Wa’sadak (वा सड़क, literally “Wow! Road”) is a large town situated within the shade of a small plateau that rises in the middle of the Kav’orra Desert. Built around a small oasis within the bowl of the mount, the town serves as a rest stop between the cities of Kasaaq, Ammba, and Mem’mala. It was founded in 2E532 on top of the ruins of older towns by the founder of the Kasaaqi Hukumat, Mahataraja Rakash Zaaba I. He wanted it to be a fortress that could help him advance into the deeper desert, mainly serving as the staging ground for his conquest of Ammba. It is the largest settlement of the Kav’orra that is still considered to be a town and not a city, but is expected to soon develop into a small city. In 3E108, Zoran Zehir I was given the lordship of Wa’sadak after being bested by his father, Mahataraja Kuuja Zaaba II. House Zehir ruled the town until 3E372, when Fort Zehir was razed down with its occupants locked inside after their failed rebellion. In the modern day, Wa’sadak is controlled directly by House Zaaba administratively via a Subahdar (Governor), but also comes under the control of House Kawar and the Swarna Guild as the mining groups make their homes here due to the extensive mining industry of the surrounding areas.
The town is growing rapidly due to the Kasaaqi Railway being built through the town that will one day connect Kasaaq and Ammba. Wa’sadak has had a tumultuous history from its founding as a military fortress to its modern day role as a trade hub. There is a deep-seated resentment in much of the older population against House Zaaba due to their brutal destruction of the town a hundred years ago. That being said, the nearby city of Kasaaq has nearly five hundred thousand people as compared to Wa’sadak’s eight thousand, making their opposition not matter much in the grand scheme of things. The Kasaaqi Sena still uses the town as a major hub for their own operations, and the increased military presence is a deterrent against crime and smuggling although it does have a presence in the town. The town has often been considered to be a beacon of knowledge due to its temple-library dedicated to Gunradev, who is not as important in Ashtadharma as other gods. It is said that the first military commander of Wa’sadak under Rakash Zaaba I was a scholar, and he created the temple-library as the first non-military building of the oasis. Little to no traces remain of the villages that inhabited this plateau for the thousands of years before the Hukumat, as the plateau had been abandoned and resettled many times over for no apparent reason.
Areas of the town include:
Old District. The oldest part of the town, the Old District (पुराना शहर) is built around the tiny oasis in the center named Aniza Talaab. This is where both the Senaghar and the Swarna Guild office is. There is also the Temple-Library to Gunradev here mentioned earlier.
Oasisgate. A newer part of the town built towards the gate facing Kasaaq, Oasisgate (तालाबद्वार) is full of mostly residential areas as well as caravanserais for travelers. The ruins of Fort Zehir are situated above the town on a raised hill as a grim reminder of the town’s history.
Sandbowl. The only part of the town not protected by the plateau’s cliffs, Sandbowl (रेथगढ़ा) is a small poor outpost area to the north that is often hit by sandstorms.