The Rolling Dunes Desert

In all my years of travel, I have never seen two nations spill so much blood over so much nothingness. Sebastian Kryss, archaeologist

The Rolling Dunes Desert, often referred to as the Rolling Dunes or the Desert of Skulls, is a large arid expanse located in the center of the Aegiyarin continent that covers much of the continent. Two nations, Elica and Ichos, have placed claim over the whole of the desert, leading to many conflicts over its ownership and earning the Desert of Skulls its name.

Geography

The Rolling Dunes Desert consists entirely of fairly flat terrain covered in a dense layer of sand. Thanks to the considerable lack of geographical phenomena, the desert winds can easily shape the flow of the dunes. Many early cultures observed the "rolling" of the dunes, as the wind shifts the sand in a near-continuous flow, leading to the myth that the desert itself is alive. This has also caused many daring adventurers to become lost in the dunes, as the wind seems to clear away any tracks as quickly as they are made.
The desert sees a considerable rainy season between the months of Milea and Magnal, in which 80% of the water used by local settlements is collected. This brief wet season followed by months of dry have led to a number of region-specific innovations, such as the desert vaporator, which collects the rainwater that has soaked into the ground deep below the sandy surface.

Flora and Fauna

The Rolling Dunes Desert is home to very few types of wildlife, only one of which, the sun-scraper rat, is regularly found on the surface. Sun-scraper rats build their burrows in the cacti that dot the landscape, so any adventurer hoping to find refreshment within the plant should be cautious, as their bite is notoriously deadly.
Beneath the surface, the Rolling Dunes Desert is home to a number of different sand worm species. The most notorious of which, the Giant Sand Worm, has a long history of being bred in captivity by Elican beast-masters to use in battle against the Ichosian army.

Regional History

The Desert Wars

Between the years of 5E 211 and 5E 267, the Rolling Dunes Desert was home to a brutal string of conflicts between the rival nations of Ichos and Elica. Both nations have long held claim over the desert, and attempts to exercise that claim resulted in the most brutal conflict the continent of Aegiyari had ever seen.

The First Desert War, 5E 211 - 5E 267

The first of these conflicts saw the Elican army marching north through the desert to fortify the desert's northern border. The Ichosian army, moving to the defensive, began building elaborate trench networks across the northern edge of the border, anticipating a likely war of attrition.
Upon arriving at the border, the Elican forces initially attempted to do the same, however due to the continuously shifting nature of the sands, any trench constructed would disappear in hours. Many soldiers were lost during this initial period due to being buried alive in the trenches. As a result, the Elican forces resorted to constructing above-ground defensive positions, giving them a noticable disadvantage to the heavily-entrenched Ichosian defenses.
What followed next was roughly 56 years of brutal warfare, as both militaries attempted to drain the other of resources. In the end, the Elican forces had to retreat, as the great distance between their front line and the nation proper proved to be too great an obstacle to the war effort.

The Second Desert War, 5E 302 - 5E 394

In the decades after their inital failed attempt to claim the northern border, the Elican government once again sent forces north, hoping to score a victory and cement their legacy. Instead, the Elican government found themselves entrenched in yet another war, this one lasting nearly a century and resulting in yet another Ichosian victory.
The Ichosian forces were initially routed and forced back from the border, allowing the Elican military to fortify their positions as intended, but the next 90 years would see intense fighting along that border, decimating all settlements made in the region. In the end, the Elican forces were once again pushed from the border, once again throwing claim over the desert into question.

The Third Desert War, 5E 422 - 5E 488

The third Desert War, despite a ceasefire being signed in the year 5E 488, is still widely regarded to be ongoing, with skirmishes continuing to crop up across the border.
The war itself, starting in the year 5E 422, saw the Ichosian military launching a surprise push towards the southern border, facilitated by recent advancements in military technology. They were able to secure the southern border, but the Elican military had begun to entrench themselves, setting up a very similar scene to the first Desert War.
This confict ended quite similarly to the first as, in the year 5E 488, the Ichosian military surrendered due to a lack of resources and insufficient supply lines. Since then, both nations have been engaging in a proxy war, with both nations funding small rebel cells to disrupt the cities and provinces within and around the desert, in the hopes of weakening their rival.

Type

Desert