Desert

Desert
Location	Inside The Great Runas's residence
Inhabitants	Phindoll Volley
Music	Temptation Stairway Mannequin Expanse by Oliver Buckland Radical Phindoll by Oliver Buckland Venturing into the Pyramid by Oliver Buckland

The Desert is a location inside the residence of The Great Runas that appears in Temptation Stairway.

Description

The Desert is a large floating island consisting of yellow sand, scattered streetlights, floating spheres with orange and white patterns, and a single upside-down pyramid. To the east of the island is a rockier part consisting of dried ground, stone spheres, a palm tree made of large bones, and a cauldron. In the distance of the island is a large floating Komainu head.

Ena enters the area through a cat-like door in the Mannequin Expanse. The entrance to the area has two blue arms holding pink threads. The area also has a raging sandstorm, with the scattered streetlights leading the way to the pyramid with their light.

The interior of the pyramid consists of a long white hallway with black rectangles moving across the walls and floor. The hallway twists itself when Ena enters it. At the end of the hallway is the entrance to the Dead God Graveyard, accessible through a tunnel with walls made of water and code.

Story

After entering the Desert and arriving at the pyramid, Ena encounters Phindoll and is tasked with staining the area's water red in order to open the door to the pyramid.

Once Ena traverses the Desert, a floating green eye leads her to a cauldron, where she meets Volley. The water in the cauldron turns red, and the sandstorm subsides, revealing the full Desert and letting Ena enter the pyramid.

Gallery

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  Concepts of different areas including the Mannequin Expanse, Hourglass Meadow, the Desert, and the Dead God Graveyard.

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  Concept art of the Desert originally exclusive to Joel's Patreon. Publicly revealed in a Twitch stream.

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  View of the distant Komainu head.

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  A look into the drop leading to the Dead God Graveyard.

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  Cover featuring the distant statue seen from the Desert. Used for the cover of "Venturing into the Pyramid" on Oliver Buckland's SoundCloud.

Trivia

• The arms at the beginning of the Desert are modeled after Joel Guerra's arms.
  • Similar blue arms also appear in an early storyboard for the second Dream BBQ trailer, possibly signifying they may have some significance in the future.
• As Ena falls through the pathway leading to the Dead God Graveyard, Moony's voice can be heard briefly.

Cultural references and inspirations

Art of Deadvlei.

• The Desert itself is based off of the Haunted Wasteland from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time due to it being a favorite area of Joel's while he played it due to its uncanny feel.
  • The twisting of the hallway in the pyramid was inspired by the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time, which also uses a twisting effect.
• The stone spheres found in one section of the Desert are inspired by a painting of Deadvlei by artist Tertius Van Dyk.
• The Desert area may have been inspired by The First Plague from the Bible. Phindoll's task of turning the water red could reference how Moses turned the water of the Nile River into blood to unleash the first plague. Alongside this, the Desert area contains a pyramid, a building that is often associated with Egypt, where the Nile River is located.
  • Furthering this possible inspiration, some of the Desert's early concept art resembles various games or stories depicted in the TempleOS operating system, which retells scenes from the Bible.
• The song "Venturing into the Pyramid" uses reversed vocals stating a quote from computer scientist Marvin Minsky: "Will robots inherit the Earth? Yes [they will], but they will be our children."