Ayyar Coast (concept)
Biozone: Ayyar Coast
The Ayyar Coast describes the scrublands and subtropical, broadleaf forests stretching from the Lahkorini River to the western faces of the Tarsanides. Much of the region consists of dense, evergreen heaths and berry shrubbery that thins towards the scant floodplains and the desert further inland. In its distant past the region was far more heavily forested, but with the diversion of the Kemsar River the once misty forests rapidly dried and thinned.
Forest fires killed much of the rest, and what survives clusters in strips that arc along the Lahkorini and Tashkorf rivers, extending north and south into scattered groves along the mountains. Date-plums and lilac persimmons are common fruits throughout these small remnant forests, though travelers would be ill advised if they took freely from the trees and bushes, as many types of poisonous flora still thrive throughout the woods and heaths. Common types of fauna found here include ostriches and hyenas, though far stranger things have been rumored to lurk in the deep wilds.
We have long since left the gentle farmlands along the city's edge for rolling fields of dry grass and dense shrubbery. Despite the hostile environments surrounding the Ayyar Coast, life has managed to thrive here. Colors blossom through the heath and berries, a gentle wave of hue through green thickets. In the distance, I can see a thin line of gangly trees that obscure all that lay beyond them besides the towering mountains overhead.
Trudging through the brush proves more difficult than it would seem with an array of small and large thorns that could maim a small child or a careless drunk. The heat is far from unbearable, though it does take its toll. Once we finally take camp, I manage to find a view of the surrounding area, and watch the swaying of the fields against the vast ocean to the north.