Desert of Ohmal

As the name suggests, the Desert of Ohmal is a giant desert located just south of the Crackling Mountains. It is home to the Academic City of Scientia and the Seat of Time within Tempus Peak.

Landscape

This massive desert used to be a lush jungle full of life and the most exotic flora ever seen. However, due to the influence of Tempus Peak, this area moved a lot faster through time than any other place on Tael. Every river is completely dried out; the only sources of water are occasional wells. Water that is very close to the Peak can sometimes become a conduit for time and causes its reflection to become visions of the near or far future of whatever it is reflecting.

Ruins of Ohmal

Main article: Kingdom of Ohmal

Underneath the surface of the sands lie the ruins of a highly advanced civilization. These ruins are often the target of expensive research expeditions because they offer a glimpse into the future.

Tempus Peak

Main article: Tempus Peak

A single lonely mountain in the middle of the desert. What should be geographically impossible is caused by the flowing sands of time that all converge on this mountain, and Solair, the Goddess of Heat, scorching these sands into glass, manifesting an evergrowing mountain. Deep within the glassen caverns is the Seat of Time, Home of Tempus, the God of Time.

The Great Glass Basin

Main article: The Great Glass Basin

When Solair fell from the sky, this is the crater she left behind. It is a giant basin out of perfectly smooth glass. The sand that eventually falls into here slides perfectly down and sooner or later gets carried out again by the winds.

Flora

Apart from occasional oases with a little vegetation, little flora remains in this place, robbed of its time. An Oasis usually has palm Trees and sandberry bushes around it, which helps the caravans restock a bit before they continue their journey.

Fauna

[This part follows later, as i have a number of creatures planned that live in this desert, but putting them in here now would create too much overhead to handle for me at the moment]

Society

There are three distinct societies established along the outer edges of the desert.

Scientia

Main article: Scientia

New Ohmal

Main article: New Ohmal

Syssilith

Main article: Syssilith

Time Distortions

Due to all the Time Streams converging onto Tempus Peak, their sheer numbers close to the surface cause the Time in the desert to be quite chaotic. The closer you get to the Mountain, the more chaotic time becomes. In order to reduce those effects on mortals, Tempus is upholding a massive Aura centered around the Peak that slows down the perceived time for everyone within. This, however, has the added side effect that there is a certain distance from the Peak where time is relatively stable but slowed down. The Academic City of Scientia falls exactly into this overlap.

Local Traditions

Couples that are unsure yet whether or not they want to marry sometimes come to this desert with the intent of seeing their reflection in the water close to the peak. They intend to see whether they are still happy in the future. As the journey is quite treacherous, they usually create an unbreakable bond on the way, resulting in the visions being nearly always happy. However, sometimes these visions reveal some other underlying fates, like an undiagnosed disease.