Shar Zakhan (pronounced SHAR ZAH-kahn) is a shar, or fortified city, in Abanir, located roughly equidistant between the Four Kings Fells and the southern end of the Skula Mountains. Unlike most communities on the steppe, Shar Zakhan is ruled not by a tribal monarch but rather by an elven autocrat, Uy Xaro, who is unaffiliated with any of the local tribes. She maintains her position through an iron grip on the city's central water reservoir on top of which her throne sits, a necessity in this dry part of the Aban. Tribes moving their herds between the Northern Grazelands in the summer months and the foothills of Mhakan's Trials in the winter often stop at Shar Zakhan, which has given the city a degree of regional importance and prestige as a trading center, even if it is not located directly along the Hundred Days Road.