The Salted Sands

On the continent of Do'Zan, located between the Broken Tusk, and Western Belt mountain ranges, the crescent-shaped Salted Sands desert is Rën's largest. Surrounding the purple waters of The Wine Sea , the Salted Sands is a place of unmatched beauty along its coast, where the desert's pink salt dissolves into the sea's gently lapping waves. The beauty is a stark contrast to the harshness of the desert climate, where the metal melting temperatures of the day rapidly plunge to the freezing temperatures of the night, and the lack of freshwater makes life challenging for everything that calls the sands their home, but not impossible.   The Salted Sands is home to many specially adapted plants and animals that all seem intent on killing anything that crosses their path. Most of its flora and fauna cannot be found anywhere else on Rën. Though sparse in quantity and speciation, the trees are slow-growing, thorned, hardwood varieties of Juniper, Mesquite, Oak, and Talark Tree . The latter are extremely rare and endangered, making items crafted from their wood priceless, sought-after symbols of status. A druidic order known as the Talarians (an offshoot of the Areian elves) protects the last known grove of Talark trees. Other plants, such as scrub brush, grasses, vines, and cacti, grow in the sands, nestled together in areas the Areians call Paco. Pacos seem to shift with the sands that produce them, making it challenging to find landmarks or navigate the salted sands from one point to another. Most of the wildlife is reptilian, though all sorts of fauna are native to the pink sands, each adapted to survive this harsh climate uniquely.   For as long as there is recorded history, the Areian elves have called the Salted Sands their home. They have shared the sands and its harsh bounty, mostly in peace with the Hito Naja (a reclusive species of snake-like people rumored to be the servants and protectors of Nagobie (the snake without end)). However, both people live with the ever-present danger of the Sand Wardens , whose ferocity, cunning, and wickedly intelligent nature make them the desert's apex predators.