They call this region the Kingdom of Sands. The wide desert is harsh and unforgiving, but that is not where the people here live. They cluster around the great rivers and oases, lines of habitation clinging to the life-sustaining waters. And the desert does not cover all the land; There are patches near the coasts that sustain grasses and even jungles, and the highlands to the east are cool and rocky but life clings tenaciously on. True, the threat of monsters remains dire everywhere that generations of priestesses have not spent time purifying, but they are less active in some places and more active in others.
The Death Zone is called that for a reason.
Our story begins in a town called Chelarn, on the Baki Highlands, among fields of olive trees and wheat, hillsides of grapes, tomatoes growing in gardens. There is an enormous stone rising out of the grass not so far away, forming a lopsided obelisk, which is considered a holy place due to conflicting rumors that some terrible monster was destroyed here, or something like that. Someone has climbed it and hung ropes and handholds, making for a thrilling ascent up about A temple was built there, and sometimes the folk come to appreciate the view from the top. It makes you feel alive.
Today, the mana currents of the Dream World have built up to a threshold, and crossed it. Like a breaking wave, energy flows in to the nexus at the top of Chelarn Rock, and doesn't stop flowing. Blue light and twisted vistas shine above the town, and a brief passage elsewhere opens.