Dead Groves

"Dead Groves" is the colloquial term for any group of petrified jungle remains that can be found in the Eternal Desert.

Description

These Dead Groves vary as widely in size and distribution as the trees that once made them did in life: a traveler might find long broken trunks the size of telephone poles in the sand, or enormous building-sized petrified pillars jutting towards the sky. The movements of the sand in the desert gradually re-buries and uncovers Groves over time, and because of this, there is almost always a discovery waiting to be made in that brutally dry land.
The Groves themselves are not just curiosities or relics of a bygone age. The petrification and mineral replacement process that petrified the trees also often left valuable mineral deposits behind. Agate, quartz, pyrite, and--most sought-after of all--opal can all possibly be mined from the petrified trunks.
Prospectors routinely make ventures out into the desert in search of Dead Groves to mine, but few are ever truly successful. The desert itself is the greatest hazard to any would-be traveler, and fierce competition often means being willing to trade blows to defend one’s claim, especially if a large deposit of opalized wood is found.
Lucrative mining sites often have temporary settlements pop up in the vicinity to protect and provide for the miners. They are almost never permanent, and their relative staying power is often determined by the amount of outside support they receive. Almost all travelers, explorers, and would-be prospectors begin (and usually end) their journey through the desert through the settlement of Stone's Throw.
At the moment, at least one long-term mine has been established over a claim containing a large deposit of pyrite. This camp is largely supported by the Cartographer’s Guild, as they have used the mineral in their radio construction.