The Gorgonian Desert

<sub>"Fasten it--like this." And their guide, Teori, took a moment to tug at the straps of his mask, his hands grey, nails like stone. The indention of the mask sat well into his face. Davlaq and Yunallu mimicked.

"It's all just superstition, isn't it?" The mask, made of two parts leather and some parts wood, covered in the Imdulled people's lucky colors and triangular shapes, extended past Davlaq's jaw and muffled his voice. "We don't need them to be that tight?"

Teori stood there a moment, as though sizing the pair up before pointing at Davlaq's bag. "Give me some of your pack. You won't be able to run away fast enough."

Davlaq wiggled out of his pack, and began, with voice shaking, "Run away from what? I thought we were going on a safe route?"

"The Wolfheads--carry Lycanthrope. And don't kill any wolves. They'll just come back."</sub>

Geography

The Gorgonian Wastes is a desert, and during the day, it turns people who walk under the sun to stone. This is in part due to two effects. A, a highly alkaline lake, called Lake Gorgon, near the desert's southeast. It is fed by two rivers, the River Belladona and the River Locusta. The runoff comes from the mountain to the east, and is slightly north of the lake. Both of the rivers are high in alkaline content due to the run off coming from the same mountain range which also hosts a volcano. As such, These mountains are, topically, basalt, as well as other alkaline earths and metals, rich. This dispersal is in part due to the third conjunction.
As such, the heat and alkalinity of these rivers feed into the Lake Gorgon. During the summer months, the heat becomes so intense that most of the lake and some of the rivers evaporate off, leaving the caustic chemical both collected in the lake and in the air. This vapor settles on the desert floor at night and rises with the dew, giving the impression that is is the sun that turns things to stone.
As well, The Weave can have an effect on this desert, particularly when Laputa and Daedalus, the pair of floating mountains, are within 50 miles of the desert. During this event, the vapor will stay in the air longer, elongating the evaporation of the lake during the summer months into mid spring or late fall, if the temperatures and mountain arrival correspond.

Fauna & Flora

The evolution of the areas fauna has been to cope with that of the petrification. Many bugs will secrete a particular acid in order to counteract the alkaline solution that washes over them. This would explain why some creatures developed to become venomous, poisonous, or acidic in nature both as a measure of self-defense, environmental and otherwise. As well, some bugs take the opportunity the summer months to hibernate and conserve energy. As such, many developed thick carapaces that the alkaline could eat into and help them shed when it was during the spring and winter months that they could come out.

Natural Resources

While outwardly barren, the mountains have provided a fair amount of metals and minerals with which to arm those brave enough to mine around the mountains and rivers. There are also oil pits from which oil can be extracted for lamps and the like.
Additionally, there are salt flats deeper within the desert and near the more nefarious portions of the desert--particularly the Wolfspire.

Alternative Name(s)

Wolfspire Waste, Sunstone Desert, Sands of the Medusa

Type

Desert