Technology

The level of technology can be compared with Earth around 1000 AD. Cities are forming, but no real solutions to sustain these are in place. Big differences are the absence of large amounts of wood and water, making both a rarer resource. With the absence of wood as a main fuel and building resource, extensive use of stone, clay and dung is needed. Some cities that were lucky enough to have access to ore veins, have been exploiting this by turning the city into metal production facilities.

In this world, most developments have gone towards keeping a big population alive in the least amount of space possible.

Cities are mostly built from stone, clay and although used sparingly, wood. Buildings are built on top of each other to conserve space and to minimize heat from the sun. Food sources are farming (on rooftops, the greenhouses double as water collection, or on irrigated patches of land), hunting desert animals, husbandry and collection of mineral-rich roots.

Traversing the sands is done with light boats with multiple, small hulls (catamarans) or beasts of burden. Catamarans are buily to minimize weight and wood usage, as wood is expensive. Weight needs to be minimized because of the nature of the quicksand. Standing still on patches of dry quicksand will result in slowly sinking in, so movement and weight distribution are key. The boats are either pulled by Sand Grazers (bigger, slower boats), or have a sail and oars to harness the elements (small, fast & mobile).