Nehekhara

Nehekhara, which translates as the "Great Lands", yet is known now and forever as the Land of the Dead, was once a mighty and far-flung civilisation of Men and is the homeland of the Tomb Kings.   Whilst the land of Nehekhara was once fertile, populous and prosperous, it is now a desolate kingdom of barren wasteland and searing desert. In addition to the centuries of war and neglect, the lands were forever tainted by the enchantments of Nagash's Great Ritual.   The Land of the Dead is now a ghost-haunted realm where countless unquiet spirits and elementals flit around great mortuary temples and dark tombs. Their cries can be heard screaming in the wind as they cross the vast tracts of Nehekhara's baking deserts, preying on those foolish enough to enter the cursed land in search of treasure.  

Geography

  Nehekhara is a hostile realm where the searing heat of the desert sun is the least of a wandering traveller's worries. The waters of the Great Mortis River are poisonous and blood-coloured, providing no relief to the thirsty. There are regions of quicksand that can swallow regiments whole and choking sandstorms that strip the flesh from bones in mere seconds. Whirlwinds of dust, skulls and ravenous desert insects scour through the land, and rivers of flesh-eating beetles crawl across the desert, consuming everything in their path.   There are vast plains of bones and skulls that come to life without warning, skeletal fingers reaching up to drag anything alive on the surface into a sandy grave below. A few oases still exist, scattered throughout the desert, but they are all tainted; instead of fresh water, they are filled with bubbling pools of blood. Most are the abodes of foul monsters, and those that are not are lined with parched, malevolent trees that strangle their victims and suck every drop of moisture from their bodies. Nehekhara is a wilderness of ever shifting sands, a land of constantly changing topography.   There are waterfalls of sand that defy the passage of time and flow backwards. There exist dunes and basins large enough to accommodate entire armies, and many of the Tomb King's legions lie beneath the surface in such places — awaiting the magical incantations of Liche Priests to awaken them from their deathly slumber. A sandstorm might unearth a monolithic statue, or even an entire buried city, lost and forgotten under the dunes, only to be engulfed and concealed again a few days later.   In addition to open deserts, where sand stretches as far as the eye can see, there are vast necropolises and numerous places where one can hardly move for all the statues and sculptures, each covered with grisly images of death. These monuments are vaster and grander than anything Aiandell can boast, and foremost amongst them are towering figures resembling the great kings and angry gods of Nehekhara.   Numerous Undead creatures wander the deep desert, from swarms of small but deadly desert scorpions to giant centipedes, each the size of a sphinx. In the centuries since Nagash's Great Ritual, many foul monsters have been drawn to the magically tainted realm. There are now Manticores, Cockatrices and even Dragons inhabiting the Nehekharan desert. Nomadic bandits make a living by plundering the tombs of ancient kings, and marauding Orc tribes continuously rampage across the Land of the Dead in search of battle and plunder. Nehekhara may be a barren realm, but it is far from empty or uninhabited.