Bordreedesan Skis

Glass floats, known as bordican to the nomads of the Snake's Den, eat during rock storms. These jelly-looking land creatures dig into rock faces while their feeding tentacles dangle in the harsh winds. These feeders pick up nutrients and deliver them to the glass float's mouth.   To survive the winds, the exterior of the bordican hardens so that even the largest rocks bounce off them. Protected, they can feed in peace.   After the storm fades away, the bordican shed their hardened shells and retreat to their caves. Nomads hunt for these shell deposits because they are useful for all manner of things.   Larger bordican shells are highly sought prizes. Due to their size, they can be used to create a variety of items, like shields. Their most important use, though, is in bordreedesan, or sand skis.  

Nomads in ages past sought to harness the hardness property, but found working with the material difficult because not only was it hard, but the exteriors were extremely slick. Holding onto them proved a nightmare, since the sharp edges of the broken shells could slice a being deep.   While most nomads cursed the slickness, a now-forgotten inventor used it to advantage. They developed a way to attach the shells to the bottoms of wagons so they could slide across deep sands or over extremely rocky surfaces with ease.   Using the idea of a sleigh for snowy climates, they created bordreedesan skis for the wagons. They attached the shells to the bottoms of short poles with an adhesive made from the cacti wreestan, created a braking system that would drop a heavy anchor to slow the vehicle down, and proudly shared their invention with other nomads.   The various nomadic peoples were delighted. Ronyx and spits rarely bogged down in sand, but not so for the wheeled wagons they pulled, and the bordreedesan helped to solve this problem. The skis made pulling the wagons faster, so goods and travelers could reach their destinations faster. For groups that traveled throughout the year, it was a wondrous development.   Wondrous, yes—but the large bordican were rare, and finding shell deposits of the size needed to make skis even rarer. Nomadic communities paid their younger members to travel after rock storms and scrounge for bordican shells, with higher prices paid for the larger pieces.   Bordreedesan skis are still rare, but their enduring nature has let nomads pass them down for generations. They are a prized possession among the traveling bands, and those who own a pair of skis are held in high regard by their peers.