Velhar — the Dry Lands

The ancestral homeland of the Velhari, and the price they paid.

Velhar was not always dry. The oldest songs describe green valleys and rivers wide enough to carry boats. What changed it — whether the same force that damaged the east reached here in a different form, or whether the Velhari’s own ambitions drew too heavily on the land — is a question that starts arguments at any Velhari gathering.

What is not disputed: the land dried. Slowly at first, then faster. The rivers shrank, the wells deepened, the grass turned to scrub turned to sand. The Velhari adapted, as they always do, but eventually adaptation was not enough. They split. Some stayed, learning to live with less. Some walked north, founding what would become Velorin.

The ones who stayed are still there. They do not talk much to outsiders about what that costs.