Zhaun Battleground

Place

Place Name:

Zhaun Battleground

Biome:

Battleground

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

Zhaun battleground is a demarcated zone of what was the great empire of Xalia and Garhon. The bitterness and selfishness of two brothers had caused this once peaceful ground to be what now remains, just a barren dessert, lacking of vegetation, food and water. The terrain of Zhaun is shared between flatlands and a number of canyons ranging from small ones to big open canyons. For those who wish to step foot over the land should at least be aware of the presence of these canyons or otherwise accept the similar fate to those who had fallen to their death, slipping over the edge of the canyon.

The walls of these canyons have all but heard the final screams, yells and prayers of those who fell to their death. The ground more so, have been watered by blood of those who fell into it. Zhaun is squeezed between the Xalia and Garhon and is supposedly rich with black powder. Indeed, a large deposit of black powder exists exactly above the borders of the two lands. These powders are obtained by digging the side of the canyons to expose these flammable solid rocks. Over the years, conflict and war over this cursed stones have resulted in the over-exploitation of the material.

This causes a lot of problems to the terrain. For one, when the side of the canyons are over-exposed, the rocks and soil above it start to give way. Over time, the rocks will start to crumble and fall down creating a chain reaction of rockslide to some, over a mile long. Zhaun is also home to a number of caves. Most of these caves entrances are found on the foot of small canyons. These caves play the most important role in housing many flora and fauna of this region. Luckily, they also contain spring water. However, water is very scarce in this area and therefore inhabitants of this region are extremely territorial for any newcomers who wish to monopolise their water sources.

Sand dunes are extremely common in this region as well. Covering a quarter to the total area of the landmass, these sand dunes are essentially barren and uninhabitable. There are large dune patches of sand mixed with rests of broken weapons, rubbish, tattered apparel, junk, stone trunks and rotten corpses. Between these sand dunes is possible to find underground small shelters made for the inhabitants to keep themselves safe during the battle. Rain is not frequent, however is the best source of water, so there are improvised structures made of junk to catch the rain water. Geography keeps as a wasteland where the life is hard.

However the battlefield is always changing. Barracks and headquarters are build and then destroyed, periodically the survivors dig new shelters, and there are always new corpses and junk added to the ground. Along the battleground is possible to find mass graves for the fallen and dump areas to throw junk, broken items and stone trunks that works the same as dumping area and defense walls. Some dump areas were set in specific areas between canyons to make harder to the enemy find cover or set ambushes. A few exceptions would be a number of tarom plants that grow on the foot of most of the sand dunes in this region.

With the taroms, come small creatures as well including tok’, tu-nut and tompilu. There are also a couple of oasis in this area that are believed to be fed by underground spring water. These oasis are the most habitable and most biodiverse location on this land. The literal Zhaun battleground is located on the southwestern-most part of the region. It’s essentially an arid, dry piece of flatland surrounded by dunes, rock formations and multiple ruins of the old Xalia-Garhon empire. It’s terrain provides a lot of visibility over the land as the battleground goes almost as far as the horizon.

Over the years, the battleground has eerily been rather lush with all the bodies of past wars victims fertilising the land. The ground is fertile enough to let plants grow fast, however the growing plants don´t survive to the battles to bloom unless they grow on caves.

Plants

The agriculture crops were completely destroyed and only wild plants can be found. There are few species of plants that grow in this region. One of the most prominent being the blood flower. The blood flower grows especially on the battleground. It provides good shade for small critters being a foot tall in its prime. The flower is an important source of food for many regional birds like the pakot. Contrary to its name, the blood flower is blue in colour and does not resemble any sort of blood in its shape or form. It simply got its name from the locals, considering the flower blooms lushly.

As a result of the blood that was shed over the grounds from ages of wars between zu’aan from a different time. Tarom is also a very common plant in the region. There are various types of tarom but essentially they share the same common features. All taroms have sharp, prickly thorns and are highly susceptible to heat and dehydration. They have roots going with some of the taroms such as the tarom-turug having roots up to a hundred foot deep. This was essentially used for the plant to get water deep from withing the earth. Taroms are both flowering and fruiting plants.

As hot and arid as the climate is in this region, it’s wise to take note that the many species of tarom are rich in water and mineral. One of the most common tarom is the tarom-turug which is essentially a globe-shaped tarom that typically has a strikingly red flower on its green skin. Every other month, it will grow fruits on its body that contains its seed. It relies on animals and zu’aan or kin’toni for that matter to eat and disperse the seed of the tarom to ensure the continuation of its species on this barren land. Psau are one of the rarest plants in this region. They are in only the two oasis that exist in this region.

Psau have hard, fibery shells and soft insides. Its insides contains a runny nectar. Its tree is rather tall and its leaves are long and needle-shaped. Unfortunately, the fruit of this tree ripens at only one time annually and therefore competition for this resource is hard. Another rare plant is the ole’v. It only grows in one of the two oasis and currently only two exist. Its fruit is not edible per se, but they secrete oil that is traditionally used for cooking in many places. However, it is not to say psau and ole’v only grow in this region. In fact, in other places, there exist a number of plants that are otherwise very rare here.

Kluat are fungoid plants that grows in damp area specifically inside the caves. Kluat are basically a type of microorganism that grow up to half a foot tall and is edible. It prefers the damp condition of the cave and especially the caves that have running spring water in it. Kluat grows rather rapidly, and it has become one of the staple foods for the inhabitants of the area.

Animals

There are tribes in Zhaun that rarely see animals, it was not always this way, but war takes its toll on the land and those who use it as their home. Battlegrounds leave a scent of death that marks the land and only a few see it as a good thing. The animals that are still around are mostly reptiles; lizards and geckos are relatively passive and can even be cooked and eaten. However, they are hard to catch and some species resist capture by locking their jaws on someone’s arm or leg. Fortunately, the tribes in the region know how to capture them, they swiftly grab the lizards’ body and press down on their heads so the jaw cannot move.

Larger animals are a rarity and can seldom be found in Zhaun, few can withstand the heat and lack of water from the deserts. The ones that exist roam around the oasis, stay in groups and never leave that area, which makes them hard to catch, even with a hunting party. Furthermore, leaving your tribe always comes with a risk, scorpions are one of the most common animals in the area and in case someone is stung by them, there are only a couple of seconds to react and stop the venom from spreading to the organs and the brain. The caves are also home to many different species, as they provide shade from the sun and aren’t totally barren.

Unlike most of the soil outside the caves. This characteristic makes the caves attractive hunting grounds, where the dangers are still very much present but the rewards can also be much greater. Despite the potential rewards, no person dares to descend into the lower levels of the caves where only the sounds of the animals can be heard and light does not reach. On the battleground itself, there are always vultures scavenging the dead bodies and picking the meat out of their bones. There is so much death that the vultures have been reproducing faster than ever before and it is hard to look at the sky.

And not be frightened by the hundreds of vultures circling the dead and waiting for their moment to feast. Over the years, the battleground has had visitors, sons that wanted to retrieve their fathers corpses, Kin’toni searching for warm bodies whose blood has not dried out, but the vultures attack on sight; due to the constant nourishment, one vulture has a wingspan of four meters and its claws easily rip the flesh of live and dead kin'toni or zu'aan. It is no longer a territory for the human species, it does not belong to anyone but the predators that occupy it.

The kin’toni have plans to recoup the piece of land in which so many of their people perished but manpower is not a luxury one can afford to waste in these times, especially with the coming ice age and an imminent change in Taerel.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Yergha Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Zhaun Battleground

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This article is written by MandakingM. Copyright 2026 MandakingM. All rights reserved.