Gilgamesh's Rest

Gilgamesh's Rest is a high desert nestled between two of the largest mountain ranges on Nova Braga. The pepper-colored sands bake under the light of Nova Braga's two suns. Several Kilometers below, a magma chamber powers geysers and a volcanic chain.

Gilgamesh's Rest served as home to the Andromeda Syndicate's most prestigious geological research institutes. The institute spawned a city in the desert, powered by the power that lay below.

After the the city was destroyed by the Huckleberry Super Volcano, only one settlement and sporadic geological research and power stations remain.

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Ah, the Rest, the unassuming centerpiece that fuels the volcanos surrounding it.

The New Andes and Huckleberry Ranges frame the desolate desert between, but what lies under the surface of the sand is far more interesting than the sparse life and jagged formations above it.

— Nova Bragan Historian.

A Desolate Waste Above

On the surface, Gilgamesh's rest takes on the appearance of a high-altitude desert ecology recognizable by long stretches of flat land inspersed by pillar-like magmatic formations.

Some life, both Edenic and Jhoutaioan in Nature, eeks out an existence on the surface or the cooler sands below.

Rivers

Only two rivers flow through Gilgamesh's rest, and for months of the year the rivers run completely underground. These rivers not only support most of the flora and fauna but also fuel the geothermal phenomena.

Not many places where you can see beefed-up prarie dogs going to bat against a Ramscorpion, Braga's one of 'em.

A Tectonic Marvel Below

Underneath the scorched deserts and sandblasted rocks, a massive magma chamber bubbles below.

On the surface, what little water sinks below the sands into the network of magmatubes and cavities below. The edges of the valley are surrounded by volcanic mountain ranges.

Underground Rivers

Both rivers on the surface take year-round winding trails through the magma-tubes below the surface. Geysers, Fumaroles, and Mudpots rise and fall on the surface in response to the tectonic shifts below. Gommorah Sands iis built above one such river, which spawns a consistent Geyser that is used to power the entire settlement.

Background generated via MidJourney

A Geologist's Paradise

One of the side effects of being such a geothermal hotspot is the minerals and gems that can form. The heat and pressures of the magma chamber below and water sinking in from above make perfect conditions for gemstones, geodes, and precious minerals.

During the Melancholic Lacuna, the gems buried beneath the sands kept the people of Nova Braga alive, or at least it kept their Meta flowing.

Dangers

Getting the gems and minerals requires trekking through the constant heat of the desert and risking one of the many pitfalls of the Rest. Many who have set out to the desert do not return, and are never found.

People don't come back from the Rest cause they get eaten or they slip into a boiling mudpot. I don't know which would be worse.

— Bragan Local

by Midjourney

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Above: A tray of minerals collected in Gilgamesh's Rest on display in Gommorah Sands.