The Dead Sand Sea

"The Haunting Sands, that's what we call this gods forsaken desert. Pass through on foot at your own risk, least you be pulled beneath the sands. Never to be see again in life. I warn you now, traveler, there is an evil beneath those dunes. In the ruins and relics that rest there. I do not envy the man what disturbs their rest." ~A Fire Genasi of the Wandering Caravan when asked about the Dead Sand Sea.

Scattering out from the western feet of the Serpent's Spine Peaks, the Dead Sand Sea begins it's vast 275 mile journey towards Belryndia and the Emerald Tide Marshlands of the western coast. This desolate area of Vanigraad is home to soaring desert dunes seeming to have minds of their own, seeking to pull all intruders down into the shifting sands. This has not, however, stopped life from thriving here. Sparse scatterings of cacti are home to desert foxes, owls, and other desert creatures that eek out a living in the scorching heat. As well as wandering nomadic tribes of Genasi that roam the sands seeking relics to trade within the borders of the neighboring kingdoms.
The Serpent's Spine serves as a natural break to the storms that form along the Amber Valley, rolling westward until great thunderstorms crash against the Spine's high peaks. As a result, rain comes rarely to the Sand Sea. But for every storm that breaks against the mountains, there is one that makes it to the sands. Turning the dunes into deadly pits of sinking mud and waking the large sand worms that call the area home. These hulking creatures bury themselves beneath the sand, awaiting the soft footfalls of prey passing above. But the rains urge them to greater activity, where they roam through the mud and migrate to new hunting and spawning grounds.
But perhaps the greatest mystery hidden beneath the sands, are the ruins and tombs of an ancient civilization. Existing long before the migration of the Elves, and the oldest known ancestors of humankind. This unknown Empire has buried cities, temples, and relics all across the Sand Sea. The ancient tombs of long dead kings sealed with unknown magics and riddles that even agents of the Vault of Whispers have yet to decipher. What little is known of this desert empire however, is ascribed upon obelisks and tablets uncovered during expeditions into the dunes by both agents of the Vault, and treasure hunters from Belryndia seeking a fortune.
The texts describe an empire that was brought to its knees by a usurper queen and her attempt at immortality. She sought and uncovered tomes penned by a necromancer that attempted to challenge the gods for divinity and very nearly succeeded. Before being struck down, his black books of necromancy and blood magics were sealed by the God of Death. This ancient queen, in her folly and lust for power used rites within the books to sacrifice entire cities in a great calamity roughly translated to "The Night of Bloody Sands." The texts describing the blood letting of Queen's peoples as the desert dunes turned red with blood. As she stood amidst the sanguine ichor of a ruined people, their blood drawn in twisted glowing runes on her skin, the God of Death himself answered her call for everlasting life. But it was not life that awaited her, but the twisted agony of undeath. As the god, in his anger, unleashed the howling souls of all those the Queen had killed. Their screams filling the queen's ears and twisting her form into a tormented husk wrapped in ebony cloth.
The Queen, and all those she had promised immortality, were swallowed in one night by the shifting sands. The once great cities eroding to ruin as the god's wrath destroyed all that the Queen had built. The agonized screams of a massacred people echoing across the desert as the usurper's empire was buried for eternity beneath the dunes. The Queen, her lieutenants, and even long dead kings cursed never to rest within their sealed and trapped tombs. Never to be opened, or risk their evil awakening once more to torment the mortal world. Or so the texts say. There is debate among scholars as to the accuracy of translations and truth to the tales. But nevertheless, wary are those that travel the dunes in search of relics, for they never know what curses they may wake with their meddling.
The Genasi of the Wandering Caravan swear that on quiet nights, when the moon is full and hangs high in the night sky, you can hear the wailing of those tormented souls on the wind. They claim the Will O' Wisps and Banshees that flit between the rising dunes are a testament to the truth of the Death God's curse. A warning to mortals that the natural cycle is not to be tampered with. But perhaps that is just the word of superstitious fools with overactive imaginations.

Ecosystem

The Dead Sand Sea is a harsh, inhospitable stretch of desert that spans from the foothills of the Serpent's Spine mountains, to the lush marshlands at the boarder of Belryndia. It plays host to desert foxes, owls, vipers, and reptiles that thrive in the colder evening air. However, ghosts, banshees, and spirits also wander this desolate expanse, remnants of an ancient and vast civilization in power long before the migration of the Elves.

Localized Phenomena

• Ghosts, Banshees, and Will o' Wisps flicker among the dunes at night. Tempting travels and seeking to lead them off course to their deaths.
• Mirages of ancient cities are often seen in desert heat, reminders that a once great people called these lonely sands home.

Alternative Name(s)

The Haunted Sands

Type

Desert