The Golden Path is a trade route that crosses the Taizzan Expanse between Amshan in the east and Tirione and the Eastern Chaskan city-states in the west.
Trade goods
Vast amounts of precious metals once crossed the Taizzan regularly, giving the trade route its name, but today the Golden Path is better known for other trade goods. Lightning glass, and worked items of this material, are commonly carried by those traveling west, as are the fine arts of expert Amshani calligraphers, painters, and other artisans. Teas from Amshan are sought by many in the eastern Chaska Sea and therefore are transported along the Golden Path as well. Those traveling east carry goods from around the Chaska that are otherwise difficult to acquire across the desert. Other, more ordinary goods are regularly brought with to trade as well, but owing to the dangers and duration of the journey, and the lower profits to be had in selling them, they are rarely the sole reason to set off along the Golden Path.
History
Thousands of years old, the Golden Path has long been an important connection between the peoples living around the Chaska Sea and those around the Kirnashal Sea, a way for culture, language, religion, and more to spread between these two disparate lands.
Geography and route
The Golden Path passes directly through the middle of the Taizzan Expanse. In the east it is usually considered to begin at the Amshani capital of Hashkaman, though merchants come and go to the Path from many cities. After leaving Amshani territory heading east, there are very few settlements where travelers can resupply, save for Deadheart and small outposts set up by the Blessed Friends. Upon reaching the more verdant lands of the east, near the coast of the Chaska Sea, the route splits. Some choose to go north to Tirione, and in particular Tirzah, while others follow the Tela River south to the independent city of Arwad.
Some caravans choose to take a more northerly route, bypassing the especially hazardous parts of the desert by moving along its edge, but this is not free of dangers either, as it passes quite close to, or even within, the anti-magic fields of the Arrajan Wilds. This path is also less well-guarded against Ku-Hakkaran gnoll raiders.