Garhon Infertile Wastes

Place

Place Name:

Garhon Infertile Wastes

Biome:

Infertile Wastes

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

How the cliffs of Garhon survived whatever explosion happened here — it’s anyone’s guess. And whether or not the cliffs are going to collapse tomorrow — that’s also anyone’s guess, even though these unsteady monoliths have stood for a couple hundred years now, like spears balancing on their points. Some fallen stones, monoliths similar to the cliffs still standing, can be found lying face first on the scorched earth of Garhon. These fallen giants are the cliffs that have collapsed. If there used to be grass on their tops — or houses, or trees — it’s all gone now.

Not all the cliffs are as unstable as the others, but even the most stable are not stable enough to keep standing if struck by another cliff falling. So, as a precaution, all the kin’tonis who live on top of the cliffs wear jackets with parachutes attached. Should they suddenly awake from their sleep because the earth they’re standing on is falling to its oblivion, it’s theoretically possible that they survive, if they’re quick-witted enough, and nimble enough, and lucky enough. Besides climbing high above the toxic air and scorched ground.

You can also more or less avoid the curse of Garhon by going deep beneath the ground. A few manmade structures have survived the catastrophe — such as what appear to be the basements of small houses that were built outside of where the crater now stands, and mines, which have all caved in and collapsed. Supposedly there used to be rich deposits of metals in these mines. In all likelihood, though, most of those metals are gone — mined up by the old civilization and destroyed by the catastrophe. There’s a crater near the center of Garhon.

If the city — if it even really was a city — if the city that once lay inside of this crater spanned half its radius, it would have been an enormous city. There’s nothing left of it anymore, though — just some stones, half-sunken in the earth, that look as though they might possibly have once been carved into blocks.The crater goes fairly deep into the earth. Strange crags of stone stick up out of the ground. The air is still. Everything is black and grey. Only the sky has any semblance of colour, and sometimes even that is as ashy as the earth.

If you’re foolish enough to smell the air, you’ll notice the place still smells of smoke and destruction. At the very heart of the crater is the skeleton of a man, lying down at the foot of a tiny cliff of charred rock as though he had gone to sleep there. He has not been buried, but he has not been disturbed. The borders of Garhon are ill-defined, but it’s considered a good idea to always keep live, green plants between yourself and the black wasteland. Fortunately for everyone, no matter which side of Garhon you stand by, the wind never blows from it.

And Garhon’s fell air stays within its fell borders.

Plants

Did you expect to find anything here, in the Plants section? Oh, perhaps you want to know about the plants that grow on the tops of the cliffs. Fine. I’ll do my best. It’s strange how one begins to miss something so simple as grass when wandering in a dead land and when climbing dead cliffs. But then, when you see the grass waving in the wind that blows through the tops of the cliffs of Garhon, you remember what it was you so liked about it: how alive it was, and how green. The lack of life takes a toll on a man when he wanders too long in a desolate, forsaken place.

It’s no wonder then, when he finds life in the lifeless and green in the scorched, that a sort of peace begins to come back to him, assuming he had peace to begin with — but maybe sometimes even if he didn’t have peace to begin with, he’ll still find a sort of peace, as his subconscious hunger for seeing things that are alive is satisfied, even though his hunger be a starvation. Green things have that calming effect to a man wandering here. If grass so soothes the troubled soul, trees sooth it with a power a hundred times greater.

Grass is grass, after all. It grows in a week, and dies in less than a year. If it grows too large, it becomes an annoyance, and often begins to dry out. But trees are greater than grass. They take long years to grow to their full size, but when they do, their majesty is unparalleled by any work of man. For what man can claim to have made life? A tree is a living giant, a titan of wood and greenery, forged from water and light. Only two cliffs in all of Garhon have trees on them. The roots of these trees spread wide, weaving past the dirt and stone.

This is in an effort to secure every last drop of the little rain that falls on this barren wasteland, and quickly, before the many armies of blades of grass, those greedy multitudes, drink it all up. A man who climbs up one of the cliffs of Garhon, and reaches its top, will sometimes find it barren of life. This does not diminish his sense of achievement and satisfaction, and, smiling, he will look at the world about him. Then will he notice the living things atop some of the other cliffs, the ones lower or at the same level as his.

If this does not inspire him to climb again, to see those trees and grasses for himself, then nothing can, except for baser things such as gold, or glory. A man not stirred by this last scrap of beauty in this wasteland of ugliness is a hard man indeed. So give him gold, or glory. If he is not stirred by beauty, he will not enjoy his gold or his glory; especially not when it fades away.

Animals

The clifftops of Garhon are bare of animals. There’s only grass and trees up there. The plains of Garhon, however, are full of animals, and many kinds of animals. All the kinds — except for the live kinds, of course, because all the animals in Garhon are skeletons, of course. Still, the plains of Garhon are full of animals. There’s no denying that. Paleontologists would love this wasteland. If you have a friend you don’t like who’s also a paleontologist, just send them to Garhon! If you have a friend you actually sort of like who’s also a paleontologist, you can still send them to Garhon.

But you might want to suggest that they take along some protective gear as well. The hostile air seems to be preserving the bones; none of them seem to be turning to dust or otherwise disappearing. The most noticeable of the skeletons are the ithrikora skeletons. For some reason, there are enormous numbers of these enormous beasts that have come here to die. ithrikoras do live in the lands next to Garhon, but those tribes of ithrikoras have their own graveyards. Thus, the ithrikora skeletons in Garhon will likely remain a mystery.

They’re certainly obvious mysteries, though — the white spines of these white, fleshless beasts tower as high as twelve feet above the ground, and can be seen a long distance away. If you wander around Garhon for long enough, you might accidentally get your foot stabbed because — well, because any number of things, but possibly because you stepped on a buried ithrikora tusk. The things are surprisingly common. A bit of dusting will reveal a whole ithrikora skeleton grinning at you, mocking your inevitable demise, since your injured foot is now undoubtedly exposed to the toxic air of Garhon.

Have a nice last fifteen minutes or so of your life. The skeletons of great cats can also be found in Garhon, especially towards the southern end. Specifically touka, but other sorts, such as matheri and torka, can also be found. There’s little else to be said about them, other than their variety. Some men wonder why you can find such a variety of a very specific genus of animals in this very specific spot. No explanations have been offered for this phenomenon. I’ve mentioned the ithrikoras and the great cats now, but this entry on the animals.

And paleontology of Garhon couldn’t possibly be complete without mentioning the hundreds and hundreds of vulture skeletons that positively litter the wasteland. It seems as though these scavenging birds got too greedy in their hunt for carrion — they swooped to nab their supper, not caring whether or not they would fall prey themselves to the same thing that now offers them their dead, rotting meal. And thus they do fall prey to the toxic, infertile wastes of Garhon. When the same death comes even to those who profit by the death, you know that this death is a strong death indeed, and spares no one.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Erchao Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Garhon Infertile Wastes

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This article is written by Xerxes Worldweaver. Copyright 2026 Xerxes Worldweaver. All rights reserved.