:: Random Location—Hortus Mortem ::

Hortus Mortem

by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/19/15

Attraction: Park/Promenade

Weather: Dusty

Conditions: Inviting, Barren

Color: Bright Blue

Keyword: Venom

Tired, your feet plod on across the barren sand. Parched, your lips crack a little more. Blinded, your eyes squint into the burning reflection of the sun glinting off...water? Your eyes focus, taking in the slightly denser haze off in the distance. A hasty shuffle brings you at last to the edge of a lush oasis. You bat a large palm leaf, shaking loose a spray of dust, proving to yourself that this place is not simply a product of the heat. Past the foliage, you quickly arrive at the blessed lake that waits, silently inviting the thirsty to drink of its bright blue liquid.

The desert folk know the place as the Snake’s Mouth. Those from other countries refer to it as the Hortus Mortem, or “Garden of Death.” No matter what one calls it, drinking of its envenomed waters means almost certain death. Unfortunately, the bodies of the dead are no where to be found to warn others of peril.

Oral tradition handed down by the desert folk says that the Neverending Wanderer, a deity among snakes, once roamed a vast and fruitful garden, watching over the plants that grew there with jealous zeal. But this pristine place was threatened by the advent of a man and a woman, the ancestors of the desert folk, who began eating anything they pleased, and defiled the garden by their very presence.

The Wanderer attempted to convince the man and woman to leave, but they would not, saying the Unmoving Sentry had given the garden to them. Cross with the Sentry for manipulating the man and woman into defiling the garden that was rightfully his, the Wanderer revealed the Sentry’s deception to the visitors. In his anger, the Sentry cursed the Wanderer, crushing his bones to powder.

The Wanderer’s bones became the sand, but before he perished he spat his venom in the center of the only remaining portion of the garden that still lived, forming the lake that would kill the man and woman if they ever drank of it, ensuring that if the Wanderer could not enjoy the garden, none ever would. To this day, the Wanderer’s venom still sustains the plants of the garden, but kills all else.