Sea of Dust

The Sea of Dust, as it was called by those who lived near it, was a vast and hazardous desert located somewhere in the continent of Kara-Tur.Being an intentionally generic adventure encounter, "Kuei" by Ray Winninger leaves the exact location of this module ambiguous. The world of Greyhawk has a desert called the Sea of Dust, but this could be a coincidence, though it is possible Kara-Tur was originally intended to be placed on Oerth. The desert's name is stated to be "so-called", implying that "Sea of Dust" could merely be a nickname or regional name for the wastes. The only major known deserts on the continent are the Hanya Maut Wasteland and Quoya Desert. The Quoya Desert, notably, was later established to have a population of giant scorpions in The Horde (p. 125). The Sea of Dust is also described as a steppe, which again suit the Plain of Horses and Quoya Desert. Complicating matters further, naming conventions in the module suggest that at least two of the clans who live near it are of Kozakuran or Wanese descent.
==Geography==
This desert was situated between territories controlled by powerful rival clans, who frequently sent out raiding parties against one another onto its steppes. Exactly hallway across its perilous expanse stood an oasis, which to many was considered necessary to reach if one wanted to cross its sandy steppes.
===Flora & Fauna===
Creatures known to inhabit the desert included giant scorpions.
==History==
At some point, a pair of samurai—Buntaro and Shoji, one from the Nakatomi clan and the other of the allied Soga clan—were detached from their army for a special mission. The pair were sent out to poison the desert's oasis, deriving a mixture from the berries and roots that grew around it, in order to stifle the raiding parties of the rival Lord Ichi. While traveling to the midway oasis, the pair was attacked by a giant scorpion and in the struggle their waterskin was torn, leaving them only a single bottle of water to subsist on. The two continued, nearly reaching the center, but suffering from dehydration the Soga samurai went mad and killed his ally so he could have the bottle all to himself. The Soga samurai eventually reached the oasis and made it out of the desert alive, but was unable to fulfill his mission as only his ally knew how to mix the needed poison. The Nakatomi samurai, having died a violent death before he could complete his mission, was left to linger on the Prime Material plane as a kuei.
Some years later, a group of adventurers trekking across the Sea of Dust stumbled upon the partially buried skeleton of the Nakatomi samurai. Clutched in his hands remained a piece of parchment, written in a script common to the region, detailing their mission from someone named Uji. Having disturbed either the skeleton or its parchment, one of the adventurers became possessed by the vengeful spirit.The original text states that the parchment is written in "the tongue of Kara-Tur", however, even back in Oriental Adventures (1985) it has been stated that there is no equivalent to the Common Tongue in Kara-Tur. The closest thing to this is the Trade Tongue, but this is purely a verbal language.The original text states that the parchment bears the date "current year minus 75", corresponding to a clan war being stated as having begun "seventy-five years ago", which would suggest that is when the Nakatomi samurai died. However, this is then contradicted by the text stating that the samurai was betrayed "more than three decades ago", which would instead put his death at some point thirty years or so years prior.
As the adventurers continued their trek across the Sea of Dust, the possessed member of their party preyed upon their water supply at an abnormal rate, with the kuei driven to satisfy the unbearable thirst that was its last living memory. Once the party finally reached the oasis, the possessed victim began discreetly mixing the poison that the spirit had been tasked to do so long ago and dumped it into the watering hole. Almost immediately it became visibly apparent to the adventurers that the water was no longer safe to drink. And the kuei, with his special purpose in life finally fulfilled, was able to pass on to the Spirit World.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Deserts
Category:Locations in Kara-Tur
Category:Locations on Toril