The silt has some indigenous plant life outside the mud flats. In regions of shallow silt (10' or less) the olom-reed flourishes. This hardy plant roots in the solid bottom of the silt basin and reaches up through the dust blanket to the sun. Its stem is strong and flexible, with a tassel of soft rushes at its top. Travellers welcome sight of the olom-reed because stands of hundreds of reeds may conceal a small spring or mud flat. Another plant, driftweed, is more common in the deep silt. This rootless network of thin, brittle branches is so light that it actually floats on the silt; it is one of the few substances able to do so. Driftweed is often carried hundreds of miles from the Sea by the worst dust storms. Despite the difficulty of survival in the silt, the basin is not uninhabited. Many creatures have adapted to life in the dust-flyers, floaters, and burrowers that can move in or over the silt. For them, the silt is not death; it is instead their home, their refuge from the predators of the tablelands, and their hunting ground. The creatures of the silt include countless varieties of small insects, bats, floaters, razorwings, and the different species of silt horrors. The small insects include dust beetles, mud wasps, tsek-flies, and silt spiders – all fascinating creatures and well adapted to their environment, but of little concern to the silt traveler. Floaters and razorwings are far more dangerous, often attacking humans near the sea. They are true silt creatures, perfectly adapted to their environment.
Many dangerous creatures use the silt as concealment as they stalk their prey. Some, like the silt horrors, can sense the vibrations or disturbances of the silt from a great range. Others rely on psionic detection of their prey. Sighted creatures such as humans or giants are at a great disadvantage in fighting off the attacks of the silt predators-the dust is impervious to any kind of vision, and a creature buried even a few inches cannot be detected by most humans. Hunting groups of black horrors range far across the shallows in their pursuit of prey, and the larger white, gray, and brown horrors are feared by all silt travelers. But in the deep silt, there are creatures from which even the silt-horrors flee. The mighty sink worms and silt drakes command the respect of the most powerful silt horror.
And the dreaded silt-vortex fears nothing that lives.
Three different types of giants live in the isles of
the shallow silt: desert, plains, and beasthead. In general,
the desert giants prefer rocky isles; the plains giants live
on scrub isles. Beasthead giants are found on any kind of
island. Usually only one variety of giant lives on a given
island, although Lake Island and Waverly support several
different giant clans.
Giants have a bad reputation in other parts of the Tyr
region, but they are really not all bad. Just like humans
and most other races, there are good and evil giants.
Many isolated giants delight in company – provided the
visitor does not invade without permission. The exceptions
to this are the beasthead giants, who tend to be far crueler
and less hospitable than their cousins.
Human and dwarf villages lie along the shore or on
isles just offshore. These hardy folk have devised means
of crossing the shallow silt and often operate ferries across
the silt estuaries or conduct trade up and down the coast.
The mud flats and rocky tors dotting the silt also
provide homes for one of the greatest dangers of the
Sea: airborne predators. A few rare rocs and cloud rays
have, over the course of generations, overcome their fear
of flying over the open silt and now range far across the
dusty plain, seeking prey. A full-grown roc can capture
creatures as large as a young sink worm and carry them
off as a meal. Some travelers have encountered powerful
roc-riders far out in the deep silt. They believe there may
be a hidden village in the center of the Sea, far beyond
the knowledge of sages.