THE DESERTED LAND
ERILEA
Leaders: Unknown
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Loyal to The Deserted Land
Loyal to King of Adarlan until his death
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Language:
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Key Locations: The Silent Keep/Fortress of the Silent Assassins
Xandria
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Key Characters: The Mute Master
Ilias
Lord Berick
The Deserted Lands Politics
The Deserted Lands are controlled by Lords, who are seemingly loyal to the King of Adarlan.
The Deserted Lands Facts
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The dunes in the Red Desert are enormous and unwieldy.
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The only way to get to the Deserted Land is by sea, or through the Bogdano Jungle, which is described as "feral."
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It is so hot in the afternoon in the Red Desert, that travelers need to find shelter until evening.
Yurpa
Yurpa is one of the bigger cities in The Deserted Land
Xandria
Xandria is the second big city in The Deserted Land. It is ruled by Lord Berick, known to be brutal and cruel. Xandria is a small, walled in, port city with winding, narrow streets.
While it's not clear how often it occurs, Xandria has what is called "market day", where there are countless stalls with wares from all over the world. When the market stalls move on, Xandria is described as quiet.
The Red Desert
The Red Desert is named after its crimson sand. It's blisteringly hot, and deadly to travel it in the afternoons, when the sun is at it's highest. The sands themselves are deadly in some areas, with enormous and unwieldy dunes. It is unclear what season it occurs, but the Red Desert does have a sandstorm season.
While the silent assassin's have claimed the Red Desert as home, the ruler of Xandria - Lord Berick - claimed that part of the Red Desert. So when Lord Berick fails to send troops to Eyllwe on the King of Adarlan's orders when he wants the rebellion squashed, as punishment, he places an embargo on the Red Desert.
Desert Cleaver
The Desert Cleaver is a giant wall of naturally formed rock that stretches across the eastern coast all the way to the black dunes of the south. It's split clear down the middle like a giant fissure. There is a very narrow passageway through the cleaver to ride through, but there would be no point, as the split in the middle is a 30 foot wide jump to the other side. A jade-colored river runs through the bottom of the fissure.
Fortress of the Silent Assassins
The Fortress of the Silent Assassins is located in the middle of the Red Desert. It is also known as the Sessiz Suikast, the legendary order of the silent assassins. It is run by the mute master.
Unlike the Assassin's Guild in Rifthold, the fortress trains many women as assassins. There are also many children at the fortress, and those children between the ages of 8-12 are considered acolytes. Their jobs are taking care of the fortress by doing chores for the older acolytes. This is an effort to teach them responsibility and humility.
It is described as an oasis between two huge sand dunes. It's made from sandstone. It has lush green trees, steams of fresh water. There is a grand room where Celaena is initially brought to meet with the Mute Master, and it has enough space for the other assassins to gather. Another grand room is the dining hall. It is packed wall to wall long wooden tables and benches. Celaena notes that there are three exits - giant doors make up the main entrance/exit, and two servants doors on the other end. In the dining room, silence is encouraged, but not enforced.
Their baths are communal pools, but are separated by gender. They are made from sea-green and cobalt tiles, and hidden by towering palm and date trees. The baths are kept cool by white awnings jutting out from the walls of the building. There are multiple pools to choose from: some bubbled, some steamed, some did both, and one was calm, clear and cold.
The acolytes bedrooms are shared between two people, are small and with simple furniture.
There is a small, twenty square foot section of roof of the fortress that is accessible through a narrow hatch through the ceiling, with a wooden ladder. It is flat, with the exception of the parapets, and is used for training.
Celaena describes the fortress as noisier than she thought it would be, with the clang of weapons, buzz of insects, birds, and the gurgle of water that flowed in every room. While acolytes didn't have to take a vow of silences, there were certain areas of the fortress that speaking was not allowed.
The acolytes takes their vows of silence so seriously, that even during parties, they dance to no music, and do not speak.
Singing Sands
An area of the Red Desert, where each grain of sand hums and moans. Those who travel through it has to monitor each step they take, careful to keep the sand beneath their feet ringing in harmony or else it would turn to quicksand.
Aelin's Connection to The Red Desert
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Aelin is sent to the Fortress of the Silent Assassin's in the middle of the Red Desert to train and get approval from the Mute Master, as punishment for betraying Arobynn. It takes Aelin two weeks to travel through the desert, but the who trip there and back to Rifthold takes 2 months.
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The Mute Master tells her that she if she ever decides to leave the north, she will forever have a place at the fortress.