Hazfen
Potestatem is a planet of change and power. The small dot houses hundreds of millions of souls on it. Around this planet an asteroid belt circles on a tilted orbit. These asteroids are not just rocks, but the remnants of a great moon. The moon is long forgotten but its remnants define the world. Asteroids made of stained glass roil through the mass of rocks in orbit. As sunlight filters through them onto the planet's surface, that light is altered. Huge swaths of tinted light fall onto Potestatem. Each color creating a different effect. Jungels sprout under life-giving green light. Floods fall upon the blue-washed mountains. Purple-lit countries experience magical energies in the very air. There are many more colors and effects but one region experiences only one. Yellow light singes the Hazfen Desert.
Scorched annihilated earth and stone formed this endless lifeless place. Two thousand miles from east to west, and over a thousand north to south, the Hazfen desert is the largest sea of sand on Potestatem. The transcendent Hazfen Empire with its Burgeonend god warriors rule the Hazfen River's shore. From their they rule over and war with the deserts natives, monsters, and very dunes.
The dunes bury the dozens of leaders known as Cadence's beneath the sand. These leaders dedicated themselves to Ficium, the faith that through work and wisdom, one may be rewarded through Inversion. A great ritual that creates the Burgeonend who rule the dunes. Thousands of these Burgeonend lay buried beneath the dunes in stone vaults hidden for mortal eyes.
The world has been destroyed once, and only for the last three hundred years has the empire finally settled into its greatest golden age. With peace comes change. Change brings conflict. Slastratum who work in droves amid the heat cry out for freedom. The Burgeonend seek out new land beyond the dunes and scheme against one another. Old foes fly high in the sky looking for opportunities to take from the overflowing wealth of the empire. The roots also are gnawed away at by the mindless Sigh who will never sit still in the northern Sigh Dunes. Dwarven strongholds spew forth machines from their great Dawn Mountain Range - Fotgral Kegbrand. In the chaos, the empire has come out on top and will stomp any who defy the faith in Ficium. Amid all this, adventurers look for opportunities to make a score. With needs for firepower, an empire spread thin, who would notice a single party prying a few gold coins loose from a palm overflowing.
The world has been destroyed once, and only for the last three hundred years has the empire finally settled into its greatest golden age. With peace comes change. Change brings conflict. Slastratum who work in droves amid the heat cry out for freedom. The Burgeonend seek out new land beyond the dunes and scheme against one another. Old foes fly high in the sky looking for opportunities to take from the overflowing wealth of the empire. The roots also are gnawed away at by the mindless Sigh who will never sit still in the northern Sigh Dunes. Dwarven strongholds spew forth machines from their great Dawn Mountain Range - Fotgral Kegbrand. In the chaos, the empire has come out on top and will stomp any who defy the faith in Ficium. Amid all this, adventurers look for opportunities to make a score. With needs for firepower, an empire spread thin, who would notice a single party prying a few gold coins loose from a palm overflowing.
Geography
Sand, sand for leagues. The single large river that has survived the noonday sun for a millennium is the Hazfen River that travels the Hazfens heart. Splitting the desert into north and south the river is the defining trait of the land. In the south, nearly endless dunes slowly give way to blasted hellscapes. The sand turning to frozen barrens as you pass out of the region. The large frozen Rhedsy Woods borders in the southeast as well, the thick old tree's bolstered with diverse life fight the desert every year.
In the north beyond the river true harsh reality exists. Only stone crevasses, trenches, and dunes live there. The Dawn Mountain Range - Fotgral Kegbrand blocks all hope of rain reaching this arid region, only the mountains themselves allow people to survive off their rocky crags and waterfalls. Reaching far from the mountains through the Sigh Dunes cover most of this northern region.
To the west the land borders on the Wisconsin Plains. A diving mountain range provides several entrances into the region but clearly delineates the two areas of arid sand and vibrant farm land. In the east the great Mount Sun blocks the rising sun for a precious few cool hours. There the Memphia desert begins and the Hazfen ends. The river continues westward and fills into the Sea of Poison Fire near Yodnic Lond.
Ecosystem
Less diverse than almost anywhere, some life clings to the Hazfen's empty sands. Oasis and the Hazfen River provide some energy that is feriecly competed over. Whether the native Sigh and Nagpako duel for these watering holes, or just a great wall built by the Hazfen Empire blocks it.
Great rocky plants with watering sacks sit tall in the northern Sigh Dunes, they dig deep and wide to survive the tunneling Sigh monsters. A few flying birds of prey and predator hide among these plants. Few molds, vines, and funguses live in the tunnels and crevasses the Sigh dig. Only insect life has managed to avoid the monsters, most beasts have been hunted to near extinction.
In the south the Nagpako fly amidst the skies and compete with Cherloa the Drought for the richer end of the desert. Several gaseuous and land beasts are able to survive in the Deathless Dunes. They float on the hot rising air, or use long legs to survive endless walks. Many more insects and small creatures manage to survive in rocky or sandy shaded areas and go unnoticed by the larger impressive or intelligent species.
Ecosystem Cycles
Sigh raids exploded and then vanish in the north. In the souther region that is the Deathless Dunes Cherloa the Drought plots assaults and slaughters of Hazfeni or Nagpako people's daily, but due to her long life, years can pass with her staying within her few dozen mile region known as Cherloa's Sand Swirl, filled with sinkholes and dust devils.
Localized Phenomena
An odd amount of Window Asteroids amplify the heat and light within the region several times throughout the temples passing. This has been theorized to keep the deserts vast size and souther proximity possible.
Alternative Name(s)
Deathless Dunes, Dawns Shadow, Rippling Hell, Great Desert, Southern Desert
Type
Desert
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