The White Desert is the name given to an expanse of bright white sands and dunes that lies to the Night and Turnwards of Hellgrass Reach. The Desert extends at least 100 Klegs Turnwards, forming a natural barrier to the expansion of Derzaki interests in this direction. Only a few hardy Tribesman bands will ever venture into its depths to hunt through ancient ruins, but they must brave the Sand Beithirs, Salt Dragons and Fire Lions that make their home amongst the sands. More sensible travellers avoid the area.
Wind's Canyon is a complex maze of bazaars, lanes and houses dug into the caves and rock of a narrow point in the canyon. Walls block the approach from Turn, Counter and Sunwards, and the flat tops of the canyon are too high and fragmented for an attacker to use them for launching an effective attack on the town. Hedges of Marama Thorns block the main entry routes a little distance from the walls, funelling anyone approaching along the roads themselves. The gates are of Zerom wood, studded with copper bosses, and always guarded by a small group of Nistran soldiers operating from a fortified gatehouse.
Within the walls, mesas of rock break up the town into small sections, separated by narrow winding streets or passageways. Colourful awnings of dyed Maugey fibre add extra shade, and there are many Hunut and Ganam in the streets. Daybats and Brightflies zip and swoop overhead. People live close packed in Wind's Canyon, with families living together. The main market is near to the Drover's Gate. At the back of this market stands the Low House, where the Clerks are based, and the taxes are tabulated. A little way to the Counterturn and at a higher level is the High House the grander home of the Bonded Ones. A number of smaller districts, located in their own crevasses, surround the main part of the town.