The forbidden desert gets its name from the people of the surrounding nations, Talax, Alantor, Razell and Nazakir. The authorities of those regions have all but barred their citizens from entering, as to enter spell certain death, or so the legends say.
In reality it is nothing more than a desert, while it is home to some nasty creatures, and the almighty behemoth known as the Smorgwurm, it is also home to a half dozen, mostly human, nomad tribes.
The desert is also the location of the temple of the gods, the resting place of the mortal forms of the now deities of Terrainia. Hidden beneath a labyrinth constructed by the deities themselves to protect their bodies for the eons to come.