Quicksand Seas
"DON'T GO INTO THE SHIMMERING SANDS!" — exasperated Marrowman guide to their Auloan tour group
The Quicksand Seas, sometimes called Quicksand Lakes, are a series of geological formations comprised of vast, semi-permanent deposits of quicksand within the Marrow Desert of Nioa.
Geography
On the surface, the Quicksand Seas appear to be nothing more than patches of shimmering sand dunes with little variation from the rest of the Marrow Desert. However, the existence of the Quicksand Seas owes entirely to what lies beneath the surface of the Marrow: the Nakhae Aquifer. Quicksand lakes in the Marrow exist only in areas that have a very low, below-sea level elevation and that also lie on top of the porous bedrock that separates the surface soil from the Nakhae Aquifer, a vast series of underground rivers and chambers filled with ice melt flowing down from the Shanindar Mountains. The fine composition of the Marrow Desert's sand combined with strange physics of the Nakhae Aquifer creates a subduction zone that draws any object or creature without adequate mass or buoyancy to slowly sink down beneath the surface. Only animals that are specially adapted to living in quicksand or with specific adaptations for crossing quicksand lakes seem to be able to avoid being sucked into the Nakhae. Small objects can be coated in a special compound called waranesh, which helps repel quicksand from latching on and pulling the object into the sand, though this is not a fool-proof method of preventing subduction.
What makes these quicksand seas even more deadly is their appearance. The low elevation of the seas, combined with the highly reflective and fine quality of Marrow sand, and the ever-present heat of the Nioan continent causes the quicksand lakes to "shimmer." This creates illusory mirages and even the appearance of clean, fresh water on the horizon, which lures many unseasoned explorers of the Marrow to early and agonizing deaths.
Fauna & Flora
Because of the vertical proximity of the Quicksand Seas to the waters of the Nakhae Aquifer, many plants thrive in and around these death traps. Heat-resistant sedges, hardy root vegetables, and even some grasses can be found in the Quicksand Seas, further creating the illusion that these regions are inviting to life. However, many of these plants thrive specifically because they lack any large predators, for most desert creatures instinctively avoid the Quicksand Seas.
Two notable exceptions are the sand seal and the dune bulette. Sand seals are a unique species of pinnipeds that have specially adapted to take advantage of the strange physics created by the Nakhae Aquifer. Their sizable bulk, in addition to storing fat and water, allows them to be buoyant enough not to immediately sink into the quicksand. Moreover, their thick hides don't just absorb water from the soil around them—they also secrete a kind of slick sweat which allows them to move through the semi-solid quicksand as if it were a body of liquid water. These creatures spend almost their entire lives in the quicksand lakes, feasting on the lush vegetation and only escaping to rocky outcroppings along the shores to breed and to avoid the other native inhabitant of the Quicksand Seas, the dune bulette.
Dune bulettes are a subspecies of the monstrous bulette creatures that plague farmers and miners across Holos. These bulettes use the unstable and highly reactive soil around them to sense the flailing of a trapped creature or, in the case of a sand seal, a creature moving through the quicksand itself, to locate prey. They are know for swimming through the sand and then ambushing their prey with a dramatic breach through to the surface of the lakes, stunning their quarry and then quickly devouring it as they retreat back beneath the surface of the earth. They are one of the only predators in the Quicksand Lakes, apart from the exceedingly rare purple worm.
Purple worm are gigantic armored worms that twist their way through soil in search of food. They are found throughout Holos, though reports of them in the Marrow seem more common. However, unlike the sand seals or dune bulettes, purple worms are effective hunters outside of the quicksand lakes and can take on foes in almost any terrain.
Alternative Name(s)
The Quicksand Lakes; The Shimmering Sands; The Devouring Lands;
Type
Desert
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