WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0102 0102
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Chapter 5:
TRAVERSING THE WASTELANDS
A
rid Khitus faces extraordinary changes and challenges in the face of wanton plunder. Central to its
decline is the theft of water on an epic scale. Vital rainfall passes whole regions by, swept away from the
southern lands by witchcraft. Seas drain away in magical
whirlpools that seemingly lead nowhere. Depleted rivers and streams trickle to mud and eventual dust among
their banks. The sun beats down on rock and sand instead
of its former rich earth, grasslands, and crops.
For now, the northern hemisphere and equatorial regions remain mostly untouched, but dark, arid days lie
ahead for them, too. In the southlands, the destruction
has reached crisis levels, leaving once-fertile lands virtually uninhabitable.
Who or what is behind this plundering of Khitan waters? Rumors abound and none say for certain, though
many dare to point accusatorial fingers at the Black
Fortress and its foul agents the Bev al-Khim. Regardless of cause or blame, can the evaporation be stopped,
reversed, or even slowed?
For now, adventurers must contend with the newly
parched lands of the southern reaches, where desperation meets savagery beneath a white-hot sun.
Natural Geography &
Terrain
To the uninitiated, a desert is a desert. In practice, crossing these lands and surviving their rigors depends upon
some understanding of the variance among different arid
landscapes. One’s life often depends upon it.
Dunes
Endless mountains of soft sand, these are the deserts of
romantic tales and what most northerners think of when
they hear of a desert. In windswept places, dunes pile
high like enormous hills, restricting the extent of vision,
but elsewhere they remain relatively flat. The soft, shift100
ing sands make improvements difficult: roads and tracks
are easily blown over and lost; fields and structures get
inexorably buried beneath sliding or blowing grit.
Save for creatures whose wide feet are adapted to sand,
walking is especially difficult, slowing any pace to half
of normal, and fatigue builds more quickly, forcing
numerous halts. Sand shoes for both men and animals
are common among those who travel the dunes; their
simple construction attaches to shoes or feet to spread
one’s weight out over a broader area. Such devices allow
three-quarters of normal speed, but are especially awkward when the terrain changes (which happens often in
the wastelands) or during battle. Thus, easily donned
or discarded sand shoes are favored over sturdier constructs.
Areas of exposed rock can make passage through the
dunes easier, but these come and go sometimes daily
among the shifting sands. Where jagged stretches of stones
peek up permanently above the dunes, there are many
warrens and caves ideal for ambushes or shelter alike. Few
caves remain completely unoccupied here, though, and
danger lurks in their darkness as often as salvation.
Boulder Fields
Vast plains littered with boulders are now common in
the arid wastes. Basalt and granite rocks darken sunbaked earth with uneven fields of black, brown, and
umber. Boulder fields tend to be fairly flat, so visibility
is far, though there are exposed rocky areas here, too,
that offer some cover and variation. Travel can be as difficult as upon the dunes, if not more so. In many cases,
wheeled carts and wagons cannot traverse the stonestrewn surface at all without risking damage or destruction for the attempt. Men and animals crossing these
fields suffer bruised shins and twisted ankles, where the
footing is loose and narrow between stones barely wide
enough to allow a sure step. Tiny but dangerous creatures—snakes and scorpions, ready to strike at passersby—abound here, easily hidden among the labyrinth of
fist- to melon-sized stones.
