Sunbleached Wastelands

Ever since the Scorching of Mercury destroyed the atmosphere, the planet has been pushed towards two extremes. The sun sears the life out of every square inch it touches, and abandons the scrapes and crevasses it cannot reach. The forgotten reaches become space-cold, and the rest a sunbleached wasteland. Under the vengeful glare of the Chained Sun extreme weather like ion tornados and dust storms ravage the land.
As wildfires burn the forests to ash, as water boils out of the oceans, lakes, and land, and as the sun sears rock and sand, Mercury devolves into homogenous skeletal grey.

Flora and Fauna

The sunbleached wastelands are barren, but not entirely devoid of life. Mummified exoskeletons litter the landscape, but the creatures who could burrow deep or otherwise withstand the extreme cold and heat remain. Like the Nomads of Mercury, the creatures have turned to scavenging too.
The walkers continue to be cornerstones of the ecology even in death. The shade from the gargantuan husks provides shelter from the searing sun, allowing bold critters to dart between the shade.

Extreme Weather

Without the atmosphere for protection, the wastelands experience frequent micro-meteor storms, especially during the twelve days of dawn. The thin coating of dust and regolith can be a blessing, revealing the otherwise invisible tornados that form in a snap as the solar winds hit the planet.
Each Solar Pulse ravages the surface further with magnetic storms, and as the storms sweep through the Iron Spires abberant electric charges power the long-dead cities. All lit up, they shine as ghost cities on the horizon.

Sub-biomes

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Related Articles

☿ Mercury

History Scorching of Mercury Locations Caduceus · Penumbra · Biomes ( Sunbleached Wastelands ) · Iron Spires ( Hokusai · Hun Kal ) · Enheduanna Characters Blue NM-2 · Eun · Sciah · Roseah · Tray Species Keras ( Mot · Walker ) Politics Ruling ( Mercurian Triumvirate · Interplanetary Solar Defence Council ) · Keystone of Mercury Society Ethnicities ( Refugees of Mercury · Nomads of Mercury ) · Borealis Ice Mining

Location under

Mercury

Included Locations

• Ghostsea