The desert wastes of the plaguelands are bordered by five city-states and ruled by a series of plaguelords who control of vast armies of roving undead.

• Blackangel - This busy port was settled by orcs long ago during the period of the Verdant Empire, growing in economic importance and is now home to several colleges of magic and lore, laboratories, libraries and higher institutions of study.
• Highport - This scenic former pirate shelter along the cliffs of the Serene Expanse Ocean has grown to one of the largest and prosperous ports outside that of the High Elven naval empire.
• Vice - This city is founded on a series of oasis in the middle of the desert as a stopover of trade, and has grown to be a hub of gambling, excess, intoxicants, and poor judgement which begat its name.
• Reumix - A city built on the ruins of the capitol of the orcish Verdant Empire, it struggles with finding resources for its inhabitants but the artifacts found below the city power a might military and fetch high prices.
• Salt Temple - This militant theocracy is situated along the banks of a salt-water inland sea.

The Badlands are mostly flat and dry with little vegetation, punctuated by dramatic rocky outcroppings. A great canyon known as The Great Rift runs as deep as the Underdark cleaves the desert located just to the southwest of Vice. There are hidden oases, as well as areas cursed with black sands tuned to make sure that anything that dies here rises as mindless, killing undead within a single night. A few critically positioned mountain passes allow those traveling on foot to enter and leave this bowl of hot death.

• Bran Yowell - The merchant who hired Ping and Nigel to travel to the Shadowfell
• Professor Belthos Liadon - Ellie’s mentor and archmage, master of the Arcane Academy of Blackangel
• Neann - Blue eyed tribeswoman of the Plaguelands married to Maro
• Plague Lord Ickalaback - An undead necromancer from an earlier age, formerly an antagonist of Eleanor Finnbuckle