Antonica · EverQuest (original release)
South Ro
The southern edge of the Desert of Ro, where orc huts cover the grassland above Innothule: a step up for young trolls and ogres, uncrowded dervish camps, and a giant spider named Terrorantula.
Orc country
The Southern Desert of Ro lies on the southeastern edge of Antonica and marks the southern edge of the desert. It is the home base of the orcs that have spread north into the sands, and their huts cover the grassy region beside the wetter Innothule Swamp to the south.
It is a lower-level zone than the Oasis to its north, with far fewer sand giants and madmen but more undead, ghouls and the odd dry bone skeleton, all of which attack on sight. Monsters run from about level 5 to 20 and above. Allakhazam keeps the classic desert as a 1.0 record; the remade South Ro of 2006 absorbed the Oasis.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Southern Desert of Ro · Allakhazam: South Ro (1.0) (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: South Ro
Dangers
For trolls and ogres from the swamp, the orc camps are the next step once they reach sixth or seventh level and can group. The grasslands are hilly, though, and it is easy to stumble into a camp you did not know was there. Good races are usually bound no nearer than Freeport, so a death here means about twenty minutes of running to your corpse.
The guide records the zone getting more dangerous: more undead, stronger mummies never seen there before, more snakes and spiders, and the Terrorantula, a spider the guide suspects was named by drunken barbarians. Named figures also include an ancient cyclops, Erg Bluntbruiser, Sandgiant Husam, Scrounge and Young Ronin.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Southern Desert of Ro · Allakhazam: South Ro (1.0) (zone)
Hunting and trade
The guide calls it a higher-level North Ro: good solo hunting to about level 20 and group hunting to about 17, uncrowded, with orc camps you can work all day. Its dervish camps are less camped and a little tougher than the northern ones, made harder by frequent wandering attacks.
A merchant camp in the middle buys and sells for the evil races, and for good races it happens to like. Ortallius and Rathmana Allin are here; Rathmana offers a bargain in which you pay to draw a random scroll.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Southern Desert of Ro · Project 1999 Wiki: South Ro
Passes north and southwest
A pass in the middle of the mountain ridge on the northern edge leads to the Oasis of Marr. It is deadly on the Oasis side, where sand giants patrol and madmen seem to live; you soon learn to spot the notch from across the Oasis. On the southwestern edge is the pass to Innothule Swamp, home of the trolls, and beyond it Guk and the Feerrott.
This is part of the little-used southern route between Freeport and Qeynos: safer in the long run than the northern route, the guide thinks, but only for those who know the ground. The desert belongs to Solusek Ro.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Southern Desert of Ro · Allakhazam: Oasis of Marr (zone)
Lore tied to this zone
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Southern Desert of Ro · Allakhazam: South Ro (1.0) (zone) · Allakhazam: South Ro 2.0 (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: South Ro