Location: Continent of Brun; west of Glantri, Darokin, and the Atruaghin Plateau.

Area: 1,000,000 sq, mi. (The Barren Plain, 60,000 sq. mi.; the Black Mountains, 200,000 sq. mi.; the Burning Waste, 40,000 sq. mi.; The Konumtali Savannah, 100,000 sq. mi.; the Plain of Fire, 100,000 sq. mi.; the Sind Desert, 500,000 sq. mi.) The Great Waste includes much of the Kingdom of Sind; see that nation's entry for more information.

Population: Unknown. (The Barren Plain, 50,000 nomads; the Black Mountains, countless humanoids and a few beleaguered dwarven strongholds; the Burning Waste, monsters only; the Konumtali Savannah, 20,000 nomads; the Plain of Fire, 30,000 humanoids and 14,000 gnolls and elves, all underground; the Sind Desert , 1 00 , 000 nornads.)

Languages: Urduk, Sindhi (the Sind Desert, the Barren Plains); Graakhalian (the Plain of Fire); numerous tribal languages..

Coinage: Some Sindhi coins; some foreign coins.

Government Type: independent tribes and bands with govemments ranging from none t^ totalitarian dictatorships.

Industries: Herding, sparse farming, raiding, exacting tribute from passing caravans.

Description: The Great Waste is a huge desert bounded on the north and west by the Black Mountains, to the cast by the Kingdom of Sind, to the south by the Sea of Dread, and by savannah and the Gulf of Hule to the west. It encompasses a million square miles of rocky canyons, salt flats, sand dunes, gravel plains, and scrub lands.

Although the Great Waste is mostly arid, it has rwo sizeable lakes. Lake Hast, to the northeast, receives runoff waters from the northern side of the Amsorak Mountains (Kurish Massif). In monsoon season, the river Devaki hurtles down from the Adri Varma plateau, adding its dark, foul waters to the lake. A shallow, salty lake called Lake Halli lies to the northwest. It receives sparse runoff from the Black Mountains' southem slopes.

The Great Waste rises from sea level to an altitude of roughly 5,000 feet at Lake Halli and the Black Mountains' central foothills. This gradual rise is barely perceptible on the Great Waste's flat plains, and cannot be detected at all in rough or broken terrain.

Tbe Barren Plain: This is a level plain of semiarid grasslands inhabited chiefly by nomads and their livestock. To the west, the Barren Plain gradually gives way to long grasses and scattered trees of the Konumtali Savannah. Temperatures range from 50° F on winter days to 100° F at the height of summer. Nights average 20° F colder than days.

The Black Mountains: Many of this mountain range's peaks are permanently covered with ice, and large glaciers fill the higher valleys. Travelers negotiating the Black Mountains confront food scarcity, snow-covered crevasses, avalanches, cunning monsters, freezing cold and air so thin it makes breathing difficult Hardy scrub bushes and twisted pines clothe the mountains' southern foothills; grasses and lichens cling to the higher slopes. Peaks higher than 15,000 feet (of which there are many) are bare, windswept rock-too high even for snow. Temperatures drop rapidly with altitude.

The Burning Waste.. Minor quakes frequently shake this rocky region of geysers and tar pits. Natural gas vents sometimes burst into flames and burn for weeks. Temperatures average 90-100° F, day or night, winter or summer. In some places, underground lava pools and steam vents heat the surface rocks to the point at which tain sizzles and turns to steam. Little grows here.

Konumtali Savannah: These parklike grasslands receive rain only in the summer months. Temperatures range from 50° F in winter to 100° F in summer. Nights average 20° F colder than days. Along the coasts are some of the loveliest sandy beaches to be found anywhere.

The Plain of Fire: Numerous sinkholes,canyons, and arroyos break the surface of this rugged, inhospitable plain. Gaping holes in the desert floor attest to underground labyrinths of caves and tunnels. A thin, unproductive layer of soil covers parts of the Plain of Fire; other regions present bare expanses of flat rock broken into jagged lumps that can tear the boots off travelers. Strange black crystalline rocks called firestones litter the plain's surface. They absorb the heat and light of the sun and radiate it at night. Temperatures reach 120° F or higher in the summertime and rarcly drop below 90° F at night. Evert in winter, the Plain of Fire maintains temperatures of 70 to 90° F.

The labyrinths beneath the Plain of Fire are now home te humanoid invaders from the Black Mountains. These humanoids have driven the original inhabitants-Graakhalian gnolls and elves deep underground.

The Sind Desert: This rocky desert stretches between Sind and the Gulf of Hule. Craggy bluffs and rock outcroppings rise abruptly from the plain. Tenacious shrubs and thorn bushes dot the landscape, occasionally forming dense, thomy forests. Temperatures reach 110° Fahrenheit during summer months, dropping rapidly to 40° or 50° F at night. Winters are devastatingly cold, with temperatures rarely exceeding 40° F in the daytime and dropping as low as thirty degrees below zero at night.

Notable Sites: The Nawmidi sand flats in the Sind Desert encompass hundreds of square miles of sandy plains, sand dunes, and dry quicksand so powdery a camel can sink up to its neck in less than a minute. The Twin Oases offer welcome respites to caravans making the dangerous trip across the Great Waste as they ply their lucrative trade between the eastern lands and the Savage Coast to the west.

History: Before the destruction of Blackmoor, the Great Waste was blanketed by a vast, temperate forest that straddled both sides of the Black Mountains. After the Great Rain of Fire, Mystara's new weather patterns tumed most of the region into desert.

Light-skinned Urduk tribesmen, descendants of the Neathar culture, were the first to venture into the Great Waste. In 1750 BC, copperskinned people fleeing the earthquakes that destroyed the original Atruaghin Plateau joined them, Further climatic changes brought moisture to the Great Waste, and for a while the desert bloomed. The Asanda River Valley attracted even more farmers from the ruined Atruaghin Plateau. This latest wave of immigrants called themselves Sindhi and traded freely with the nomadic Urduks.

In 1257 BC, tribes of Red Ores led by Wogar overran Sindh and the Atruaghin Clans. Sindh was only just able to stave off the Red Orc invasion, while the Atruaghin Clans area, Darokin, and the Five Sbires suffered under centuries of Red Orc rule.

In 1000 BC, a tribe of gnolls fleeing their Nithian masters discovered the labyrinthine tunnels beneath the Plain of Fire and established themselves there. Back above ground, bloody border disputes continued between the Red Ores and Sindh before combined efforts of Sindhis and the Children of Atruaghin finally defeated the Red Orcs in 800 BC.

In the course of the final war with the Red Orcs, the Immortal Atruaghin returned to save his people. He recreated the Atruaghin Plateau te give them safe haven. The new plateau changed the prevailing weather patterns; drought settled upon the Great Waste once more, and the fertile Asanda River Valley slowly gave way to the expanding Sind Desert.

The Sheyallia elves fled into this wasteland from the Tanogoro people of the Serpent Peninsula . The Sheyallia elves discovered the land of Graakh beneath the Plain of Fire. They settled in this strange realm, and gradually developed a cooperative society with the Gruugrakh gnolls already living there.

Recently, humanoids nominally controlled by the Master of Hule have overrun the Great Waste. They invaded the land of Graakhalia beneath the Plain of Fire, decimating the elves and gnolls and driving survivors deep underground. More humanoids invaded Sind to the cast, their numbers bolstered by nomads and brigands of the Sind Desert. As of AC 1012, the Great Waste is primarily home to creatures loyal to the Master of Hule and to people trying desperately to survive in spite of the invaders.

Important Figures: No individual bas risen to prominence during recent events in the Great Waste.

Flora and Fauna: The creatures encountered in the Great Waste are nearly all adapted to living in arid climates.

The Barren Plain and Konumtali Savannah: wild animal herds including antelopes, asses, gazelles, oryxes, rhinos, warthogs, and zebras. Herds of feral camels, horses, or goats also roam the plains. Nomads, mostly Urduk horsemen, live in the Barren Plain. The Konumtali Savannah is home to elands, elephants giraffes, and wildebeests. Carnivores include blink dogs, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, and lions. Giant ants and termites build enormous nests in the savannah. Other inhabitants include blue dragons, a few tribes of centaurs, some pegasi, and patches of grab grass. Bands of dark-skinned Karutunda hunters also roam the savannah; these short-statured people average 5 feet tall.

The Black Mountains: Orcs, ogres, kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, gnolls, and bugbears live in the caves and wildlands of the Black Mountains. Less common intelligent inhabitants include mountain giants, a few beleaguered dwarven colonies, and red dragons. There are also tribes of aborigines, yeti, manscorpions, harpies, and some families of ill-tempered verbeegs. Other monsters include wyverns, rocs, manticores, flying hydras, hippogriffs, griffons, and chimerae. Normal animals include wolves, bears, rock baboons, and herds of deer and mountain goats.

The Burning Waste: Creatures found in the Burning Waste include efreeti, earth and fire elementals, a phoenix, and flame salamanders.

The Plain of Fire: Only a few living creatures larger than an insect or a mouse live or travel on the inhospitable, unforgiving surface of the Plain of Fire. Most of the area's denizens, including many humanoids, live underground.

The Sind Desert: In addition to human nomads, travelers may meet giant ants, rock baboons, bats, giant beetles, blink dogs, a blue dragon or two, insect swarms (prirnarily locusts), lions (near the western savannah), giant lizards, manscorpions, ogres, nomadic bands of orcs and other humanoids, giant scorpions, giant rattlesnakes and spitting cobras, sphinxes, trolls, and wights. Animal herds include wild asses, antelope, and the camels, horses, goats, and sheep of the Urduk nomads.

See Also: X4, Master of the Desert Nomads, X5 The Temple of Death; Champions of MYSTARA: Heroes of the Princess Ark Boxed Set.