Wellfever

by Henry Bacon

Heat and Dehydration

The condition known as Wellfever is perhaps the most dangerous and cruel aspect of Jadiran adaption to the desert. Generations upon generations of Jadiran dunewalkers have lived, bled and died among the sand. Humans of Jadiran blood have developed an uncanny, almost magical intuition for the presence of water. Unfortunately, it is only truly useful in the most dire situations.
For the condition to manifest, the person needs to be approaching death by heat or dehydration. Under these circumstances a Jadiran will being sensing nearby sources of water, which manifests in a tingling in the extremities and later includes visual and auditory hallucinations indicating the direction and volume of water as the body approaches heat death.
This ability has in the past rarely enabled groups stuck in the desert to find nearby smaller oases or the path back to civilisation just in time to avoid succumbing to the desert. More commonly though, it is just another cruel facet to live in the sands, because Jadirans can also come to realise that no accessible water is close enough to still avoid exitus, simply signifying that no matter what they do, they cannot avoid the hand of the sun this final time.
Large caravans have experimented with using this ability to their advantage, strategically dehydrating a single member of their group, who can then aid in navigation. The afflicted could use the wellfever to identify directions towards water sources, which, when mapped and compared to other navigation aides could help chart the best pathway However, this proved to be too unreliable, and not usable in stretches where the desert is completely devoid of water. In the end, this ability can server as a last ditch effort to stumble into the mercy of a small oasis or water reservoir, and not much more.
When you travel across the sands, stay out of the heat, conserve water and, most crucially, get a local guide. If all things fail, his instinct may lead you to salvation.

In der Wüste (In the desert) by Carl Haag