There are a few places near your home that every villager knows about, and which are described in greater detail below.


The Dry Field
About a two hour walk southeast from the village lies a square mile or so of plain where the topsoil is slightly darker, but which is too far from any reliable water source to be tamed...not that anyone would. Despite the fact that no villager has ever reported seeing a ghost in the area (though most wouldn't even admit to ever going there), it is widely believed to be haunted�probably because that is where the grimgrass grows. Some stories say it was an ancient battlefield, others that some evil cult practiced human sacrifice or other dark magicks there, but nobody really knows for sure.

The Rock
Just a spire of desert stone whittled away by time, wind, and eroding sand, the big yardang known simply as the Rock both marks the furthest most people have ever been from the village in that direction, and serves as a favorite gathering or clandestine meeting place for all sorts of people and activities, from innocent climbers to secret lovers to the ever-present youth gangs that haunt the abandoned buildings and dust-drowned streets on that side of town. One can see for kilometers from atop it, but unfortunately that view is spoiled by the fact that they are only kilometers of emptiness.