tongue) – an immense freshwater Sea north of the T'chuck – T'chi waste. Bai-Ming lake is so immense that it effectively spans climatic zones from the arid south to the far more Temperate and cold north. This helps to explain why most of the settled population lies on the southern regions of the lake. The lake has several out-flowing rivers, all of which flow northward toward the lowlands and massive taiga forests inhabited by all manner of Nomadic and tribal species.

The Temperatures on the sea has maximum ranges from -35C in the winter to 25C in the Summer on the north end, whereas the southern end is a far more temperate -20C in the winter to 32C in high Summer. Evergreens and high granite peaks dominate the landscape, with river valleys that have carved their way both into and out of the Sea.

Hot springs and freshwater gyzers also pepper the region, helping to explain the gaudy 15C average temperature throughout the body of water. This warm temperature helps to explain the unparalleled profusion of fauna and mega fauna throughout the Sea. Giant sturgeon pried on my dire freshwater seals hunted by massive fresh water carnivorous whales, dolphin and sea serpents which appear to be unique to the region.

The region is surrounded my an immense diversity of fauna, in fact one of the principal trade goods from Udan are Ivory and exotic furs from the species that inhabit the Taiga and vast plains to the north.

For all of this, Udan is sparsely populated, with only a few villages and towns – mostly on the shores of the sea. The exception to this is the small, ancient city of Udan which gives the region its name.

Udan appears to have been carved directly from a mountain eons ago. The skirt wall is a seamless 40' line of solid granite, with the main permanent structures (the Citadel, most important buildings in the main square) constructed in a similar manner. The mythology of the city speaks of a long ago alliance of wizards, Dwarves and giants who formed some great Empire in the north, and Udan was a 'border fort' of some sort. Little evidence of this civilization remains, but there could be significant amounts of information buried within the Citadels catacombs deep under the ground.

More recently, Udan was a vassal to Shou Lung, but this arrangement was altered first by the Mogher Khanate, and then by the T'chuck T'chi. Udan itself may be unassailable, but the people around the Sea have no such protection – and there is no way to place all of them within the city itself and expect them to survive for long.