Mesa Roja

Mesa Roja is the name of an impressive plateau that rises sharply out of the scorching Nuftva Desert that surrounds it, its steep-walled cliffs soaring into higher and cooler altitudes. It offers respite from the near-unlivable desert sands that surround it, and was well-known and popular amongst the so-called “Roja Nomads” since the earliest days of Xanadu’s settlement. Even as they are gradually being forced to the periphery of life on the plateau, it still forms the center of their migrations throughout the Nuftva Desert.

Mesa Roja is no longer exclusively the territory of the nomads who take their name from it. It is also home to the largest settlement that Xanadu’s planetary government has ever built outside the Central Basins. It is built around an enormous geothermal plant that provides a great deal of the Central Basins’ power, and is connected back to them by an umbilical magtrain link that stretches over a hundred miles of empty desert. Around this facility, a thriving frontier town has grown under the watchful eye of the Xanadu Power Authority. This new settlement lives in a strange kind of harmony with the nomads who have called this place home for nearly a century, and there is a very fuzzy barrier between the two groups. It’s not uncommon for people to come to Mesa Roja to work in the plant, only to vanish into the desert forever in search of a different kind of life.

Scene: Clouds of desert sand pouring up the cliffside “nomad paths”, driven by powerful howling winds. The distant shape of a magtrain leaving for the Central Basins, like a glittering silver snake in the desert. Billowing steam emerging from hundreds of vents that cover the power plant, whose chrome facade shines like a beacon. A thin, hot rain that falls at night and still carries a faint sulphur scent. The strange aurora that hangs over the desert at times and casts eerie lights over everything.

Landmarks

Transit Office. In any other settlement, this would simply be the magtrain station. However, the magtrain link is responsible for delivering power and essential supplies - and interruption could mean death. The transit office is part magtrain station, part customs checkpoint, and part military garrison. A unit of the Xanadian Army is stationed here to protect the magtrain and keep the peace, and their grey uniforms are a common sight in the town.

Orpheus Prison. The low population and remote locale is the reason that Mesa Roja was selected for this high-security prison complex, which holds some of Xanadu’s worst criminals. The prison takes advantage of tunnels and boreholes that were excavated during the geothermal plant’s early surveys, and most of its bulk is entirely beneath the ground. Barred windows carved from the solid rock of the mesa’s cliffs look out over the empty desert.

The Black Lodge. An exclusive club for a specific kind of hunter that holds the principles of the hunt in high esteem. The hunters of the Black Lodge are a close-knit group and can be identified by the black cloaks and goggled dust-masks they wear. They earn their keep by hunting bounties that come out to the desert to hide amongst the nomads, but their real calling is to hunt the strange and terrifying meta-terran creatures that can be found in Xanadu’s deepest deserts.

Temple Stones. A cluster of wind-worn pillars at the edge of town, natural formations that have stood on the plateau since time immemorial. They are considered to be a place of worship and contemplation by the Roja Nomads - one of their few permanent temples. Visiting nomads often choose to camp out here instead of staying in town; during the months when the “desert lights” are visible on clear nights, people from Mesa Roja come out in large numbers to watch the skies and are welcomed.

Notables

Captain Suliat Achari. The military leader who commands the garrison at Mesa Roja’s transit office; known for being an extremely charismatic figure who inspires extreme loyalty in her troops. She insists on joining her subordinates on patrols and routine inspections, and encourages other officers to do the same. It’s well known that she used to serve as a Xanadian Recon Marine, and keeps a set of military power armor maintained in her quarters. (Ambitious, Friendly, Manipulative)

Warden Amani Xan. Runs Orpheus Prison and is feared and loathed by his prisoners. He takes pride in overseeing the worst of the worst that Xanadu has to offer, and considers it his sacred duty to keep these “caged demons” away from society and to break them so they can’t offend again. Utterly incorruptible and considers the walls of the prison to be his personal fiefdom; this has put him at odds with Captain Achari in the past. (Zealous, Merciless, Unyielding)

Dr. Leon Yamazaki. Not a medical doctor, but an anthropologist with a specific interest in something he calls “new marginalia”. Originally came here to study the Roja Nomads and record their practices, but ended up as something of a translator, mediator and go-between for the locals and the nomads. He knows the nomads don’t truly trust him yet, and longs to be admitted into their wanderings so he can record their practices first-hand instead of just hearing about them. (Ponderous, Polite, Curious)

Armitage Walker. An older man with greying hair and hunter from the Black Lodge; instantly recognisable in his black cloak and crows-beak dust mask. One of their more eccentric members, he goes out into the desert for long stretches to hear the “call of the sands”. Has a great respect for nature, and uses a bolt-action rifle because he believes a true hunter should only need one shot. (Daring, Compassionate, Driven)

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