The Datura Desert is a desertic exclusion zone on Aerb where no plant can grow and magic-feeding creatures called thaum-seekers roam the land hunting.
Geography[]
Datura is a four-hundred-mile expanse of hot sand with no water or plants.
Barren Jewel[]
The city of Barren Jewel is the only location in Datura where long-term survival is possible, due to it being founded around a well of power created by a mage called Alvion - once you are within its bounds, you are safe from thaumseekers and always have food and drink.
Caer Laga[]
Caer Laga is a redoubt built by Uther's Lost Court generations ago and was unfinished when the disaster struck. It has blood wards that prevent entry by anyone except for a member of Uther's bloodline and anyone they designate as a friend. A stash of heirloom entads had been contained within and was claimed by Juniper's party. This included the Sable, the Flickerblade, the Anyblade, the Immobility Plate, the Jar O'Fairies, all of which have been immensely useful, and the Clonal Kit and an unnamed amulet that contained a fascimile of Amaryllis's great-grandfather, which largely weren't.
Magic[]
The Datura Desert is home to creatures called thaum-seekers (or thaum-suckers, depends on the speaker). They are canine creatures that feed on magic, with immense claws, large nostrils, and teeth that extend well beyond their lips. They have an unparalleled ability to sense passive and active magic at great distance. They don't accelerate very fast, but can maintain their velocity for great distances, likely making them persistence hunters, and can jump high enough to be a threat to winged craft.
Alone or in small groups, they're already generally dangerous enough to necessitate the use of magic or entads to defeat, which alerts them across great distances. The precise mechanism by which they consume magic is unclear, but it likely involves the physical consumption of the source of magic they detected, such as a mage.
The Datura Desert also doesn't have any water or plants to speak of as a result of a blight that has struck the land. It's unknown if that is related to the thaum-seekers infestation.
History[]
Datura used to be a place of thriving agriculture. At some point, however, a blight has spread across the land, killing plants and livestock and making soil infertile. A mage called Alvion created a well of magic that made a small portion of it liveable by acting as a source of food and water, as well as protecting its inhabitants from thaum-seekers. According to Amaryllis the thaum-seekers were the factor that elevated the already dangerous desert to the level of a major exclusion zone[1]. When exactly the region became an exclusion zone is unclear.
References[]
- ↑ The Datura Desert would be dangerous even if it were only four hundred miles of hot sand with no water or plants to speak of, but it’s the thaum-seekers that elevate it to the level of a major exclusion zone.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 17: "Voting Blocs"