Region: The Silent Knot Basin:

The Silent Knot Basin is a region on Rhydarcus that is surrounded by mountains with geysers and hot springs, but the almost level plane where The Silent Knot Basin exists is absent of them.  Instead, this boiling shallow basin bubbles almost silently in its center, where highly alkaline salt and soda water is heated.  Further away from the center, certain bacteria species that have adapted to the highly toxic boiling salt water, tinting concentric circles around its center in a prismatic pattern.  However, due to the chemical makeup of the water itself, its fumes cause irritation of the eyes, lung burning, liver failure, heart attacks, and eventually, gnarled mummification.  In various places in the basin and on its shores, twisted, pained mummified animal remains may be found.  Despite all these dangers, several still travel to it every few years, with few surviving to tell the tale, because it is rumored to be the location of an ancient human outpost, filled with long-lost technology and treasure...