The Bharata Waste

Geography

The Bharata Waste is what remains of India and Pakistan after the Final War. It covers 4.5 million square kilometers, stretching from the Himalayas in the north and the Shan Hills in the east to the Nanga Parbat massif and generally follows the Indus River to the Arabian Sea.

The land can still be divided into regions, and the geographical features are similar to before the war. The northern mountainous regions are most similar to before the war, with little damage having been done. The penninsular plateau would be recognizable but greatly changed, with many of the mountains crumbling and significant crevasses opened up in the plateaus. Both the northern and the coastal planes have been changed almost beyond recognition - impacts from the warheads have left them deeply cratered, few bodies of water have remained where they initially were, and releases of magma when the earth cracked have brought up new features of the land. The Thar Desert on the western end of the Waste is the most dangerous and changed part of the Waste - sitting between India and Pakistan, much of the fallout settled in the area.

Saltwater lakes and marshes are common, and what little freshwater exists is tainted by fallouot. Even the Indian Ocean surrounding the waste is not fit for use, with radioactive particles still present.

Ecosystem

Little from before the war remains alive in the Waste. Radiation storms are commonplace and can come on suddenly, making it incredibly dangerous for even those with appropriate protective attire to travel through the waste.

While the conditions are deadly to humans, life has rapidly adapted to the conditions in the Waste and currently thrives. Very few species have been cataloged by anyone outside of the Waste, but those few that have give us a window into the effects of the war. Most large mammals and reptiles were wiped out in the war, and the few that remain have undergone significant mutations. The residual radiation appears to be critical to their survival, as the specimens that have been captured have invariably died within days of leaving the waste.

Localized Phenomena

Radiation storms are the primary local phenomena, although that term covers at least two distinct concepts.

The first is the Fire Rain, witnessed on several occassions by ships moving around the southern tip of the continent. The rain does not burn in the sense of open flames falling, although it does give that appearance from a distance. It is instead carrying highly radioactive particles that hold enough energy to visibly glow that fall when the clouds begin to lose cohesion. The particles are lifted by high winds and coalesce into clouds of dust. These clouds ride on top of the winds, their glow making them seem like waves of fire crossing the sky and described by witnesses as deadly beauty. When the winds begin to taper, the heavier particles begin to fall making glowing lines that linger in the air for minutes to hours. Living creatures touched by the fallout are burned by it, immediately damaging flesh and organic material. The burns are not the worst, as the fallout clings to whatever it touches, and breaks down DNA of living creatures.

The second form is the Black Sky, which has been recorded on film, but no one has survived. All knowledge of it is based on a single video recorded by a porter hired for an expedition to explore the edges of the Waste. The video recorded began in the middle of a bright cloudless day, the sun barely visible through the haze of fallout hanging in the air. A rumbling sound is heard, then within two minutes, the sky darkens to pitch black. It was initially assumed that the video was lost and only audio remained until the first lightning strike. The lightning struck the ground, turning the video bright white briefly, and disappeared, leaving trace images of the bolts path on the screen. After a moment it became clear that the image was not just an afterimage, but charged and radioactive particles hanging in the air in the path the bolt took. More lightning strikes began to hit, and members of the expedition were struck repeatedly. Those who had not yet been hit began to run, hoping to make it 100 yards to the beach where they had landed. They had to run through the burning lines left behind by the strikes, and the video showed several members of the expedition dying from the contact. In the end, the porter was the only one to make it to the boats, having grabbed the camera when the person filming fell. His body was found drifting in the boat days later.

Alternative Name(s)

The Wasteland, Nuclear India

Type

Subcontinent

Location under

New Earth