The Red Wastes

The Red Wastes are the desert region on the main continent of Karavas. Like most deserts, the Red Wastes are devoid of the green flora of the jungle, but life persists even in the sun-blasted wastlands of the Zerude people.
The Empire of the Black Sun has never been able to claim these lands, but not for lack of trying. The eponymous wastelands are austere, unforgiving, and dangerous. The greatest threat to civilized life in the wastelands are the sandstorms. These mighty floods of whipping sand and gusting winds re-shape the wilds of the Red Wastes, revealing ancient structures to eyes for the first time in millenia and at the same time burying landmarks and mountains in its violent embrace. This makes traversing the shifting landscape a death sentence if you do not take precauctions. 
But, if you know where to look, life thrives. The Zerude people were once a coalition of nomadic tribes that moved from one oasis to the next, hunkering down in makeshift shelters and tents during sandstorms, praying for deliverance from the onslaughts. Then, a messionic figure named Zer Zora, led their people to the jewel of the desert: the Sapphire Fountain. The location of this fortress is a closeley guarded secret as the Fountain is not deep into the wastes.
Waters blue and rushing, a sacred river flows from the mouth of a cave at the botttom of a canyon. It is here that the Kingdom of Sand was founded. Homes were built into the cliff faces of the canyons all the way down to the oasis-like canyon floor where lush gardens flourish. It is not only an oasis though. The natural canyon also provides protection against the greatest threat in the wastes: the sandstorms. These great storms mean disaster for a community in the open sands, but the canyon's tunnel systems and river cave provide sanctuary and safety to wait out the storms.
Satellite encampments and villages are scattered throughout the Red Wastes among other naturally protective areas and oases, but none are more sound than the Fountain. Travel across the desert is near impossible on foot, but the Gerud have domesticated a local desert bird called the Chapparal as a means of fast transportation across the endless dunes. They are fast and keen-eyed creatures that have served the Gerud well both as scouts and courriers.

Geography

The Red Wastes are a vast expanse of the eponymous red sand dunes that rise and fall for hundreds of miles across northern Karavas. They are characterized by intensely hot dunes in the southern end of the wastes. To the west, the dunes yield to rocky terrain and are interspersed with fields of spear-like spire of eroded rock from millenia past. As one travels north, the dunes are broken by a network of enormous canyons like a labyrnthian maze. Across the Red Wastes it is possible to find a rare oasis budding seemingly spontaneously as a respite from the scorching sun.

Localized Phenomena

Sandstorms of immense size, violence, and danger pervade the lands. The sandstorms commonly move from north to south sweeping across the land. The Red Wastes are largely uninhabited by Neonatans due to these walls of sand and wind.
Oases are scattered across the lands. Some believe that the ancient water gods who used to rule the oceans that once covered these lands lamented their realms and their solitary tears sprang forth from the dry sands, small and concentrated gardens of lush jungle and life.

Alternative Name(s)

The Ocean of Fire

Type

Desert

Owner/Ruler

Damadora

Owning Organization

Zer Zerude

Inhabiting Species

• Firespine Centipede