Last Gasp of the Desert Winds is a verse drama written by the Akwarai writer Ksural of the Lonely Skies. Intended as an epic telling the story of his people's history, culture, and hopes for the future, despite its ever-increasing length and complexity Ksural refuses to consider the play to be complete. Privately, Ksural's friends urge him to finish the Last Gasp of the Desert Winds, fearing that in his old age he will never have the time to conclude his masterpiece.
Each section, or phase, of the drama tells of a particular event in Akwarai history. Though the phases are separate tales that take place across millennia, characters in the Last Gasp of the Desert Winds regularly reappear and play roles in seemingly unrelated events. These characters are not intended to be true to life, but rather represent archetypes of figures important to the Akwarai. Altogether, there are no more than a dozen characters in the entire drama. This has contributed significantly to the difficulty of performing the work as a play, the intended method of experiencing it, as each actor must memorize hours of lines and actions.
The six phases of the Last Gasp of the Desert Winds are nonlinear in nature. The first section recounts the Akwarai's journey out of the Fangs of Khurazar and into the Sangora Desolation, the earliest stage of their history, while the second jumps to describing a future history around a bountiful, mythological oasis. The drama then returns to past events.
Currently the drama, when performed uninterrupted, lasts for over six days.