The Dust
The dust is being pushed away from the alcoves with the return of the Green Zone, but Ignatius predicted that the growth would stop soon and that a large portion of the Kingdom would remain lost to the dust.
A central desert wasteland, human return to the heart of the dust is done only in convoys traveling quickly along ancient and cratered roadways, or along the various rivers that can be used to supply water.
Dust-lords have sprung up as masters of this domain, some setting up fortifications and tolls along the paths. Ignatius' couriers and messengers pass freely, but they prefer the underground railways linking the alcoves to the dangers of surface travel.
Brigands, half-destroyed machines, and hunter-killer drones stalk the dust, and they are more than a sufficient threat to impose restrictions on the trade and resources flowing through the region.
However, with the Kingdom's influence expanding within its domain, many parts of the dust that would have been impossible to access years ago have become readily available, and the dust lords send convoys ever further from their strongholds and establish new outposts.
The most noteworthy of lords have been accused of conspiring to rob Ignatius of his rightful due, but many of the inhabitants of the dust view that as a slander intended to justify increased taxes and abuses from the alcoves.
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