Wadj Oasis

The Wadj is said to be greener than the jungles beyond the Mountain Ring, but only the determined have ever seen it with their own eyes. - Sorceress Tai Kao

Overview

The largest oasis on The Deshret Continent, and indeed in all of Awldor, is also its largest garden. Travelers who have returned from a visit to the verdant gardens speak of a paradise-like place, filled with many trees and bushes bearing no shortage of sweet fruits. Great trees provide plenty cool shade from the sun, and the garden is surrounded by a barrier of tall thorny, yet flowery, hedges. These hedges apparently provide the oasis with a barrier against unwanted intrusion as well as against sand storms. Events such as Magic Storms are said to not exist within the verdant garden.
It is said that at the center of the garden sits a great ziggurat that looms over the immediate landscape. Scholars who have studied the tales of the Wadj theorize that this great structure may be a source of magical energy that gives life to the Oasis in spite of the arid and lifeless environment of the inner region of Deshret. Many have hypothesized that, assuming this theory is true, that similar structures have dotted the great desert in the distant past.

Treacherous Paths

The location of the Wadj Oasis is no hidden secret. Determined travelers may discover it via a map, or perhaps through conversation with the locals of the Deshret Desert. However, knowing the location of the oasis is not the point of struggle. Getting to the verdant gardens of Deshret is fraught with peril. Paths that seem to lead straight to the distant green vision can suddenly steer the unwary traveler towards a dark and fatal end. Other paths simply lead to a dead end, one of the more desired fates for anyone traveling to the Wadj.
Few travelers have ever made it to the Wadj and returned. Even they are unsure if a return trip is possible, for they claim that those who make it to the verdant gardens are given a choice: to remain and enjoy the bounties of the oasis, or to leave and never set foot upon the rich soils again. No returned traveler speaks of who or what has given them the ultimatum.

Geography

The oasis lies in a lowland surrounded by cliffs as well as mountains on four sides. A canyon forms a natural (perhaps unnatural) ditch that effectively cuts off the oasis from the surrounding area. Lying underneath the many hills and canyons is a complex and confusing cave network. Travel through this network is said to offer the quickest path to the Wadj, though it is the most dangerous of any. Cave creatures and monsters even stranger than usual are said to lie in wait for the unwary, banking on the promise of paradise as an effective lure. Yes, some of these are giant spiders. As if that wasn't enough, quicksand and sinkholes are said to dot the area. Rock falls, a staple of traveling on the mountain slopes and canyons of the inner Deshret, are also present. This tumultuous and hazard ridden terrain is why reaching the oasis is a great challenge to many travelers.

Fauna & Flora

You would believe you'vestumbled into a mere mirage. The sight seems impossible, too vibrant and too... alive! But it's all there, the green plants, and the colorful animals... I wonder if I've made a mistake leaving it. - A Returned Adventurer

The Wadj's ecosystem contrasts starkly to the surrounding desert environ of the Deshret interior. Each plant and animal is capable of survival in small numbers. That has not stopped some scholars from speculating that life within this limited area is under some kind of magical protection, the same protection that allows the Wadj to exist at all.
Travelers who have returned from the isolated garden have talked about the various kinds of life that live within the isolated garden. It is said that the rich soil of the Wadj is tended to by Giant Earth Worms, which are said to be the size of large snakes. Giant bees (yellow with green stripes) help to pollinate the various plants throughout the garden. The bees are also said to dispose of all kinds of small detritus though no traveler could adequately explain how. Larger detritus is tended to by the large beetles. The various ponds and streams contain a variety of small fish and colorful eels. Curious kinds of non-migratory ducks and geese live in the gardens year round. Most curious of all are the bears. Travelers speak of medium sized, aptly named Wadj Bears that wander the gardens. The bears are said to have white fur with bluish-greenish organic armor plates. They seem to content themselves by sleeping and occasionally eating berries and honey, which is not unlike your usual bear. However, it is suspected that Wadj Bears will defend the garden should it be threatened.
Aside from these Wadj specific creatures, other kinds of animals found throughout Deshret will occasionally find refuge in the oasis and are made stronger by the bounties of the gardens.

Flora

Wadj trees (like palm trees, only bigger)

Flowery Hedges

Berry bushes

Apple trees

Peach Trees

Various Cacti (outer rim of the oasis)

Fauna

Wadj Bears

Giant Earth Worms

Giant Wadj Bees

Wadj Beetles

Pond fish

Garden snakes

Pond eels

Ducks

Geese

All artwork is by starfarertheta unless otherwise noted.

Alternative Name(s)

The Emerald Oasis

Type

Oasis

Location under

Oniruuru Desert

Irrigation

No plant in the Wadj appears to be in want of water, for it is provided. - A Returned Traveler from the Wadj

The Wadj contains one of the most extensive systems of irrigation in the world. It is unclear if this system is a natural phenomena or if it was artificial in origin. The long passage of time since the establishment of the gardens of the Wadj would have been sufficient to change even the straightest of waterways into something resembling a natural river. Regardless, this irrigation system ensures that every plant in the gardens receive plenty of nutritious water. Small fish of various sorts make their homes within the many channels of the waterways of course.

The Ancient Ziggurat

Most would believe that the old ziggurat that looms in the center of the oasis is a construct of The Ancient Order. However, it's construction is unlike that of the previous civilization. The materials used to construct it, stone and clay, are rarely used in other Ancient structures, which usually used metal and glass. Indeed, it is curious that the ziggurat seems to have lasted through the ages far better than the usual Ancient constructs. Perhaps the ziggurat had a far grander appearance than it does today.
Whatever the case may be, there is some speculation that, like the ruined city that slowly crumbles in the ever changing Verdant Archipelago, the ziggurat was made by a people that preceded the Ancients. This would make the ziggurat a very ancient construct indeed. Should this theory prove true, it could be indicative that this oasis is much more extraordinary than it seemed at first glance. This would imply that other such structures that may lie hidden in The Great Deshret Desert are equally old as well as implying that civilization is far older than anyone today realizes.

Lyrical Mystery

You never forget what you felt when you first hear that impossibly beautiful voice... - A Return Traveler

As strange as it may sound, but those who have traveled within running distance of the Wadj have claimed to hear singing. A soft, distant voice of a woman singing lyrics that remain a mystery. Returned travelers have recounted the strange phenomena to distinguished scholars and even mages. The consensus is that the song is sung in Xēlōian, the language of magic. As for the lyrics themselves, no one can seem to distinguish any words. At least, none have remembered them. The sounds seem to be of the magical language, but sung with no pause and seemingly no end. Those that have reached the gardens do not remember if the song was still sung or if they had only become oblivious to it amid paradise.

Note(s) from the Archivists:

I must confess that I have considered the Wadj as a potential place for my retirement. - Archivist Taeyna
You plan to retire? - Archivist Enna
Someday, yes. But I have to get the rest of the Archivists into shape first. - Archivist Taenya
We are trying, we really are. - Archivist Theta
Are we though? - Archivist Bob
I am trying, I really am. - Archivist Theta