"Senyavin" is generally accepted by Heralds to derive from the Earth language Sanskrit, the meaning being abandonment. (There is also a school of thought that it comes from Senza, Italian for "without", but as this is a much later word, the Heralds think that Italian might have adapted a Sanksrit word just as Sartorias-deles did.)

At any rate, it's an enormous desert lying in the center of the Toaran continent, as most of the western air currents carry the clouds to the central mountains but not beyond. These mountains twist eastward, forming a natural barrier to the desert, permitting moisture to carry across the lower half of the continent.

The desert is crossed by hardy trade caravans, by bandits, by exiles--by anyone who has motivation enough to want to endure the hot sun (for this is relatively close to the equator) under what is otherwise rare for this world, a blue sky.

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