The Coral Wastes

The Coral Wastes

  The Coral Wastes are an eerie landscape bordering the Dwindling Coast in the Northern hemisphere of Dunia. It is a dry and salty environment with the massive skeletons of bleached coral colonies covering the landscape in the once-vibrant ocean. There are salt flats in the Coral Wastes and mutated remnants of the sea creatures that once resided there. The ambient humidity makes the region largely intolerable during the middle of the day, and thanks to osmosis, swimming in the hypersaline lakes is strongly advised against, as it will leach the water from your body quickly.  

Features of the Coral Wastes

  The Saltlands   This dried-up seabed was once host to numerous coral reefs, but is now pockmarked by hypersaline pools of water where only mutated lifeforms and extremophiles reside. Its key resources are its salt mounds and calcified corals. The winds pick up and create a very unpleasant scouring mix of salt, sand, and dust which burns unprotected eyes.   Bloodstone Lake   A type of hyper alkaline lake, filled with sodium carbonate decahydrate, is said to be where Chiuta, sometimes referred to as Agadzagadza, left permanent death in the world.   It is a vibrant red hue, hence the name. All creatures except flamingoes, halophiles and other extremophiles are susceptible to a horrible fate if they come to its deadly waters to drink. Dessicated husks of animals, mummified through calcification can be found occasionally along its shoreline or perched on outstretched rocks, or dead trees as well. To onlookers, it would appear as if the dead had turned to stone.   Its current state is thanks to several nearby volcanic springs along a fault line that feeds the lake. It can reach over 60C at the peak of Summer.   Coral Reef Husks   These massive husks of former coral reefs make for biodiverse havens for a wide variety of species, and even settlements, on dry land. These husks can be found across the dried up former seabed and can occasionally be used as nests for the Coralbonded Behir.   Coral Caverns   Partially submerged, these caverns are almost entirely comprised of coral. To explore them, one must have the proper diving equipment suited for exploration.   Tidal Pools   On the very edge of the Coral Wastes and along the Dwindling Coasts, there are tidal pools, home to various smaller cnidarians, arthropods and starfish-like organisms. Sort of an ecological microcosm.   Hypersaline Lakes   These lakes are incredibly dangerous for most fauna and flora, and are deceptively blue, luring thirsty animals and travelers alike to their shores, only to discover there is nothing to eat or drink there.   There is a G-Class monster that inhabits these lakes and moves from site to site in search of things to consume. Its name is the Saltwastes Sky-King. It is not known how many of these G-Class monsters there are, but it is both a beautiful and terrifying sight to catch it leaping from the water.   Coral Wastes Landbridge   This landbridge emerged after The Cataclysm caused mass desertification across the planet and vaporized a lot of the planet's water. It connects Mudira-Karrah to Jazirah.  

Inhabitants of the Coral Wastes

  Sapients

Coralbonded Seirenes

Karkinos

Humans

Elves

Monsters unique to the Coral Wastes

  Coastal Night-Wyverns   These peculiar pygmy wyverns have poor eyesight but utilize large nasal cavities and vocal chords for echolocation and can sense the vibrations that travel back to them. Like large, reptilian bats, they swarm at sunset to catch prey and are generally most active around that time. Their wingspans typically range from 3 to 9 feet. This particular subspecies lives closer to the Dwindling Coast since the humid air and available water allows for a larger range of biodiversity in the region and therefore a greater amount of food to consume. It was at one point hypothesized that these pygmy wyverns collectively had the largest biomass totals for their regions.   Their screeches and whooping can be heard from a fair distance and is generally a good indicator that there may be food or other things nearby. Despite being wyverns, they are omnivorous and will generally eat what's available, including plant matter.   The one variant species that roosts in the Wandering Reefs have long, bioluminescent patterns that run from wingtip to wingtip, creating the appearance of an undulating mass of glowing wings when they take flight at night.   The Coralbonded Behir   This mutation of the Behir is a highly stealthy predator that is able to blend in with the dead coral reefs very easily, and is often decorated kind of like the reefs themselves. It uses a sonic attack to stun its prey and then uses its crushing jaws to rip its victims apart. This creature is classed as a J-class monster, one size smaller than an H-class and can be fought on foot.   The Giant Ghost Crab   The Giant Ghost Crab is an oversized, mutated species of crab that at one point or another used to make its home in the shallow sea that the Coral Wastes used to be a part of. It covers itself in the hulls of ships or other means of armor to camouflage itself.   This particular species is substantially larger than most landships and can be extremely territorial. One of its mutations is that it can sort of magically blend in with the environments, hence the name 'Ghost Crab', at least until it moves. Its chitinous shell is used as housing by some Seirenes if it is intact enough and can be used to make weapons, shields or other armor. It is considered an H-Class monster, just one size class underneath a G-Class. As such, it is exceedingly difficult to take down on foot and is recommended that one fight it using vehicles or landships.   Paperwing Razorsquid   Social flying cephalopodal creatures that appear to be paper thin when flattened out against rocks and bleached coral. Hard to detect as they use iridophores to blend in with the environment. Normally they are not a problem on their own or when resting, but when agitated they take flight and perform coordinated divebomb attacks against threats to cut them to pieces. They are found both in The Coral Wastes and in The Badlands.   Saltwastes Sky-King   The ray-like monster that the Thunderquills are deployed from. Has two 50-foot grasping tentacles. It attempts to gain altitude above its targets, and has semi-transluscent wings with an abdomen that has small slits from which the Thunderquills deploy from like a series of bombs. Its mouth is lined with multiple rows of shark-like teeth. This monster appears near the Coral Wastes and deploys from the hypersaline lakes. It uses highly alkaline solutions to aid in digestion. It detects vibration while it sits in the pools to identify when prey is nearby.   Thunderquills   Tiny little homing pseudo-animals that are deployed from a flying ray-like monster that do a sort of suicide plunge at moving targets, to explode via a chemical reaction and allow the ray-like monster to grasp with its appendages and pull into its maw to eat.   The Wandering Reef   More of an activated golem spontaneously built from necromantic energies and magicks unleashed by the Cataclysm, the Wandering Reef is an aimless, directionless mobile reef that houses a colony of Coastal Night-Wyverns, that slowly meanders the Coral Wastes landbridge. This particular group of wyverns have bioluminescent patterns from a native species of bacteria they grow symbiotically from their primary food source. The Wyverns nest in the Wandering Reef during the day and come out at night to prowl the Coral Wastes for prey. The Wandering Reef may have multiple brethren but it has not yet been quantified how many are out there.  

Major Settlements

  Thalassapótis IV - One of several operational desalination plants which name translates directly to Sea-Drinker, previously operated by Paraktians on the southern edge of Mudira-Karrah, it is now home to a land-based Seirenes subspecies that has also been altered by the Karithat-Aldawi, like much of the inhabitants of the Coral Wastes, where they are less dependent on the ocean itself. It is roughly halfway between Alaibaratu-Maebar and Erimipoli, but sits on the coast with huge, outstretched pipelines that run from the coast to the plant itself. The pipes glimmer in the sun from their polished chrome, distorted by the rising heat in the air. It sits on an elevated position, once a former island in the Saghiras. It's one of the few tradeposts that sits out in the Coral Wastes, and as such, is heavily guarded by the Seirenes.  

Native Species