Ruined Zones
Journal entry #91: Today I followed the crew of The Carroll on their latest expedition on the surface of Skaoi IV in hopes of gathering more samples for my sponsor, Lord Rimwich. It has been disappointingly difficult collecting live samples for a multitude of reasons. Anyway, we stumbled upon various isolated, large regions that were absolutely desolate. Read on if you're intrigued by the mystery.
The Ruined Zones are a phenomenon discovered on the surface of Skaoi IV near The Kelornac Expanse consisting of circular patches of land spanning five hundred miles across each. They are clustered in two subsets of four circles. There are six sets of these total. There are no signs of life in these areas and the land appears blackened and constantly smoldering. The smoke caused our poor intern Keith to hallucinate strongly and become rather selfish about his jewelry until at the end of our enormously long trek, he fell down at Yordor.
The area around each Ruined Zone appears lush, green, and flourishing with flora and fauna. There is no current explanation for the Ruined Zones, but I have three theories:
These zones were created recently by a truly massive creature with four fiery feet. I hypothesize that this creature must have come from Downtown Skaoi, as no other megafauna typically exists on the surface of the planet. It may have been following its prey out of the inner planet.
Asteroids?
Ghallas ratbird mating sites: the basic droppings burned holes in the grass. Such is the consequence of Invasive Species to a planet. Always wash the outside of your starship before descending upon a planet, folks! Never know what kinds of buggers are hitching a ride.
Dr. Rosalie F. Wyndenhart, Visiting Professor of Astrobiology and Ornithology