Swudra Wasteland

Place

Place Name:

Swudra Wasteland

Biome:

Wasteland

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

Before the bombing, Swudra was a fertile flatland with several deciduous forests of various sizes and a few rivers. The bombardment boiled the rivers and broke up their beds, causing the land to become more arid. Centuries later, while not quite a desert, it is significantly less fertile than before the Fall. The plain is now an expanse of dry, friable soil with little vegetation other than hardy, yellow grass, and the occasional shrub or tree.The drought has caused the forests to dwindle, but not killed them. The trees and other vegetation are heavily mutated, adapting to the irradiated environment. Especially the large forest east of the ruins of Zatarrina, known as Wylga Zarn, or the Mad Forest, is known for its tangled vegetation and dangerous plant-life.

Kha’orm Kin’tonis only enter it when desperate to find food, whereas neighbouring clans only know it as the stuff of horror stories. The ruins of Zatarrina and several other cities and towns are still visible on the plains, more or less intact depending on how close they were to the blasts. The strong winds have worn the buildings down and bleached them to samey shades of grey and pale yellow. The Kha’orm Kin’tonis spend daytime in the bunkers, primarily below Zatarrina, protecting themselves from the surface radiation as well as from the elements. They have dug some tunnels with their bare hands, connecting the bunkers and providing additional exits and entry points. These tunnels are unadorned and roughly dug, often so low that the Kin’tonis have to crawl.

The bunkers, too, have little in the way of furnishings, being primarily storage spaces in which to sleep, though a few larger ones are used as social areas and for communal meals. The clan elder, or Aqla, traditionally lives in a specific bunker beneath the eastern limits of Zatarrina, but the bunker is small and no more luxurious than the others. Another important feature of the above-ground region is a building of steel and concrete, constructed in the Zu’Aan era and now used as a temple where the Kha’orm Kin’tonis worship their clan’s divinity, the Quox. The building has no windows, and since it remains standing and acts as a shield against the radiation, it is called Imirou, the Iron House of Immunity.

However, not even most Kha’orm Kin’tonis know where it is, as only a few pious worshippers make the pilgrimage every two months to attend rituals there. West of Zatarrina is a stream, providing water to make the surrounding area slightly lusher than most of the wasteland. It was once a large river providing water to the city: however, the bombs broke up the riverbed, leaving it looking like a broken jigsaw puzzle, and diverted most of the water underground. Like its surroundings, the water is irradiated, making it toxic to Kin’toni and animals that are not native to the area. Swudra Wasteland traditionally has only low rainfall, but is prone to strong winds, sometimes reaching extreme strengths that are a danger to unsheltered Kin’tonis.

With the approaching ice age, the climate in the region is slowly cooling, though so far, the change has not been marked enough to force the Kha’orm clan to change its basic behaviours. Rainfall has also increased, especially in winter. With time, this is likely to lead to changes in the vegetation, with currently thriving species dying out and replaced by ones more adapted to a wetter, colder climate.

Plants

The majority of Swudra is flatland covered in a type of grass that thrives well in the hot, dry climate. It grows to about a foot and a half in height and is yellow for most of the year; however, the recent increased rainfall has led to it staying greener longer. A rarer type of grass is scalegrass, which has a hard claw-like seed-pod that can cut skin or catch on clothes when ripe, making travel a hassle in areas where it grows. A plant often found on the plains called the nefur thistle. It has no thorns and grows to about three feet at most. Its leaves have a dark purple tinge. It is adapted to the strong winds of the plains, with its downy white seed-pods that can be carried many miles by the wind before taking root.

The forests in the area contain a baffling number of species of trees and undergrowth. Not even the Kha’orm Kintonis who hunt in these forests have seen them all. Kha’ormans are unusual among Kin’tonis in that they supplement their diet of animal blood and meat with plant material: eating fruit, seeds and young leaves, draining sap to drink, and even chewing wood. In this way, they are able to subsist when prey is scarce. The wood-chewing is caused by an eating disorder called pica which is endemic among them; however, it does provide some nutrients. Three important forest species are the lyngpas, the ulmuau, and the junafe. Lyngpas trees are of medium height, tending towards slender and graceful, with small, rounded leaves that turn a beautiful yellow in autumn.

However, the mutation has changed their fruits into something more like spores. The trees only release spores once in their lifespan, dying shortly after, and the spores spread on the wind, taking root if hitting the ground. They can also infect a creature that inhales them, taking root in the lungs and gradually weakening the host, eventually killing it and sprouting the new tree from its corpse. Even Kin’tonis are vulnerable to this. Fortunately, there are few lyngpas trees in Swudra, since the dry climate is not suited to them; however, with the increased rainfall, they are becoming more viable. Outside the sporing period, the tree is harmless, and the sap is harvested by the Kha’ormans.

The ulmuau is a mutated form of a tree found in many regions of Terael . In its natural form, it is wide, with ridged bark and spreading leafage; however, the mutation has caused it to grow very tall and spindly, with the leaves developing into large, thorn-like needles. It is another source of sap for the Kha’ormans. Junafe is a creeping, thorny shrub that rambles across the ground extensively; a single individual can spread for half a mile, putting down new roots as it goes. It has small, yellow berries that are scavenged by Kha’ormans and animals. Some of these shrubs and trees can also be found growing solitary on the plains, the trees growing stunted and bent because of the wind.

Animals

Not many types of animals live on the plain. The most important animal to Kha’orman culture is the zvalun, a herbivore that roams the Swudra Wasteland in flocks and provides the primary source of blood for Kha’orm Kin’tonis. Zvaluns are up to seven foot tall at the withers and up to ten feet long from head to rump, with heavy, small-eared heads and muscular tails that can be used to lash at attackers in self-defence. Their coats are primarily tan, camouflaging them against the yellow grass. Kha’orm Kin’tonis have an instinctive (but not infallible) sense of where zvulans can be found, and an apparently natural ability to calm them for bloodletting; the chosen zvulan will simply stand calm and let the Kin’toni drink its fill.

It experiences no apparent discomfort, and continue moving once the Kin’toni lets go. Kin’tonis do not hunt zvulans or other animals for meat, but will eat their carcasses if they find them, giving them a food supply in addition to blood. Other animals roaming the plains are the horned, omnivorous vicen and the banau, also omnivores, who are known for continuing growing throughout their lives as long as they have access to food. In Swudra, the lack of nutrients tends to stunt their growth early. Gronars, sharp-clawed big cats, are a predator species, living both in the plains and the forests. The mutated form found in the wasteland is smaller than that in other regions, rarely growing taller than three and a half feet, with a hump-backed, sinewy build and speckled fur.

They can pose a threat to lone or unarmed Kin’tonis. The eyasu, which may be a mutant form of some other species, lives primarily in forests. It is solitary and prefers a carnivorous diet, but can eat plants if prey is scarce. It is bipedal, with grey, largely hairless skin that looks almost amphibian, and uses its long-clawed forelimbs to attack prey. Some specimens can grow as large as a Kin’toni, making for an even fight if one comes across a lone Kha’orman. Uxnwyls, vaguely anthropomorphic apes, live in the forests and are omnivorous. They are a mutant strain, with hunched bodies, extremely long and bent fingers, and an odd colouring, very pale with lurid purple markings. Since they live in the forests, they are common hosts for lyngpas spores.

Hauii, limbless snake-like creatures, live on the plains, sheltering in the ruins or behind rocks when the wind builds up to a storm. They prefer heat, but the cooling temperature has not been enough to drive them to warmer regions. In terms of birds, flocks of the large, eagle-like raxa prey on smaller animals, even taking young zvaluns. They do not in general eat Kin’tonis, but since they live in large flocks, their numbers make them dangerous if provoked, and most Kha’orm Kin’tonis avoid them. The kha is a very small, yellow bird that lives in the forests. Swarms of stinging, metallic-glinting gnats are common on the plains, but are becoming rarer with the cooler weather.

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	Kha'orm Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Swudra Wasteland

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This article is written by Cyberheinrich. Copyright 2026 Cyberheinrich. All rights reserved.