Vale of Eloi
An ancient Ur-Zen settlement buried under sand
A toxic fume rose from the sands beneath our feet. We dare go no further and wondered if perhaps it was already too late. The sandstorm's howl, a mournful desert cry, whistled in my ears. Before we turned back, Mazta grant me strength, I strained to peer beyond the wall of whirling wind and sand. For a brief moment I caught a glimpse of the brick and stone of that ancient place, the tops of buildings jutting up from the brown sands. Wiping the sand from my eyes, I knew I would never behold this sight again.
Before the Ajna Pestilence and the fall of the Precursor Empires, there was an Ur-Zen city in the valley desert west of what is now the realm of Two Suns. This city was lost in a sandstorm years before Skybreak lifted the cloud veil of the Dark Sun. Many travelers have sought to reach this lost settlement and some speculate that it might even be the legendary golden city of Eldorado. Whether or not Eloi and Eldorado are one and the same, the story-keepers of the Zone all concur that somewhere beneath the Desert Vale a city lies buried, a tomb of concrete and steel, a necropolis of sand.
History
Among the chronicled exploits of adventurers who have sought the location of Eloi, there are also legends of a desert-dwelling hermit who wanders the dunes by night and navigates by the guiding lights of the walking stars. Stories of this lone inhabitant, known as the "Night-Man," may be based on a kernel of truth, but they persist now purely as the stuff of legend. It is said that the Night-Man shuns the company of all but the most worthy travelers. Those he sees fit to aid have been granted escort and safe passage through the Desert Vale of Eloi. Some have wondered if the Night-Man legend is in some way connected with the buried city though these musings can never be confirmed until the city is at last uncovered.
Architecture
The few travelers that have gotten close enough to the remains of Eloi to record observations of the city ruins have reported architecture reminiscent of Precursor styles indicating that Eloi may have been older even than the Fallen Empires of the post-cataclysmic era. Covered in sand for centuries, the ruined city may nonetheless be largely intact, and explorers have long yearned to uncover its untapped secrets.
Geography
Eloi had occupied an arid lowland plan deep in the Forbidden Zone. Surrounded by dense jungle terrain it was a natural habitat for a settlement of urban Precursor survivors. Chronicles speculate based on oral folklore that a prolonged period of drought created dustbowl conditions that eventually churned the valley plain into a cloud of toxic post-cataclysmic dust. This dust combined with volatile climatic conditions to create a swirling sandstorm that ravaged the lowlands and eventually settled burying everything in a featureless desert of poisonous sand. Somewhere below this blank, viewless stretch of dunes lie the remains of Eloi.
Rangers of Pachuco and the Two Suns Tribes have tried to dose themselves with Eye O'Dye and Thyroblue to stave off the chronic Soul Sickness that infects those who enter the Desert Vale. But even the efforts of the hardiest souls have been stymied by the scattering winds of recurring sandstorms. These periodic storms cause the dunes to shift dramatically, a phenomenon that has rendered all efforts to map the desert utterly futile. Moreover, it is impossible to know at any particular time whether or not the city is even visible above the dunes or utterly concealed beneath the sands.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
Ahistorical - Date unrecorded.
Alternative Name(s)
Eloi, Vale of Eli, Desert Vale
Type
City
Population
Dead / Abandoned
Inhabitant Demonym
Ur-Zen
Location under
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