STORY HOOKS

When bringing Rocky Desert into play, the GM may use the following points to enrich the story by introducing artifacts, Villains, discoveries, and rewards.

RUST SALT CANYON

An area of canyons filled with sharp rocks and salt crystals. Among sand and stone emerge grooves and metal remains of what seems to be a centuries-old railway, an attempt to connect settlements destroyed by the passing of time.

• Ancient railway. The ruins of this monumental endeavor have been almost completely dismantled and repurposed by the locals. In particular, its opaque metal is ideal to forge very robust tools and pieces of equipment.
• The desert people. Accustomed to the desert, the inhabitants have learned to appreciate what it has to offer and recognize beauty where others see only danger. They have a symbiotic relationship with the Rocksoarers, creatures unfit for hunting who instead feed upon the parasites found on desert whales, and also cultivate a variety of plants and shrubs unique to this region.
• A slice of paradise. If the locals consider them worthy of trust, the PCs are invited to witness a rare spectacle. In a specific location, under a sky of stars, they can hear the song of the desert whale, a majestic creature that lives under the sand, emerging only during the cold nights to draw breath. (Potential mystery: What is the relationship between the whales and the desert people? Why do they live only in a certain area?)
• The sea of sand. This endless waste is dangerous and impossible to cross on foot, but that doesn’t dissuade the desert people who, using swift, floating boats, constantly probe the sands looking for ancient relics. (Potential mystery: What are they really looking for? How do these vehicles work?)

BURIED LABYRINTH

An obscure enigma is buried under the sand, in the heart of a maze of tunnels and underground roads. Narrow passages, theater to forgotten experiments, spread through the ground. Among flasks and alembics, enigmatic notes preserved in dusty diaries suggest the researchers were working on a device that could reverse the fortunes of the desert’s inhabitants.