The Location, whose true founding dates are lost to time, was once the verdant heart of the planet. Before the cataclysm known as The Sundering, this lush region was cultivated by the Sylan, the original inhabitants. They practiced a unique form of bio-architecture, growing their magnificent cities directly from the living rock itself.

This era of natural harmony was brutally interrupted in the 42nd century with the arrival of the Red Sun Dominion. The Dominion brought an apocalypse of industry, viewing the entire planet merely as a resource node for the vast Don System. Their relentless pursuit of deep Osmium veins led to aggressive tectonic fracturing and widespread atmospheric processing.

The unchecked industrial exploitation resulted in an irreversible ecological collapse. The once-lush basin was utterly transformed into the desolate expanse now known as the Meristine Wastes. The soil, poisoned by chemical leaching from intense Harvest operations, calcified into brittle hardpan.

The native flora perished entirely, replaced by the adaptive and predatory Malek, whose hidden jaws now lie buried in the treacherous dirt. Today, the Wastes serve as a deadly buffer zone, separating sprawling Work Camps like A2 from the untamed Shadowed Barrows. It is a haunting graveyard of the old world.

The landscape is littered with the hollowed-out ruins of ancient bio-domes and the rusting carcasses of failed mining machinery, including the legendary Fallen Colossus. For any who escape the Work Camps, the Meristine Wastes present a perilous gauntlet. They must navigate between the unseen dangers of the Maleks below and the all-seeing sensors of RSD drones in the sky. The Location remains hostile and under constant martial surveillance.