Before the Upheaval, Junnes was a smaller version of Liarus - gateway to the desert on the far side, and defiantly independent of the Serradic Empire, being useful enough to the Eastern cities that they would make some attempt to defend an annexation, and politically convenient to the empire as a neutral base for trade. Unfortunately, surrounded by featureless expanses of sand and without the Axia to provide an endless bounty of water without the use of surrounding springs, Junnes fared badly during the Upheaval. Terminally badly. Precise events have been pieced together largely from the lucky few who survived fleeing into the desert, but general consensus is that it became clear within about a week that the city simply couldn’t cope with the new circumstances, and the riots and exoduses started mere days after that. Most who fled into the desert died of exposure, lost in the Flux. A very few (some groups lead by those who would later join the wayfinder’s guild) made it to Liarus, or even in one incredible case to towns near to Caul . No one knows exactly what happened to those who remained behind, but by the time travellers once more found it upon their horizons, no sign of the bustling life that once filled the city remained, sand weathered buildings sitting empty and near-silent, disturbed only by the wind. At least by day. By night, these first few travellers found the darkness pierced with screams and shrieks, and unseen forces from the shadows stealing their party away as they fled from the ruined inn they had occupied. Most now avoid Junnes, giving it as wide a berth as the patch of consensus around it will allow, though the lure of the riches that must surely lie within tempt a few brave souls to make incursions. Some make it out before nightfall. Most who don’t are not heard from again.

It has been discovered that Junnes was once the capital of the First Empire of humanity. Once, linked by a magical Dragon Gate, the city itself bestrode both great continents of the world. However some great catastrophe destroyed the Gate network, shattered the Empire and released Draconic influence upon the cities. An influence that has grown stronger still in the years since the Upheaval.