The Brightness is the hot, dry desert lying near the center of Sekhaa. It is bounded on the south, and separated from the Cerulean Tangle, by the Spine of Sirdanth (also known by some xtauh as the Gray Highlands); on the east by the Windward Sea and the Nest of the Sun; on the west by the Refuge Range (aka the Pinnacles of Night) and the Crimson Sea; and on the north by the band of forest that separates it from the tundra.

(The forest is itself separated from the true desert by a wide belt of savannas and grasslands known as the Riverlands; but this latter region is considered by the xtauh to be part of the same geographical unit as the desert.)

From the perspective of the takmar, who have extensively explored only the southern portions of the desert, the Brightness can be divided rather simply: the inhabited areas of the south on the one hand, and wasteland on the other. So far as the takmar are aware, the deep desert lying to the north goes on forever toward the ends of the world, and only xtauh are foolhardy and disagreeable enough to spend their miserable existences out there. While caravans of xtauh traders sometimes come out of the north with strange wares, the origin of either caravans or wares are rarely pondered, even when some thought would suggest that a richer and more populous land must be involved.

The xtauh, however, being more familiar with the region, make a series of finer distinctions, which might be more useful in understanding local geography.

The Far South is the region with which the takmar are most familiar, because it is the one nearest to their population centers in the Cerulean Tangle.

The highlands bordering on the Spine of Sirdanth are cool and relatively humid - not to the extent of the same altitudes on the opposite side of the great pass of Barith's Gate, and still (at least for takmar) dry and occasionally bitterly cold at night, but habitable and dotted with settlements. The lowlands are less uniformly pleasant; there are several river valleys flowing across the desert, which support narrow bands of lush vegetation, and there is sufficient food and access to water for bathing there to support relatively large takma settlements, and the area near the Storm Coasts are likewise relatively friendly. But in the interior and away from the river valleys, conditions are more difficult, and takmar can only frequent those routes with regular stops at oases.

The Far South is the center of the worst conflicts between the takmar and the xtauh, and the area in which the takmar can be best described as winning; it remains close enough to their homelands that fresh waves of colonists periodically arrive to push out the xtauh from those areas they both find desirable, and the takmar are more numerous, more organized, and more technologically sophisticated. Nonetheless, they are far more sensitive to climate, especially humidity, than the xtauh are, and will die after too long away from significant moisture, whereas the xtauh are more tolerant of the dryness of the desert; so while the takmar find it relatively difficult to pursue xtauh into the desert, the xtauh in turn have little trouble raiding takma settlements and retreating.

The current situation is something of a stalemate. Xtauh conduct frequent and widespread raids on takma territory with relative impunity, but any actual territorial gains or occupation - though they do occur - are on shaky ground, because the xtauh lack the organization or numbers to maintain more than toeholds along the river valleys. The takmar, for their part, are by now effectively impossible to dislodge from the territories they now occupy, but can only effectively occupy or expand into particular environments; they can only chase the xtauh so far before having to return, and the most effective method of denying territory to them - poisoning their oases - is a double-edged sword, since it also destroys potential routes across the desert from takma use.

The region immediately north of the Far South contains the interior of the desert. This is the driest and least habitable part of the Brightness; even the xtauh are spread very thin here, the more so the closer to the center they are, for while oases dot the desert, they are concentrated around the edges. Xtauh can nonetheless, with some training and preparation, cross the heart of the Wastes if they feel the need, though few actually live there. Takmar, for most practical purposes, cannot cross it, and consider it an impassable barrier - even discounting the xtauh-controlled oases in the way.

An exception to the unrelieved desolation of the wastes is the Jaruk Heights, which are covered in the next section.

Aside from those lands adjacent to the river valleys in the north and south, the inhospitable nature of the central Wastes is also relieved on the east and west by the highlands on the margins of the mountain ranges. Cooler and frequently wetter than the wastes, they provide a refuge for xtauh, who frequently adopt a transhumant lifestyle in these regions; they retreat higher with their herds during the day to escape the heat, moving down into the valleys and lowlands at night, when an increase in moisture make more vegetation available to feed the herds.

Although crossings of the Wastes are possible, the north-south highland routes provide less direct, but safer and more heavily traveled, routes between the Far South and the Riverlands further north, skirting the Wastes entirely. The major exception to this rule is the Jaruk Heights, an area of low highlands around 33-34°N 4-6°E. Their isolation from other populated lands raises barriers to travel not experienced by the other highlands communities, but nonetheless they provide one of the few crossroads to exist so deep in the Wastes, and a substantial, and relatively mixed, population of xtauh has grown up there, buoyed by trade and by its isolation from the troubles in the south.

Unfortunately, the same traits that make the highland areas attractive to the xtauh also make them viable for the takmar. The latter are relatively unaware of the Jaruk Heights, and only dimly aware of the travel corridors leading in its direction, but in recent cycles have begun exploring northward along the coasts and in the foothills of the Refuge Range. While the progress of actual colonization has been slow - the corridor there is much narrower and more tenuous than in the Refuges, and hotly defended by local xtauh - their activities there raise the unpleasant possibility that the takmar may, in the not-too-distant future, discover that route to the Riverlands, of which they have previously not been directly aware.

North of the Wastes and the Highlands, far from takma influence, lie the belt of savannas and grasslands known as the Riverlands, for the many streams and rivers flowing across them - most of them tributaries of the great Hešrin and Ehvanti rivers.

The Riverlands support the largest population of xtauh, and is the heartland of their species, much as the Cerulean Tangle is for the takmar; most of the large xtauh settlements, like the cities of Poradrin and Ivridan, are here, as are most of their industrial capacity and their centers of learning.