The Ilara Plateau (pronounced eh-LAH-rah) is a region of high elevation in the Stormlands, located between the Amanas and Tcheren mountains. Though broadly frigid and inhospitable, the peoples of Shanidan and Masin have nonetheless managed to establish societies within the Ilara Plateau, separated from the strife of the rest of the Stormlands by the imposing ranges.
Much of the plateau is effectively a cold desert. Rain falls rarely - any precipitation nearly always comes in the form of winter snow - and temperatures can swing wildly. Summers are short and winters are long. In the south, closer to the Ubaaluu Mountains, snow covers the ground year-round. Most vegetation in the region comes in the forms of shrubs or grasses well-adapted to the cold, arid climate. Large trees are exceptionally rare.
The Ilara Plateau is usually considered to be divided into three. The northern third of Shanidan is separated from the rest by Erei's Passage, where the gap between the mountain ranges narrows significantly. Of the rest, it is divided by the Nala, another somewhat more easily irreversible pass. Most of the plateau, by land area, lies south of this point.
Ancient, now-dried river beds are common throughout the Ilara Plateau, but especially in the north within Shanidan. In the south, where the plateau is the widest, lie the Glassfields, a seemingly endless flat expanse of sharp obsidian.