Sallamar

Quotes
"'Sallamar home of the fallen - never forgotten'""- National Motto" "'We will, like the talons on a phoenix, grasp the flames of our ashy remains. We will be born anew. We will be born on the same dust, dirt and rubble that our fallen compatriots knew. ""We will remember our home. We will remember where We are from. We are from the proud nation that will cease to fail because We are the proud nation that survived the dragon - for We are strong."" We will rise from the ground and rise higher than ever before. ""Sallamar once, was a great kingdom and Sallamar shall be a great kingdom once more.'""- The Salem (Head of the Salem)"

Background
Sallamar is a large stretch of forest and desert in the southern part of Meridhan and is known to be the kingdom that was scarred by the desert dragon - Sandara.

It was a well-reknown and prosperous kingdom filled forests, rivers and mountains. From the landscape and the size of Sallamar, it was considered the sister Kingdom of Esterlos. Both were very alike in culture, military and in government.

Ever since the desert dragon came it lead into a number of environmental, social, and economic consequences.

The dragon brought destruction to the homes of Sallark. It destroyed the Capital city of Salema as well as killing the majority of people living in it. Their military was destroyed due to the bombardment of the dragon's fiery attacks. Forest fires emerged from the battle which drastically reduce the woodland near the north coast.

The Sallark military - Salla fought a good fight against the dragon using various siege weapons such as ballistas, trebuchets and catapults located on the sides of the mountain. Large orange crystals that was protecting the dragon fell during the duration of the fight. Once the Sallark military was wiped out, the dragon left the area injured.

The remaining Sallark that survived, started to fear not only the Dragon returning, but also feared for what lies ahead for Sallamar due to the desertification the dragon has caused to their land.

History
The Sallamar wastes used to be a lush forest, before encroaching sands destroyed the tree's roots.

It is considered one of the loneliest places of Meridhan as the wildlife was left scarce and hostile. The wastes is now a desert filled with mountains and ruins of the fallen kingdom. The mountains are dotted with orange crystals from when the kingdom of Sallamar attempted to fight the desert dragon.

The kingdom was once prosperous but was left in ashes. Many Sallark were caught off guard and the entire population had nearly gone extinct. The desert dragon was left injured and has flown off to the mainland or a nearby isle south of Meridhan. (The location of the dragon is left unknown.)

The Sallark that survived the attack became helpless and confused. A group formed called The Salem rose to power and aim to rebuild the new kingdom. The leaders of Salem try to pick up the pieces of the broken kingdom.

The survivors that remained mainly consisted of women and children.

He wants the people to work as diligently as they can despite the conditions they are in - in order for their lives to be better more quickly.

The aim of The Salem is to salvage everything. When salvaging the land they gathered the magical orange crystals that the dragon had left and found it had great magical properties

These orange crystals was discovered to grant explosive and combustible power which was the main motivation for the kingdom's revival. Sallark traded the crystals for materials with Sandfall which allowed the kingdom to be built much faster. Aid was provided by nearby kingdoms of Meridhan shortly after the event.

Corrupt Sallark in the panic and desperation wanted to steal the crystals using any means - in order to make up for what they have lost and to make as much money as possible. Many of these Sallark secretly hired slaves to find these crystals.

Bandits soon silently rose in numbers with motives to have children be smuggled into Sallamar and sold to corrupt Sallark looking for these orange crystals that have been rumored to have magical properties. The children were preferred as they were more easier to handle and smuggle into the kingdom. Many children in Sallark itself have also been captured as slaves to the corrupt group of Sallark - known as the Salamanders.

The Salem are too weak to do anything about the crimes that have happening and wants the people of Sallark to stay strong and that the suffering made towards rebuilding the kingdom will be reminders/paid respects to the Sallark and others that fought against the desert dragons.

The Salem have visions of the kingdom to be great again like it was before. This is primarily due to their new found power in crystals. Many Sallark have already learnt how to harness the power to have the crystals be used in combat sending out flame projectiles. These people include the Salamanders (hence the name). The magic is however seen as very volatile and has managed to inflict pain to those who use it.

Culture
The rare person wandering in the wastes is either hunting for orange crystals or either hoping to uncover evidence of a lost kingdom in the dunes. However they will soon find out the wastes are so hot and due to climate, explorers who try either die there or to Sallamar bandits.

The Salem - (meaning peace) are the peacekeepers of Sallamarall residing in the capital of Salem. They consists mostly of the soldiers that managed to survive against Sandara. The Salem have been reduced and have been recruiting more people

The Salamanders

Wildlife
The landscape of the wastes is scared with an arid environment. Due to lack of vegetation the elk that lived in the forest areas have adapted to fit the harsh environment. Camelks are used for the type of elk found roaming around the Sallamar. Due to the mountainous terrain elks their hooves are slightly adapted to the rugged slopes by being flexible, like rubber, so they can more easily jump from rock to rock. They grew humps on their backs to store water and grew longer hair to protect their skin from the sun as well as to stay warm during the night. The Camelk become lighter in color to hide from predators the further away they are from the woodland areas.

Other animals that distinctly known to live in the west of Meridhan include reptiles and horned animals.

The Sallamar is the birthplace of the characters: Tikvah.