Si Wong Desert

The Si Wong Desert is the largest desert in the world. It is known as the driest and hottest place in the world, and is almost impossible to successfully navigate. It is sparsely inhabited by Sandbender tribes.

Description
Otherwise known as the "Desert of the Dead", the Si Wong Desert holds the driest, hottest environment of the world and is really nothing more than miles of barren sand. The desert is located in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. Only a select few are mentally and physically capable of surviving in this desert, let alone navigate through it, for an extended period of time. However, certain desert-dwelling peoples such as the Sandbenders and the Bedouin merchants have come to adapt to the habitat. Nevertheless, even they can find themselves victims to common habitual afflictions such as starvation, dehydration and skin cancer. The desert's ecosystem is primarily consisted of cacti (the juice of which causes hallucinations when drunk), and a few scavenger species such as the Gilacorn and the large predatory insectoid Buzzard-Wasp.

Si Wong Rock


A gigantic mesa that rises from the center of the rolling dunes of the Si Wong Desert, looming imposingly over the landscape. Considering its flat, barren surroundings, the mesa would appear supernaturally out of place. Ancient Sandbender lore tells that the rock was dropped from the heavens by the gods as a demonstration of their great power and anger when human inhabitants had stopped abiding by the rules of their priests. Regardless of its true origin, the rock is the only notable landscape feature of the barren desert, aside from the now completely buried library, and is thus used as a guidepost by the Sandbenders or any others who traverse through the Si Wong. In addition to being a visual landmark, the rock is also composed of a metallic ore that gives it magnetic qualities, allowing the Sandbenders to create compasses that work throughout the desert, giving them their location in relation to the rock. Atop of rock stands a large hive home to a colony of carnivorous Buzzard-Wasps, who are known to immediately defend their home against anyone who disturbs.

Misty Palms Oasis
The Misty Palms Oasis, a canteen on the edge of the desert.

Wan Shi Tong's Library
Deep within the desert is an ancient library containing vast amounts of books, scrolls, and other documents with information pertaining to the Avatar world. It was built and is overseen by the knowledge spirit, Wan Shi Tong. Although the entire library is immense in size, it is only the top spire of the library that is visible from the desert. The rest is buried beneath the sand dunes due to many years of sand buildup.

Fauna

 * Buzzard-Wasp
 * Giant Beetle

Notable Figures

 * Sha-Mo
 * Ghashiun
 * Sandbender Tribes, including the Hammi Tribe
 * Fung
 * Beetle-Head Merchants
 * Wan Shi Tong
 * Knowledge Seekers

Trivia

 * "Si Wong" (死亡, sǐ wáng) means "to die" in Chinese.
 * The Si Wong Rock bears a resemblance to Uluṟu, the great sandstone rock formation located in central Australia.
 * The Si Wong desert bears a resemblance to the Sahara, the largest desert in the real world.