Matanza Desert

"It is like when one crosses those mountains, they are walking into hell. But, and this is the cruelest of ironies, it is a hell filled with valuables. Ruins of dead empires, rare minerals, and strange magics. If it weren't for these things, there would be no reason for any life to live there at all

— A Setican Explorer

The Matanza Desert is an immense dune sea that makes up much of the interior of the Setican Continent. The Matanza Desert is home to immensely dangerous insects and creatures, as well as suffering immense heat during the days and incredible colds at night. Oases are a rare, but welcomed, sight to the travelers.
In recent years, explorers from the neighboring Setican Empire have caused a boom in this largely uncharted region with the discovery of ancient ruins that dot the desert. Many settlements and towns have begun to pop up, in hopes of making money from the ruins or discovering potentially powerful magic items.

Geography

The Matanza Desert is a vast, seemingly unending dune sea located just beyond the Thundering Mountains. Compared to its humid jungle counterpart on the west and south coast, the Matanza Desert is a scorchingly hot, shifting sea of sand with rocking outcroppings, mesas, petrified forests, and oases. What few rivers actually exist rarely last the whole year, instead rising and disappearing throughout the year, with the exception being the Fertile River, where some of the lushest plantlife in the Matanza exists. The Matanza Desert covers much of the interior of the Setican Continent, and ranges from the vast dune sea that is familiar to most, to petrified forests, to large salt flats, to canyons and sandy plains, to even some savannahs that dot the various oases and rivers that exist.Rivers in the Matanza Region are an extremely rare sight, often lasting only certain months out of the year, reappearing during the times of the snow melts and rain seasons before drying up by the autumn and winter.

Localized Phenomena

Although much of the region has been claimed by the Setican Empire, the officials in charge of it have done very little to exert that control over the region. Major roadways are still very rare and connections between towns need to be redone after major rain and duststorms. Furthermore, the addition of bandits, thieves, and adventurers has made it hard to commit to any real change as Magistrates and Military forces have to fight for every inch before they can even consider real plan.

Climate

The Matanza desert is the largest hot desert in the world. The permanent absence of clouds in the Matanza region makes rainfall a non-existent prospect. Furthermore, the area

Alternative Name(s)

The Desert of Despair
The Ruined Lands
The Endless Expanse

Type

Desert

Location under

Setica

Included Locations

• Stoney Hollow

Inhabiting Species

• Carrion Burrowers