Tashalar

Tashalar is a small, exotic country located on a strip of coast along the southern Shining Sea. . It lies just east of the Chult peninsula, and west of the magic realm of Halruaa. It is famous for beautiful weather, beautiful people, excellent crossbows, and the richest wine producing region in the world.

Life and Society
The small city-states in Tashalar are home to various wealthy mercantile families who live quite lavishly. In essence they rule the country through various merchant consortiums. Commoners of the region typically make their living working in the fields, groves or vineyards of these merchants' estates. Failing this, they can commonly find work as sailors, shipwrights, sail makers and provisioners, all contributing to the trade of the region's goods.

Hunting is a popular sport in Tashalar as there are many deadly creatures to be found in the jungles. The indigenous spicy foods are quite popular, as are strong wines and a tart fruit called yhaumarind, all of which is popular dining fare. Tashlans obsess over the future; nearly every adult owns a Talis deck which they can be found poring over for personal divinations, often calling to the deity Savras. Most decks are made of wood or vellum. Wealthier people may have decks carved from ivory or other exotic materials.

The Tashalar is part of the Lapal League. The major city centers to the south and east of the Shining Sea share a common history dating back to the time of the Sarrukh Empires of old. Today, the Lapal League shares little more than a non-aggression pact and an interest in trade.

The other unifying factor is a general distrust of arcane magic users. A long, costly feud between several wizards attempting to dominate the region is still fresh in the minds of the people who had to rebuild their spell-ravaged cities. "Magic used is magic abused" is a common saying in the Tashalar. It should be noted that this attitude does not apply to divine magic.

Jungles

 * Black Jungles: Jungles of many yuan-ti tribes, at least one of which who is allied with the Rundeen consortium.
 * Mhair Jungles: Jungles that are home to scattered yuan-ti and some tribes of wild dwarves.

Mountains

 * Hazuk Mountains: The mountains of the Tashalar are rich in gold and iron. Stone giants lair in these mountains. They occasionally bargain knowledge of ore veins for dragon turtle meat. A Beshaban cult operates a gold mine in the western hills. Those convicted of serious crimes in the Tashalar toil at hard labor and run the gauntlet of deadly obstacle courses for the amusement of the Beshabans and their rich patrons. Sarixa sar Beshaba, a tiefling descendant of the goddess, rules the cult. Rumors abound that the Beshabans are using the mine as a cover for their search for Tyche's Deck. An artifact of the former goddess of luck, the placards were lost during a volcano eruption in the distant past.

Cities

 * Tashluta: The capital of Tashalar and the main point of arrival of nearly all outsiders to Tashalar.

Official Material

 * Brief description by Ed Greenwood