Maldita Desert
With a seemingly unending vista of different barren terrains the Maldita Desert stretches across much of the south western mass of Alkay. The largest desert in all of Errath, nearly every type of blasted terrain can be found here. The northeastern badlands boast giant mesas and plateaus where the desert meets the Addamian frontier, sometimes thick enough to become mazes of mesas and valleys. Further south the swamps of Maircage turn to woods, then to shrublands, and finally to the wastes and silt rivers of an evaporated sea. Where the desert touches the ancient Tallwood Forest there can be found the petrified remains of ancient trees, sticking up like skeletal fingers. Further in the desert can be found endless sand dunes, salt flats, and even seas of glass. One feature unites the desert. Water is scarce, and rain nearly unheard of.
In recent years something has drawn the attention of the Imperial Republic of Addam: Mithril and Wizard Crystals. The rare materials, prized in many artificer creations, have been found in the desert, drawing a new wave of prospectors, explorers, and adventurers out into the wastes. Dwarven expeditions have already established three lucrative mining towns, and many others work to follow along. Some strikes have led to full mines, and the rail companies work to connect the mining towns back to the Addam, competing with each both above the table and below.
All of this activity is leading to many discoveries in the desert, not the least of which is that it's not as uninhabited as many thought. Vicious Orc tribes have assaulted settlers and explorers, and have so far proven uninterested in any communication that doesn't involve violence. Gnolls of the badlands raid all within their reach, all at the command of an unknown gnoll king. Some tell stories of hidden desert elves moving across the sands, sometimes aiding travelers and sometimes ending them.
But the desert hides many more secrets than simply mithril and mysterious inhabitants, and adventurers are only now starting to understand this. As the prospectors push into the waste the rails and towns follow, and the further they go the more odd the desert becomes. Some lose there way, and some swear the desert changes around them. Ancient ruins of the Orgrec Empire have been discovered that no one has yet been able to identify. And some few who are more aware of the supernatural claim to feel a darker presence in the desert, something hidden here thousands of years before.
Natural Resources
Mithril ore, Wizard Crystals
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