The human-inhabited planet of Lal Hadaf used to lush tropical paradise that at its peak was home to some 100 million denizens. However, the fate of the planet would forever change when its administration decided, despite the vocal protests of experts, to introduce some 100 mastikhors to the ecosystem as a form of biological control of agricultural pests. With the omnivorous mastikhors lacking any natural predators or diseases in the new biome and findings its climate extremely ideal, they began to multiply rapidly. Pretty soon, vast swarms began to bloom, eating everything in their wake and growing all the more numerous.
The administration tried many desperate measures to control the mastikhor numbers, even nuclear bombardment but nothing could stem the ruthless tide of this ravenous flood. Eventually, a mass evacuation was called but it was done haphazardly and many of the denizens were left stranded with the planet’s quarantine. Most of those left behind perished but some sought refuge in the planet’s cooler highland plateaus and mountain valleys– the cold being intolerable to the mastikhor species.
Once a green planet is a now desert wasteland, with vast stretches of it solely being the domain of the mastikhor, which, through their sheer numbers, give the planet a red hue. Amidst its eroded and stripped surface, lies the ruins of once splendorous human cities and monuments. The lands are devoid of most life, having been long consumed by the swarm. The colossal desert worm, another introduced species, is the only other prevalent species here and rides the depths of the planet’s shifting sands.
Yet, in contrast to the grounds below, the high-altitude ‘islands’ still manage to support thriving ecosystems and some even complex human societies. Having been isolated for a thousand years or so years, each island has cultivated its own distinct cultures and ecosystems. Most human cultures of this planet are rather primitive, having forgotten much of their original technological heritage and knowledge of the world that originally was, with the ancient past now relegated to myths and legends. Near the poles, however, a kind of an industrial society is emerging and, with the invention of such things like airships, slowly breaking away from their isolation.
This entry was created by community founder, Artnoob100.