# THE WORLD

## CHAPTER 9: TYPICAL FEATURES

The typical Barren Waste should include at least one of these features:

- A resourceful and ingenious nomad people.
- An unstable and dangerous elemental phenomenon.
- A roaming monstrous creature.
- The remains of an arrogant or unfortunate civilization.

## CHAPTER 9: POSITION

Often, the journey across the Barren Waste appears mid-adventure or in the second half, and represents a coming-of-age moment for the protagonists, as well as an occasion to consolidate their goals and friendship. By facing the desert and meeting those who have learned how to coexist with it, Player Characters learn to appreciate and respect even the cruelest and most inhospitable parts of their world—and how certain thresholds should never be crossed.

## CHAPTER 9: THE VILLAINS’ PLANS

Some Villains might use the Rocky Desert as their hideout or lair, or plan to use local resources, precious yet unstable, to the detriment of its people. A particularly ancient Villain might even remember when this was a prosperous land and become obsessed with mirages of past glory—or they might be a spirit born of the desperation of those who witnessed the catastrophe that made this territory arid and inhospitable.

### POSSIBLE QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP

- An unusual phenomenon appears regularly in the desert. It’s known as “crimson rain,” but it’s not water. What is it?
- One of you knows the desert and how to navigate it. What’s your story? Do you have a contact that might help you cross it?
- Here and there, ruins of a lost civilization pierce the sand. Which people did they belong to? What is left of them?
- How did the desert people adapt to these arid lands? What threat makes it dangerous to cross the sands?
- An ancient alchemical project lays dormant under the sand. What is it? What was its purpose? Who is looking for it?