Rukohst Wastes

The Rukohst Wastes was hot and dry even before Ederstone rained from the sky. Its deserts have only grown harsher in the last two millennia. The land is now twisted, mutating constantly into new forms inhabited by new creatures. 
People live here nonetheless. Old tribes have adapted to new bodies. Exiles have carved out homes where they can. Others live enthralled by the land in mysterious nests beneath the earth. The Starspawn here often have bits of Solar embedded in their bodies, allowing them to drink in the harsh sunlight. As one scholar of the land once said, life finds a way.

Geography

The Rukohst Wastes ae 380 by 140 miles across. Most of the Northern and Western borders are militarized lines of fortresses maintained by the Empire of Eketen and Kingdom of Aterek. The Southern border is defined by the Yuteka Mountains. The rest of the boundaries are defined by smaller mountains, beyond which are the Gyedvar Wastes, the Azilatzi Wastes, and the Solrolden Wastes. 
The central source of Ederstone mutation is the Empty Death, a huge, dry, and perpetually silent area with a large Ederstone meteor in its center. Little is known of the Empty Death; while it spews out new creations constantly, the land seems totally motionless. As those who enter typically vanish, few insist on studying this curious phenomenon.
To the North, the Krubakem Grassland is a fairly barren and vicious shrubland. While the land is less of a desert than most of the rest of Rukohst, its fauna is far more unpredictable and dangerous (thanks to its close proximity to the Empty Death). Few communities can survive this land.
To the Northeast of the Empty Death, the Lanshta Drylands is a rough and rocky desert with several lush oases. The land is rugged, but livable, and numerous small nomadic and settled groups have hidden away in small fortress villages. 
The Shimmering Dunes lie South of the Drylands. This is a sandy desert, hot and prone to vicious sandstorms. 
To the West of the Empty Death lies the Crystal Desert. This desert is a unique ecosystem, a blinding crystalline wasteland where organic life struggles to survive. The old desert has been consumed and replicated by vast colonies of microscopic silicon life that is burrowing ever deeper into the earth and mountains here. Silicon plants and animals, unrecognizable to many, grow and thrive here. 
South of the Crystal Desert is the Kurtsten Desert - also known as the Crushing Canyons. This is an extremely rocky desert with occasional patches of scrubland, known for its jagged peaks and canyons. Only master climbers can navigate this realm, especially since it started moving. Some centuries ago, underground creatures moved into the area; not long after, the canyons and peaks started moving during periods of terrible shaking. It is assumed that the underground beasts are doing this, but no one has ever confirmed this.
Lastly, to the furthest South lies the Hidden Desert. Few know of it, but rumors say it is a mutated sanctuary from the monsters and dangers of the waste.

Type

Wasteland

Location under

The Southern Wastelands

Included Organizations

• Kingdom of Aterek

Contested By

• Empire of Eketen