Oniruuru Desert

My first impression? This is a desolate landscape that is slowly choking out the life within it. Some say that this vast desert is a preview of an Awldor yet to come. I hope they are wrong.

— Artur Neha, Traveler

Overview

The largest desert in Awldor, the Oniruuru Desert, dominates the Deshret Continent. The desert contains some of the driest places in Awldor due in part to the encircling Rayiq Mountains preventing moisture of the oceans from reaching the inner continental region. Because of the high difficulty in traversing these mountains, most who begin life within the Oniruuru also spend the rest of their lives within the desert dreaming of endless oceans and vast woodland expanses. Conversely, many living outside of the Rayiq Mountains live their lives knowing only hearsay of the wonders of the Oniruuru, wonders that include the Sandsea.
There are five sub-deserts that together make up the Oniruuru: Khuurai, Baluva, Khur, Dhoruba, and Asin.

Deserted Ruins

The Ancient Order are present in the Deshret Desert, but most are rendered inaccessible either through the sheer dangers of the land or because the ruins has been buried in sand, salt, or storm. As such, many of these ruins remain untouched by contemporary hands. What can be reached has long ago been cleared out of usable resources by the region's inhabitants who were recovering from the Great Collapse.

Skeletal Dangers

Many who desire to travel into inner Deshret ought to be aware of the many kinds of skeletal remains that are a common sight throughout the desert regions.
Some of these remains lie largely intact while most have been reduced to many fragments. In some places, the land is a surface of bones.
Some of these remains mark the graves of Ancient Order settlements. Sometimes, a skeletal grave yard is the work of a particularly dangerous beast, monster, or cannibal tribe.

Why are these dangers, because at night many of the skeletal remains will reanimate. These reanimated remains will attack anything in sight except for other skeletons.

Awldor

Open full size

The world of Awldor.

Geography

Excluding the The Sandsea and the Avon'Col, the Oniruuru is defined by five distinct regions: Khuurai, Baluva, Khur, Dhoruba, and Asin.

You cannot claim to know dry air if your lips have never cracked and you've never felt your own tongue shrivel.

— Hasani La, Khuurai Survivor

Khuurai

Perhaps the driest place in the world, the Khuurai hosts almost no life due to its dryness. It is a place where the very air can desiccate the unprepared within a week's time. The landscape of this region is a rocky expanse full of strange rocky formations carved from the calamities of the Great Collapse. Dry winds have begun to smooth out the rocks since then. Buttes and Mesas are another common geographic feature of this desert (these features exist in the other four regions of the Oniruuru).
The Khuurai Desert lacks magical phenomena as the region is known to be a convergence point for Magic Deadzones.
Rocky structures in shapes that are reminiscent of arches and towers dominate the region. These rocks display a variety of reds, browns, and whites that may surprise a first-time traveler. Pockets of sand and dust can be found between the larger flat stone shelves that dominate the floor of the landscape. Because the area is arid, some rocks have become brittle and will crack to a well placed shock. As such, one can suddenly find themselves discovering a hitherto uncharted cave that lurked beneath the dry surface. If one expects to find water shelting in these caves they will be disappointed. The caves are just as dry as the surface they lurk under. Some caves have openings to even deeper systems that could contain precious water, but these are undoubtedly under jealous guard by creatures looking to secure their own survival in the inhospitable wilderness.
The Khuurai sits at the highest elevation compared to the other four regions and as such is the coldest during the night.
The Khurrai is located in the northern tip of the inner region of the continent.

The greatest infiltrators of all time is not a man, nor a woman, but grains of sand. Nothing of yours is safe from that grainy horde.

— Artur Neha, Traveler

Baluva

The Baluva is defined by its massive sand dunes. It is believed that sand from this region touches every corner of the Deshret Continent due to being blown around by the continental storms.
Between the sand dunes, a few oases can be found within this region. Some of these oases have magical cairns that were established by mages to protect them from the surrounding environment. The cairns do so by projecting a shield that is powered by arcane energy.
From time to time, an oasis will be buried under one of the large sand dunes that are slowly propelled by winds. The shield keeps the grains of sand at bay and the interaction of the matter with the magical field produces a dull glow that provides light to anything or anyone trapped inside. The oasis will reemerge as a dune continues its slow journey. The length of time the oasis is buried varies depending on the weather.
These spots of clean water and shade have saved many travelers. However, not all last forever. Sometimes the water inexplicably dries up, even the ones protected by magical cairns. But where one oasis dries up a new one emerges, usually.
The Baluva Desert is located along the north-western edge of the inner continental region.

This land will taunt you with the promise of water, but it is just as barren as the rest of them.

— Layla Dua,Vavahady Spice Merchant

Khur

A parched and cracked landscape for most days of the year, the Khur is known for its many canyons that carve into the land. The Desert Mouths of legend, temporary canyon formations that consume the unwary, are also known to be concentrated here.
This desert is considered to be the wettest of the Deshret Deserts as the wayward rain cloud will sometimes temporarily form and briefly water the region. As such, this is the desert with the most plant life with a fauna population to match. The uncommon instance of rainfall is the reason the land has its cracked look, as enough rain lands to create mud which dries out during the remainder of the year. Not all of the water is evaporated into the air, some of it is collected in the regions many subterranean caverns. The traveler should not be so eager to draw from these sources, for the waters are often tainted with magics or creatures of unpleasant sorts.
Khur is where one may find the Wadj Oasis, assuming one can survive the approach to the impossible green gardens.
The Khur Desert is located along the southern edge of the inner continent.

We call it the angry desert, and for good reason. No place can be so consistently enraged for nothing.

— Gabir Jozigan, Sandsea Sailor

Dhoruba

The Dhoruba Desert, continuously ravaged by a persistent Magic Storm, and it is simply called the Vortex. The Vortex proceed through weak and strong phases. The constant winds of this storm has drilled into the land making Dhoruba the lowest of the deserts in altitude.
During the Vortex's weak phase, it is a light dust storm that becomes more violent as one travels towards its center. The source of the Vortex's energy likely resides at the center of the storm, though no one has been able to lay eyes upon it as well as to report it. Towards the outer fringes of the desert several thin dust devils can be seen to dance about the region. Perhaps the source of the storm is a far more powerful version of these dust devils. The outer parts of Dhoruba can be traveled safely during this phase.
The Vortex's strong phase is the trigger behind the yearly continental dust storm, an event that touches all corners of inner Deshret. During this time, Dhoruba is engulfed in a violent lightning storm that persists for the duration of the continental event. Few can claim to have survived the brutality of the storm. Most who are caught traveling in Dhoruba when the continental storm flares up are never seen again. Sometimes the mangled bodies of these unlucky travelers are discovered in a neighboring desert or along the slopes of the mountain. Therefore, it is extremely dangerous to travel Dhoruba during this phase.
No permanent settlement exists within Dhoruba, and what ancient ruins there used to be have been destroyed long ago.
The Dhoruba Desert is located in the south-eastern corner of the inner continent.

You have no idea of what can be preserved with enough salt: plants, people, even horrors.

— Nailah Xuan, Salt Guild Farmer

Asin

A region of many salt pans that collectively form what many refer to as the "salt pan desert" in common speech. The vast collection of salts creates a white and pink landscape that sparkles and shines under a clear afternoon's sun. It is considered one of the most beautiful vistas on inner Deshret.
There is a hidden danger in the Asin Desert. The vast stretches of salt encrusted surface appear to be solid floor when in reality it is a thin crust. Underneath this crust is a kind of primordial ooze that can trap the unwary traveler. Parts of the salt crust are thick enough to support heavy weightss, but most areas are not.
While much of Asin's ooze is inanimate, some parts of it have been imbued with remnant magics from the Collapse. These pockets of ooze are alive, and they are malicious to disturbers. They are commonly called Salt Fans.
There are few safe paths with which one can travel the Asin with minimal fear of breaking through the crust or disturbing the. It is highly advisable for travelers to buy an accurate map or to hire a knowledgeable tour guide.
The vast expanses of salt has attracted a thriving salt industry that employs many farmers and slaves to farm the pans for vast quantities of salt. As a result, the Salt Guilds are the de facto political power of this region. The power of these guilds is only checked by the gateway cities, which control the only points of access to and from the salt desert and the wider world. As one can imagine, this has motivated the guilds to fund survey expeditions to find alternate routes through the mountains.
The Asin Desert is located along the eastern edge of the inner continent.

All artwork is by starfarertheta unless otherwise stated.

Alternative Name(s)

The Five Deserts

Type

Desert

Location under

Deshret Continent

Included Locations

• The Silent Pyramid
• Wadj Oasis

Related Tradition (Primary)

• Tour of the Sands

Flora and Fauna

Khuurai

(exhaustive)

Flora

• None

Fauna

• None

Baluva

(not exhaustive)

Flora

• Palm trees
• Baobab trees

Fauna

• Mchenga serpent
• Shiroi Camels
• Nhanh Camels,
• Zehir Scorpions
• Giant Sand Beetle
• Vultures

Khur

(not exhaustive)

Flora

• Khur Cacti
• Flowering Cacti
• Acacia tree
• Raxan Flower
• Şifter Cacti

Fauna

• Cobra Snakes
• Khur Bee
• Mahloko Wasp
• Nayzağay Wasp
• Obsidian Armadillo
• Mud Crabs, Hyenas
• Jackals
• Thorny Roper
• Vultures

Dhoruba

(not exhaustive)

Flora

• Flat cacti
• Burrowed Cacti
• Wind-swept acacia

Fauna

• Cobra Snake
• Jackals
• Hyenas
• Vultures

These animals 'ere are per-seasoned. All ya need is a good fire and yer set fer a feastin'!

— Asin Salt Miner

Asin

(not exhaustive)

Flora

• Salt-crusted cacti
• Salt-crusted

Fauna

• Salt Golems
• Salt-crusted Spiders
• Salty Flans, Oil Flans
• Salt-crusted crabs
• Vultures

Note(s) from the Archivists:

I don't know, the place seems a little dry for my tastes. - Archivist Theta
Really? - Archivist Enna
Was my joke a little too coarse for you? - Archivist Theta
People get salty when you make them. - Archivist Enna
If both of you keep this up, you will get your just deserts. - Archivist Taenya