Pasocada Basin

The Pasocada Basin was a harsh land far north of the rest of Maztica, with which it had very little contact. It was, accordingly, very different both culturally and environmentally.

Geography
The Pasocada Basin was defined as the area drained by the Pasocada River and its tributaries. The mountains surrounding the basin caused a rain shadow and created an arid desert region despite the Basin's temperate temperatures (for instance, the average rainfall was 15 inches per year, but it snowed during winter).

The basin was scattered with mesas and buttes that towered over gullies and canyons. These had been carved by seasonal rains which also deposited great banks of sand. The area was mostly rocky and covered with brush (such as hardy plants like cacti, grasses, and yucca). Rivers and streams flowed through the canyons and gullies, overflowing in flash floods each spring, and wild animals such as coyotes, antelope, bison, and lizards thrived.

The mountains surrounding the basin had much more rainfall, and their slopes were covered in coniferous forests (trees such as pine, fir, aspen, and spruce), and were home to such animals as deer, bears, and foxes. Higher in the mountains, above the treeline, the air was much colder and the landscape was perpetually covered in snow. Only yeti and some aarakocra could live here.

The salt flats were areas of the desert where bodies of saltwater had long since evaporated, leaving only the crystalline salt deposits behind. Animals could be found on the edges of a salt flat, but neither plants nor animals lived within (an Earth elemental could occasionally be found, though).

Notable Locations

 * Pasocada River: A massive river that drained much of the Pasocada Basin before emptying into the western ocean.
 * Long Canyon: A ninety-mile (145 km) long canyon carved by the Pasocada River. It ranged between one mile (1.6 km) and ten miles (16 km) in width, and was home to a tribe of hill giants.
 * Esh Alakar: A group of mysterious ruins in the Long Canyon. They were avoided by travelers, but the similarly-built and nearby Bridge of the Ancients was widely used.
 * The Black Mesa: A large mesa with plentiful coal deposits visible as black striations on its sides. The Azuposi sometimes burned the coal during special rituals.
 * Dunobo Springs: A group of small springs located in the forested foothills of the mountains. During the spring, the small streams fed by the springs turned into the Danozi Wash that were responsible for creating the Sun Canyon. The Azuposi often cut down trees from around the springs.
 * The Sun Canyon: Carved by the Danozi Wash, the Sun Canyon was an important locations to the Azuposi, for it was the spiritual heart of the Azuposi nation. In addition, the city of Michaca was located in it.
 * Michaca: Also called the City of Gold, it was the largest settlement in the Pasocada Basin.
 * Growling Falls: A 200-foot (61-meter) tall waterfall. The noise it made was believed to be the growling of monstrous bear fiend imprisoned there. Because the bear was the child of a god who had assumed an animal form, it could not be killed. It once threatened the land until it was defeated by a hero that the Azuposi called Hinchapa and the Dog People called Incholcpa.

Inhabitants
The Pasocada Basin was home to humans and elves, called Poscadar elves. There were three different human cultures: the agrarian Azuposi, the coastal Metahel, and the nomadic Nahopaca.

In addition, tribes of Dog People and two clans of desert dwarves lived in the nearby regions of the Sands of Itzcala desert.