Savanna Rifts

History

Ancient murals of Luxinae show the savanna quite differently, though fragmented by age and destruction. Back in the time of the great empire it had been a beautiful pine jungle, supplied by the magics of the empire that could shape the world and climate to the whims of mortal spellcrafters. Trees that could reach a mile high, colossal vegetation that dwarfed the human and elven inhabitants. Wildlife was plentiful and grew large.
  Back in those times, there were no mountains of razor sharp glass, or demons to stalk the shadows, and true giants still walked the world.
 

Geography & Climate

It is unclear what happened, how the mighty empire fell, but it left scars in the form of massive chasms splitting the ground, some well over a mile deep. The Midnight Expanse is shaped like a bowl, with water flowing downhill from hundreds of miles around to fill in these canyons, flowing toward them as rapid, short lived, rivers.
  The canyons are too deep to properly fill, but the water can reach so high during the rainy season that it is only a hundred or so feet from the edge, and it will linger for a number of weeks after the rains have stopped before it slowly drains into underground caverns and beyond.
  This flash of water supplies the growth of the savanna around the rifts, keeping the enclosed borders of the black sand desert beyond at bay. Even so, when the rains are late, the savanna can seem to shrink by half, forcing creatures to crowd more tightly into smaller areas in search of water.
  When the rainy season blows in, the savanna comes to life, with fields of grasses, flowers, and small trees blooming; for several weeks the strong winds carry pastel colored petals to all corners of the grasslands. The winds are typically mild, but when the rains come, they can blow hard enough to knock a man off their feet in short bursts. City walls and the scarce large tree and stone formations are the most reliable defense once these winds and floods of water start.