Scorch
At the heart of Auzera's Great Desert is a stretch of rolling sand dunes. Here, the days are blistering, the nights are frigid, and the cloudless sky stretches for miles.
While all of the Great Desert is tough, the Scorch is truly unlivable. There is no water anywhere within it, nor is there shelter from the blazing suns. The scarce life that can be found is highly adapted to withstand the extreme conditions.
Geography
Reddish sand dunes, sometimes taller than 2,000 feet, rise and fall across the landscape for as far as the eye can see. During the day, the air shimmers with heatwaves. The shifting air sometimes creates the illusion of water, but there is not a drop of it in the heart of the Scorch. At night, the sands lie eerily still and quiet. With no moisture to retain the warmth, the temperature quickly drops. The frigid dry air is so ruthless that it can make lungs bleed.
Ecosystem
At first glance, the Scorch appears devoid of all life. However, its outer edges do host a handful of stubborn plants and animals that insist on making the sandy wasteland their home.
The foundation of this tiny food web is the Featherfinger shrub, a gnarly plant that can survive upwards of a year with no water. Featherfingers use Lunar Aura to battle the heat. Venomous Scorch scorpions nest near these plants and prey upon the smaller insects that seek them out for food and shelter. Desert Moondisk zip through the air just above the sands while they filter through it for minerals, insects, and plant matter. At the top of the foodchain reins the small but mighty Dunerider.
Ecosystem Cycles
All of the Scorch's native species are at least partially nocturnal and hide from the suns during the day. Duneriders, scorpions, and moondisks all retreat underground--either to a den or just below the surface. The featherfingers avoid being fried to death by cooling their internals with Lunar Aura they collected from the night before. The only times that the desert awakens during the day is during eclipses--particularly Greater eclipses.
Localized Phenomena
High winds frequently stir up dust devils, sandstorms, or brightstorms. Featherfingers take advantage of the winds to uproot and change location as well as to spread their seeds.
Interesting location. :D I love the description of the flora and fauna that live there. I am intrigued by moondisks!
Thanks! I was hoping the moondisks would be intriguing! I'm excited to write about them.