Death Furnace desert
Basic
There are a few regions that are less than welcoming to any life forms, but one for the most inhospitable ones is eastern Desert, a region officially named Death Furnace desert. It earned its name with the extreme heat that makes this place impossible to live in, or spend any amount of time there. It’s heated by the orange sun, the hottest one of all.
Not much can be said about this region, partly for the fact that people don’t dare to venture there due to its dangerous heat level, but a few things can be at least assumed. In the nearest habitable areas, the temperatures rise up to 60˚C, and even there barely anything can survive on the surface. All the settlements here are underground. Taking this into account, we can safely assume the temperatures are even higher in Death Furnace, and even less life can be found there. In fact, it is believed the area is completely devoid of any life whatsoever.
The Stomach
Well, according to some this isn’t quite true though. Stories are told among people living in near settlements of a species of giant worms burrowing their way under the sands of Death Furnace. People call these “the stomach”. They got this name based on the fact that they are constantly hungry, snatching any lone wanderer who dares to step on their territory and eating them whole. That’s another thing, they are supposedly big enough to eat a person whole. There isn’t much proof of these however, only many theories and possibly faked circumstantial evidence people like to argue about on internet forums. For those interested, the internet rabbithole of theories on the stomach runs quite deep.
How Hot Is It?
It’s not that Death Furnace needs any legend of terrifying creatures attached to it though, the heat alone is scary enough. It’s the source of many strange stories people in nearby areas like to tell each other.
Location of Hell?
One of these is the belief that hell is actually located in that desert. Gates of Hell are actually located not too far away on the other side of the world, so this theory may not seem too far fetched. The area seems hot enough as well. But many consider this to be just another one of scary stories and conspiracy theories that will never be proven anyway.
The Burning Man
Another popular story passed around here is the one of the man who walked too far into the desert and spontaneously burst into flames and died, leaving nothing but an ash pile behind. This one doesn’t have any specific details, but many variations as a lot of people here seem to know a friend of a friend of a relative who suffered this exact fate. No specific person has ever been tracked down and been connected to these stories though.
The Heat
Still other stories tell tales of how, if you pour a glass of water on the ground, it will never actually hit the ground as it will evaporate almost immediately. Some even go as far as claim the same thing will happen to an ice cube. Again others say there’s a glass pit in there, where sand has turned to glass because of the extreme heat. All these seem rather exaggerated, especially the last one, since you would need a lot more heat for any of these to happen.
The one about it being so hot you could fry an egg isn’t even a rumor at this point- It is a well documented fact that people bring metal boxes out to the surface and use them as stoves and ovens. Some have indeed successfully fried an egg, though baking bread didn’t go over so well.
Tourism Opportunities
As exaggerated and outlandish as these stories may seem, they sure do give people some interesting points to ponder, and bring attention to Death Furnace as well as nearby areas. Tourism here thrives on these far fetched stories of the place that is in reality nothing more than a dry dead desert. As hot as it is, it probably isn't even nearly as hot as some of these stories would have you believe. This doesn't bother people who sell loads of merchandise, souvenirs and trinkets to people wanting to visit the hottest area in the world each year.
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