Crawling Desert

The crawling deserts are home to massive and ancient subterranean 'Emperors', immobile creatures that serve as a living hive hundreds of meters across. Emperors produce worker drones that come in multiple forms, but the most commonly reported are large large dragonfly like drones and terrestrial dog-sized 'scouts'. These two groups work together to find food which they bring back to the host, and in turn the Emperor produces a nutrient-rich 'sap' which keeps the drones alive. While the scouts are relatively slow, the ywill methodically comb the desert for anything that has died in the range of the Emperor and haul it back to the hive over time. The Emperor's body itself is known to grow deep into the ground to tap into sources of water, sending root-like feelers deep into the ground. On a cycle of hundreds or even thousands of years, successful Emperors will begin to form an above ground 'chimney', eventually send aloft a balloon-like progeny known as Caladrons. These Caladrons function as mobile sex organs, releasing spores that reach other Emperors that give them the genetic material to make their own Caladrons. A Caladron must find a suitable source of fresh water to establish itself as an Emperor, and some may spend decades or even centuries in the air before they land.

Emperors have such significant biomass that they drive entire ecosystems which surround them. Dew Rippers, False Drones, Glass Spiders, Freight Wasps and Split Worms are found mostly only in the proximity of Emperors.