The Barrens

Written by Cyborg Starfish

The Barrens are considered one of the ten major regions in Valahiri. It's also the second most inhospitable regions in all of Valahiri, outdone only by The Glasslands.

Geography

The Barrens are mostly uncharted. The only parts of the region that are known are the parts bordering on other regions.

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by JPierre Desvigne from Pixabay

The Niluraian Border

From the Dahhaih Grasslands in Niluraia to the south, the land slowly devolves from a dry grassy plain to a flat empty wasteland. The Barrens here are dotted with stray rocks and builders, petrified tree stumps and some extremely hardy species of plants. To both the west and the east the flatlands slowly change into rocky hills. During clear weather, the silhouette of a large mountain range can be seen on the western horizon.

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by Erik Tanghe from Pixabay

The Uraganan Border

The border between the eastern Barrens and Ha Uraganem is marked by a long mountain range. A single flat passage on the border between three different regions leads to the Fields Of Resistance. Anyone travelling between the Barrens and Ha Uraganem (for whatever reason), uses this passage instead of trying to climb over the mountains. There are small hills on the other side of the passage.

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by gloverbh222 from Pixabay

The Serassic Border

The Seras region is shielded from the Barrens by two smaller mountain ranges. The space between these ranges are hilly, rocky and treacherous, filled with cracks and holes. These hills do smooth out a little once you actually enter the Barrens. Vegetation is once again extremely sparse.

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by JPierre Desvigne from Pixabay

The Sudaqric Border

The petrified forests of northern Sudaqri Moro slowly make way for small barren hills, which in turn make way for flat, empty plains. This border is flanked on both the western and eastern side by two mountain ranges. The soil here has a strange pink hue. Here and there a stray petrified plant crops up from the dry cracks.

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by Walther Nunez from Unsplash

The Qoray Border

The Qoray is completely sealed off from the Barrens by a dense mountain range. Passing this one is nigh-impossible. East of this mountain range the Barrens are covered in clusters of Pulse rocks, a relic of Mount Gotadzho, a volcano that has been dormant for around five thousand Cycles, and is still not showing any sign of awakening.

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by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

The Iphimiran Border

The Iphimiran border is marked by two large rivers flowing together. One has its source in the west, the other in the east. The areas around the rivers are thin strips of fertile land in southern Iphimira's natural desert. Further south of these rivers the Barrens are covered in sand dunes, which in turn cover the ruins of ancient structures.

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by WikiImages from Pixabay

Mount Radch

The largest volcano in all of Valahiri (including Kalanannat), mount Radch is an ash volcano that sits on the border between the Barrens, Iphimira and Niluraia. Travellers from and to both Iphimira and Niluraia use this massive volcano as a point of navigation. The area around the volcano is covered in ash dunes. These grey dunes stand in stark contrast to the dark orange soil underneath. Mount Radch itself is also strangely colourful. Its massive cone has a sand-like colour and is covered in various hardy lichens, giving parts of it a green, blue and yellow hue. The volcano itself is considered dead. Its last eruption was before The Three Cataclysms.

Table of Contents

Type

Badlands

Location under

Valahiri

Memories of Climate Catastrophe

Little is known about the Barrens beyond its border areas. There is, however, plenty of evidence that not all of the Barrens were as dead and arid as they are now. Close to the Niluraia region, there are massive fields filled with the petrified remains of tree stumps, all sawn off with such precision it can't possibly be done with a normal saw. Near the border to Ha Uraganem, around the ruins of a massive industrial complex, even seven centuries later the soil is still too polluted to sustain any form of life. Travellers who ventured further than the border regions speak of zones so irradiated the ground glows during the night. Whatever history the Barrens has, it is a history of destruction and exploitation.

The Current Climate

In this age, the Barrens are extremely dry and hot year-round. Temperatures do differ depending on the location and the season. In the south temperatures can even drop to below zero, but only at night and during winter. When it rains in the Barrens, it's often acid rain.

Flora and Fauna

by JULIO DE LA TORRE ffrom Pixabay

"As a traveller into unknown demesnes, you are bound to see some bizarre stuff. But none of this will compare to the stuff you can find in the Barrens. Everything here has way too many eyes, way too many limbs, way too many orifices and way too many tumors. It's a wonder that any of these things are still alive with how deformed they look."

- Anonymous

by Woodturner from Pixabay

Mutant species are ubiquitous all over Valahiri, but the ones in the Barrens by far took the most punishment. The Barrens are filled with bizarre hybrids and hideous monstrosities of all shapes and sizes. The species here tend to stay close to the ground and many animals have scales or an exoskeleton to protect them against the heat. Here and there tiny clusters of hardy plants crop up, but not enough to fill a herbivore's diet. Most animals in the Barrens are carnivores or omnivores. The smaller ones among them would dig in the dirt to feed on the many insect colonies that exist below ground, before getting eaten by a bigger predator. Life is rough for the denizens of the Barrens. Even still, despite their hideous appearance and dangerous lifestyles, the animals in the Barrens are not any more hostile to Elphin than what is normal for animals in Valahiri. In fact, there are reports of some species being friendly towards, or at the very least showing interest in Elphin. And despite the fact that everything that grows in the Barrens is toxic, some plants can be made edible if they are processed correctly.

by blom3 from Pixabay