The Si Wong Desert is the largest desert in the World of Avatar. It is known as the driest and hottest place in the world, and is almost impossible to successfully navigate. It is sparsely inhabited by tribes, thieves, bandits, and traders of all sorts. As well as a university for the worlds most prestigious minds at Shi Tong’s University. The Eastern Scorpions, who won independence of the desert from Ba Sing Se, were led by 9 powerful Thieves Guilds, each of which now own a huge city somewhere in the dessert. The richest of these guilds is the only one who has made their location, Tu Zin Village, known to the public. All the other guild cities are unmarked on the map, known only to those who have been there and scattered throughout the desert.

Description
Otherwise known as the “Desert of the Dead,” the Si Wong Desert holds the driest, hottest environment in the world, and consists mostly of miles of barren sand. The desert is located in the middle of The Land of Earth. Only a select few are mentally and physically capable of surviving in this desert, let alone navigating through it, for an extended period of time. Many find themselves victims to common habitual afflictions such as starvation, dehydration, and skin cancer. The desert’s ecosystem is primarily consisted of cacti (the juice of which causes hallucinations when drunk), and a few scavenger species such as the Gilacorn and the large predatory insectoid Buzzard-Wasp.

Si Wong Rock
A gigantic mesa that rises from the center of the rolling dunes of the Si Wong Desert, looming imposingly over the landscape. Considering its flat, barren surroundings, the mesa would appear supernaturally out of place. Ancient Sandbender lore tells that the rock was dropped from the heavens by the gods as a demonstration of their great power and anger when human inhabitants had stopped abiding by the rules of their priests. It is used as a guidepost by the Sandbenders or any others who traverse through the Si Wong. In addition to being a visual landmark, the rock is also composed of a metallic ore that gives it magnetic qualities, allowing the Sandbenders to create compasses that work throughout the desert, giving them their location in relation to the rock. Atop of the rock stands a large hive home to a colony of carnivorous Buzzard Wasps, who are known to immediately defend their home against anyone who disturbs.

Sandbender Tribes
Sandbenders live in different tribes in the Si Wong Desert, one being the Hami Tribe. Sandbenders have adapted well to the arid environment of the desert and utilize a unique art known as Sandbending. They use sand-sailors to travel across the land which they power by bending a sand tornado to blow wind into the sails. The people of the Sandbender Tribes are distrustful of any strangers and make a habit of stealing from them.