Khelkâ Sael

Helcar Sael lies along a narrow coastal shelf on the eastern flank of the Orocarni (Q. "Red Mountains"). It comprises the rich and well-protected Sael Valley, which once served as the principal eastern route into Cuiviénen. The uppermost part of this wide river vale is called Parth Úrulis, the "Field of Fire-honey," in name of its nectar-rich flowers. The Cirith Úrulis is the main pass through the central Orocarni. It leads east and then north to Moinarlin- "Monarlan" in the Wômaw tongue-a great collection of waterfalls that spill into a pool that feeds the river Cuivisîr and the great lake of Helkanen in Helcarth.

Úrulis is actually a cross-shaped vale. The centermost portion is home to the hallowed Ayiigawm, the "Dragon-fields," where the Wômaw bury their High-kings-the so-called "Hionvori." Here, a complex of huge, circular grass barrows linked by stone-lined subterranean halls covers an area of about sixty-four square miles. Haututumkodur stands at the center and serves as the resting place for the golden drake that helped educate and unite the founders of Wômawas Drûs. The Avari of Helcarth refer to the place as "Angulókaparsi." Though the Elves regularly pass by the area, they are careful to respect its sacred boundaries. Ironically, few Hildor ever see the place. Most turn away when they see one of the sixteen laen Dragon statues that mark the border of the burial ground.

Tatamúrilis, a Wômaw port city near the mouth of the Sael, houses nearly three quarters of the area's hundred thousand Wômarin-speaking residents. Aligned along four huge, interconnected bridges, it is a marvel of stonemasonry. The town serves as the principal point of exchange between the Wômaw, Aegaw, and the Avari. It is the chief in the Red Gulf (which the Aegaw call the "Bay of Swirling Waters").

Literature

 * the Wild Lands south and East, Gazetteer by Pete Fenlon