Sweet Grass Country
Endless waves of waist-high grass ripple in the wind across Sweet Grass Country, broken only by rivers racing through the expanse and mountains rising in the distance. The grass is genetically modified: sweet-scented, sweet-tasting, edible when boiled, said to taste similar to carrots. It has overtaken the natural vegetation entirely, creating a landscape that looks like the richest farmland in the wasteland. It is, in many ways, exactly that. It is also mildly toxic; daily consumption causes stomach problems and eventually death, a detail that the locals learn early and outsiders learn too late.
This is rancher and horseman territory. Ranch houses and scattered settlements dot the landscape, connected by dirt roads that wind through the grasslands for Rover caravans. Cattle herds roam under watchful eyes. Open-air Rover markets pop up regularly along the roadways, and the Meloy Clan trades throughout the region. The culture is rugged frontier ranching: people keep only what they can defend, and outsiders are treated with suspicion until they prove themselves through work rather than words.
Walking through the grasslands is not casual activity. Wandering zed hide in the waist-high grass, invisible until they are on top of you. Worse, the zed have learned to tail large herds to find prey, making ranching itself an exercise in constant vigilance. A rancher looking after cattle is also looking for the dead that follow them. The sweetness of the grass, the beauty of the rolling prairie, the openness of the sky: all of it disguises the fact that Sweet Grass Country is as dangerous as anywhere else in the wasteland. It simply smells better.
This is rancher and horseman territory. Ranch houses and scattered settlements dot the landscape, connected by dirt roads that wind through the grasslands for Rover caravans. Cattle herds roam under watchful eyes. Open-air Rover markets pop up regularly along the roadways, and the Meloy Clan trades throughout the region. The culture is rugged frontier ranching: people keep only what they can defend, and outsiders are treated with suspicion until they prove themselves through work rather than words.
Walking through the grasslands is not casual activity. Wandering zed hide in the waist-high grass, invisible until they are on top of you. Worse, the zed have learned to tail large herds to find prey, making ranching itself an exercise in constant vigilance. A rancher looking after cattle is also looking for the dead that follow them. The sweetness of the grass, the beauty of the rolling prairie, the openness of the sky: all of it disguises the fact that Sweet Grass Country is as dangerous as anywhere else in the wasteland. It simply smells better.
Geography
Endless waves of waist-high genetically modified grass ripple across Sweet Grass Country, a sub-region within Mountaina. The grass is sweet-scented and sweet-tasting, edible when boiled though mildly toxic in large quantities. Rivers race through the expanse and mountains rise in the distance. Ranch houses and scattered settlements dot the landscape, connected by dirt roads for Rover caravans. Misery Swamp lies just east of Sweet Grass Ranch, the region's largest settlement. The Dead Forest and Unbearable Mountains border the area. Open-air Rover markets are held regularly along the roadways.
