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Also, with continued hesheyel use, death flesh progresses through the body and weakens the mind—especially one’s free will and sense of self. People become
more susceptible to influential magic and hypnosis with
each successive day on water spice. Even an unskilled
person can gain easy control of someone who has used
hesheyel for more than 12 days. A hesheyel-addled person has little cognizant connection with the real world
and can be easily swayed or commanded.
Several weeks of continuous hesheyel use can turn
a person into a desert zombie, forever wandering the
wastelands with no will or consciousness. Desert zombies are easy to spot and defeat, save when they gather
into massive groups. Putting them down is considered
a mercy, as they cannot be revived from this state. Animals forced to imbibe too much hesheyel can become
desert zombies, as well. Once in that state, they merely
stagger around aimlessly or try to act out the last action requested of them before consciousness abandoned them.

Exposure
Extreme heat and cold must be mitigated at all times.
Warding off the hot sun demands clothing, shade,
cloaks, or parasols. Those unused to it may find their
skin dangerously burned, even to the point of blistering
injury or death. Desert animals can suffer during the
day, especially if forced to function in the heat.
Likewise, the wastelands cool off rapidly at night, and
temperatures in the far south drop below freezing commonly during the winter months. Unprotected creatures suffer frostbite or hypothermia, leading to more
injuries or death. Clothing, shelter, or simple fires can
help ward this off, though fuel for fires is a scarce commodity on the desert floor.

Oases
Wastelands bloom where springs bring deep water to
the surface, making them easily noticed. Thus, no oases are abandoned, and each has its owner or protector,
human or otherwise. Such sites are as valuable as silver
mines, even more so to dying wanderers. Some offer

water for the price of a service or a favor, rather than
gold or goods, but not many. Most often, oases and
protected wells are open only to their guardians and
completely off limits to outsiders. Many have had to
decide if a drink of water and a rest beneath the shade
of trees is worth possible death. These days, oases stand
in lovely contrast to the bones piled up at their edges.

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Wadi
Where Khitan rainwater runs on rare occasions, there
is usually nothing but a dry gulley cut deep into the dry
earth. Wadis provide ideal hiding places for all manner
of desert creatures. The water that passes through them
is too fleeting to be of any long-term use even to plants,
although many humans place urns and skins in a wadi
to collect as much muddy rainwater as they can. They
later strain out the silt, leaving clean, refreshing water.
Instead, these natural trenches are fortifications. Some
use them to defend against raiders, or spring from them
unseen on unsuspecting passersby. What makes Khitan wadis unusual is their propensity to reveal precious metals or
gemstones. The wastelands are in such geographic turmoil
that deposits once deep beyond a miner’s wildest dreams
are occasionally churned closer to the surface, where a sudden flood of water exposes them to the light of day. After
a driving rain, many greedy or desperate souls scour all
known wadis in hopes of finding a treasure in the mud.

Getting Lost & Desert
Hallucinations

The greatest danger on a desert trek is losing one’s way.
The wind blows, the track is obscured with sand, visibility is reduced to nothing and, in no time at all, a traveler loses any frame of reference. Daylight brings some
comforts, as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west,
providing some direction. Distant mountains provide
certain landmarks that can reorient the wanderer. But
dust often clouds the horizon, making these unreliable.
Darkness brings the worst dangers, where artificial light
may help guide the way but also attracts the most deadly creatures and guides them to their quarry.
Desert heat makes men see things that are not really
there. Common mirages can be puzzling enough, drawing people off in futile rushes for nonexistent water. Fatigue, starvation, and dehydration magnify these wishful delusions. An exhausted mind is easily fooled and,
once further befuddled, the likelihood of wandering
far from the proven path increases dramatically. Many
desperate adventures begin with someone becoming
utterly lost by seeking a mirage, an illusory fortress, or
oasis glimpsed in the blowing dust and sand. The eyes
play tricks on you in the wastelands, so any veteran desert nomad verifies anything he sees whenever possible.

Mysteries of Moments
Most seasoned nomads share tales of mysterious circumstances that they stumbled upon out there—found