Cold Blood Valley

A wide river ran through the center of the gorge, and all was shrouded in blessed shade from the high cliffs above. Here, an eruption of green flora covered nearly every inch of ground; thick reeds, lilies, cattails grew at the river’s edge, while bamboo, mangroves, and cypress trees provided fragrant shade throughout the entire ravine. Thick vines clung to the high branches, dripping with white, red, pink, and purple flowers of every kind imaginable. Lizards of varying size and shade scuttled from the branches or along the decayed leaves on the canyon floor.

Dangerous Beauty

In the mostly barren badlands on the edges of Gehnnia's southern territories is an area known as the Cold Blood Valley. It is a canyon through which a deep river flows at a calm pace. It is a stark contrast to the surrounding area which is hot, dry, and lifeless red stone as the river provides that precious key for life. The shores of the river are shrouded with trees and thick undergrowth of ferns and flowering shrubs. The water's edge is host to cattails and lilies and the rare but coveted golden lotus. Yet this beauty and life belie the danger that lurks below the water and in every tree.
Lizards, reptiles, and venomous snakes of all variety call this valley home, lending to the name. Many of the smaller lizards are of the harmless kind, though will still bite any traveler that tries to touch them. It is the other creatures that one must be wary of. Primal reptiles of impressive proportions hunt from beneath the river, waiting for creatures to pass near enough to the edge. These long, low beasts will launch themselves from the water and frightening speed, clamping powerful jaws full of jagged teeth onto any unsuspecting prey they can.

Even if a creature were able to survive this attack, they likely would die of infection not long after as the bacteria from the bite takes hold. On top of these horrific beasts, there are snakes possessing every level and type of venom imaginable and smaller, unassuming lizards who can spit a poison more potent than any other in the world.
This valley would be easy to avoid were it not the only source of freshwater for hundreds of miles in any direction. So any traveler moving through this heat-blasted land would likely have to brave this dangerous oasis. In fact, there are many skeletons of those wanderers who likely were unaware of what they had encountered, seeing only the beauty and the life-saving water. Their bones lay in the cool shallows or partly hidden under flowering vines, not quite a warning as if a traveler were to see them it likely would be too late.