Gallic Desert
The Gallic Desert is located on the Northern Isle, between Farr City, Wether, and Hyon.
* Said to take 22 hours to cross the Gallic Desert - actually takes 52 hours at widest point to Farr City - 9 days to coast from South side of desert.
+ The desert was singed colouring - a barren brown. It is the most desolate and lonesome environment, for the most part.
+ Sinking sand is known to scatter the desert.
+ Broken bits of stone and masonry rise from the sand, a jagged silhouette on the horizon.
+ At night, scrawling sounds fills the air. The land is quite flat and barren, once past the third row of sand dunes - where a mesa (8ft high, 30ft by 90ft across) stands.
+ Large birds of prey hovers above the sands, mainly vultures - with the head and neck more or less bare of feathers, feeding chiefly on carrion and reputed to gather with others in anticipation of the death of a sick or injured animal or people. Even the desert lions are more ferocious than is usual. Only the odd brittle bush breaks up the emptiness of the desert. A screaming hawk flies overhead. Lizards skittered across the golden sand. Soap trees stared silently at the sun. Crows called out in their horrible voices.
+ Recognizable paw prints of a desert fox, past across the sand in front of you all. Like the Party, it is being basted and blazed by the sun. Your skin feels sweat sodden by the heat. The noxious swirl of body odour fills your nostrils. Your tongues are swollen from the lack of water. Our food had a spiritless and sandy taste to it.
+ A dry oasis bakes in the hot sun, the dead palm fronds rustling in the scorching wind.
+ The wind swirls and rises, picking up sand and dust.
+ An amphora (a pottery vessel used to transport liquids including wine), half-buried in the sand, that contains a trapped marid (water genie). If the amphora is broken, the marid is freed, for the price of an excellent story, they can grant wishes - or they will agree to do a favour for those who freed it as long as the favour is within its power.
+ The curve of the dune ahead resembles every other dune the party has passed so far.
A Sand Hydra borrows and rises around the centre of this Desert.
Camp fires of another set of travellers:-
+ Miners from Hyon, heading to Farr City.
+ Caravan
The only people whom reside within the desert are an ancient members of the Sunrayin Tribe, along with some Earth Genasi. They are thought of as Nomadic, since no one has ever found their settlement. They do have homes within the caves of closest to The Whale Sea.
Combat Encounters 1d8
1. Swarms of Scorpion wait hidden in the sand and hide under rocks.2. Giant Hyenas (1d10) - these large hyenas have thick heads, rheumy red eyes, and mouths filled with sharp, powerful teeth. Their crackle is unsettling.
3. Hobgoblins (2d6) + 1x hobgoblin captain - riding tempermental camels.
4. Brass Wyvern - a flying lizard with a poisonous stinger in its tail. Unlike the Dragons, it has only hind legs, using them the same way a hunting bird would. The tip of the tail is a thick knot of cartilage from which a stinger protrudes, very much like that of a scorpion. The eyes are red or orange. A wyvern does not have a strong odor, although its lair might smell of a recent kill. These beasts can make two sounds: a loud hiss, which sounds like a hot sword plunged into water, and a low, deep-throated growl, much like that of a bull crocodile - see Wyverns
5. Ettin Giant - Jazbog (eager to fight party, purple face paint) and Jilvag (hiccups, wants to 'play' with party, yellow face paint)
6. Efreeti - genies from the elemental plane of Fire.
7. A chronalmental ( Alternate Traits and Actions ) , flickering and wavering like a heat mirage.
8. A covered and concealed pit (15 feet in diameter, 8 feet deep) stands in the party’s path. It takes a successful DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot it. If it goes unnoticed, the two party members at the front of the marching order must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, or fall into the pit as the ground collapses from beneath them. At the bottom of the pit waits 1d8 + 2d4 exploding toads.
Desert Mirages or Other Issues
+ Desert hag+ Desert oasis surrounded by tents
+ Desert oasis with plants
+ A trader and a camel walking away in the distance that they can never seem to catch up to. The camels hoofs leave shallow pools of water behind it.
+ A big temple with large staircase and a lush water garden on top of the temple. They climb the stairs to see the mirage dissipate and realize they climbed a small mountain and there is no garden. Make the stairs difficult terrain saying there is loose rocks on the stairs, but it’s really the side of mountain.
+ A pyramid or other structure that seems to be just over the ridge but as they approach it sinks into the sand
+ A desert temple could hold a room full of sand. However, our party comes to find that certain squares in this room sink into loose sand—forcing them to make a Dexterity save or go under.
+ Lightning sand - Players will have to navigate their way through a rather large area—perhaps with a burrowing monster after them to spice up the flavor.
BEARSKIN CANYON
The Bearskin Canyon is the longest slot canyon in all of Esau - named because of the sighting of rare desert Owlbear species, who have been seen inside. It is located near the edge of Gallic Desert on the Northern Isle, opening out towards The Whale Sea .SHRINE
Sand coloured stone Shrine to Gil'lon, The Cat Lord; The Lord of Balance; The Master CatLocalized Phenomena
SENSATIONS
It’s the sensations that let you know you’re dying. Your skin feels like it’s been stabbed by a million tiny sun-spears and then scraped by sandpaper. Your tongue is cloven to the roof of your mouth. It’s like there’s a dry, leathery in-sole wagging away at the back of your throat. Your eyes feel like they are melting into the back of their sockets. Sand burns your skin raw, it stings the eyes, and very step feels like a marathon. You stumble and totter, as shriveled and contorted as the plant life around you.
At night, it’s as cold a white dragon's breath. Your body trembles feverishly and your teeth rattle as numbness spreads. Eventually, sleep overtakes you. You will wake too cold under a early dawn sky.
It’s the sensations that let you know you’re dying. Your skin feels like it’s been stabbed by a million tiny sun-spears and then scraped by sandpaper. Your tongue is cloven to the roof of your mouth. It’s like there’s a dry, leathery in-sole wagging away at the back of your throat. Your eyes feel like they are melting into the back of their sockets. Sand burns your skin raw, it stings the eyes, and very step feels like a marathon. You stumble and totter, as shriveled and contorted as the plant life around you.
At night, it’s as cold a white dragon's breath. Your body trembles feverishly and your teeth rattle as numbness spreads. Eventually, sleep overtakes you. You will wake too cold under a early dawn sky.
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