Moogleman: Yes, you're thinking of Sandstorm. Possibly legal pdf download here (hey, 3.5 is extinct. It's practically public domain... right?)
D&D 3.5 - Sandstorm.pdf
As for more info, I suppose it's about time I supplied something. Here's a brief history of Karnakiid.
Karnakiid
Archaic Period (First Arcane Empire): -200-0
About 200 years before the fall of the Locasthian Empire*, a barbarain warlord by the name of Karna had a dream. In it, he was warned by a celestial being that magic was never meant for mortal hands, and that he was chosen to lead a rebellion against the mages of Locasthia. Leaping on this opportunity to bring down the hated empire (and more than a little pleased that the gods were on his side), Karna and his daughter Allori united the Five Northern tribes without much difficulty and led a massive assault on the city of Loc. The battle lasted three years, but in the end the magic of the Locasthians won out; the barbarians were butchered, and peace was restored.
Karna and his family survived the slaughter, though. Now on the run from every tribe who had lost men in the battle, he fled to the west into the Wasteland, the one area of the Known World that wasn't controlled by Locasthians. The gods had not abandoned him, and he survived the journey through the Wastes to reach a never-before seen sight: an enormous lake, laying in the middle of a desert! Karna and his family, along with his personal bodyguard, established a settlement by the lake, which gradually drew the attention of the local asherati tribes. Soon enough, the town of Karnakiid was established as a key stopping point in the Wasteland for potential traders.
By this point, Karnakiid was still no more than a single town, but it grew rapidly over the next few decades. Karna's bloodline was stong, and his descendants took care not to provoke the Locasthian Empire. However, their refusal to accept magic eventually caused yet another war...
Monarchy: 0-530
It was inevitable that the Locasthians eventually realized Karnakiid's potential, so without warning they sent an army of 500,000 warriors to conquer the town. However, Karnakiid's leader, Karna's great-grandson Thurlik, was visited in his dreams by the same Celestial being Karna was, two hundred years ago. It warned him of this, giving him ample time to lead his people away from the town. They were taken in by the asherati, who respected the humans dedication to establish a town to deep into hostile land. When the Locasthians found Karnakiid abandoned, they were ambushed by the asherati, who killed their guide and retreated. Unable to find the way out of the ever changing Wasteland, the 500,000 Locasthians died weeks later.
Seeing his chance, Thurlik persuaded the asherati to help him overthrow the mages in return for power in his new government. Gradually, enough tribes agreed, and Thurlik led a second assault on Loc. Weakened by the loss of its finest troops, Loc fell within a month.
For almost 500 years, Karnakiid ruled in its stead, forbidding magic of any kind in its domain. Karna's descendants ruled well, but after several generations of "keeping the blood pure", the mad king Thyur was born.
A masochist and a sociopath, Thyur killed his own children to prevent them from "taking his royal right" from him. After he was assassinated in 530 by unknown forces, the bloodline of Karna ended.
Intermediate Period: 530-550
After Thyur fell, the people of Karnakiid (which know encompassed the majority of the wastes, as well as the eastern land once held by the Locasthians) were quick to elect a new leader. They chose poorly, however, and the next king of Karnakiid immediately sent out armies to conquer foreign lands. This backfired, and foreign legions from Tormany soon arrived and look the Locasthian land for themselves. Fortunately, they were unable to find a guide to lead them through the Wastes, so the western kingdom was safe.
The leader was eventually replaced in 550 by Arlenna, a brilliant and charismatic woman who promised to focus on expanding Karnakiid's trade empire. What she failed to mention during the election was that she was a sorceress.
Second Arcane Empire: 550-Present (783)
Arlenna did as she promised, and trade was soon reestablished in the east with Tormany. Her magic was not revealed for several years, when the elves invaded.
To that point, few Karnakans had traveled east through the desert, though they knew about the elven kingdom that resided there. But in 558, an ambitious young elf convinced his people to "take back" their land (a rumor that the Karnakans had conquered the Wastes from the elves had gained popularity since Thyur's day.) The elves began to systematically eliminate Karnakan cities with frightening speed and it was not until Arlenna herself led an army comprised of Karnakans, Tormans, and asherati that they were finally driven back. During the battle, Arlenna revealed her powers to the world by opening a gate to the Hells directly behind the elven formation. In the ensuing chaos, the elves were slaughtered to a man while the Karnakan fatalities numbered in the double-digits.
After such a resounding victory, the Karnakans could not keep up their mage-phobia, and Arlenna stayed in power for another 40 years before her death. Since then, Kings of Karnakiid have been allowed the use of magic, and Tormans actually encourage arcane study.
Karnakkid has not grown since then, despite several more psychotic leaders. Recently, however, a new Queen has taken the throne from her insane father, who made a habit of consuming a virgin priestess each new moon in an attempt to achieve eternal youth. After killing him, the new Queen (also named Arlenna) was elected in his place and has promised to restore Karnakid to its former glory. What this means for the rest of the world is unknown...
*Locasthian Empire: In the Old Days, the Known World was ruled by the Priests of Locasthia, Goddess of Pestilence and Magic. This was long before studies had revealed a difference between divine and arcane magic, so period was known as the First Arcane Empire.
I know it's not especially good, but I'm sick and can't write very well today. Trust me when I say I'm usually leagues better than this. Anyway, if anyone can recommend a decent program to make a map of this world, it would be much appreciated. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with my utter lack of artistic ability, and you do
not want that!
