D&D 5E Describe the Nerebdian Vast (48th layer of the Abyss)?

[Shadowdweller00]

* Fields of beautiful crystal where winds raise clouds of glittering, razor-sharp shards that strip flesh from bone.
* Swarms of locust demons
* (Sparse, thorny) vegetation and creatures with hallucinogenic poisons
* Souls buried and trapped beneath the sands and in other places, screaming and slowly turning into larvae
* Spells, curses, poisons, effects that cause mind control or unwilling transformations
* Horrible, deadly wastelands - always in sight of places that appear beautiful and/or safe
* Very little food or drink - and what there is is ALWAYS derived from the suffering of others (e.g. dried meat from sentients, sweetmeats from living and quivering flesh, beverages taken painfully from sentient plants and other creatures)
* For the more mature audience (Grazz't being the demon lord of seduction/overindulgence after all): Caravans of slave-taking demons, that sell carnal pleasures to the more powerful sentients....on unwilling and possibly bestial victims
* Demons and demonic creatures that seek to rape rather than kill
* Inhabited regions of seeming beauty and safety - all offering shelter and comfort at a terrible price.

On a symbolic/spiritual level, maybe the desert is a stick that drives inhabitants toward carrots of corruption and oppression; as well as serving as a dumping ground / boneyard for those who have been consumed and destroyed.

 

[Ancalagon]

3 things

1: Water. There just isn't enough water. BUT... what happen if people die of thirst? Do they come back as moisture seeking undead? OR... can you even die of thirst? What if you can't and you just get thirstier and thirstier, to the point where you will murder someone to drink their blood to get some water? I think thirst as a corrupting influence could be interesting. What if you make the "ethical choice" of not murdering humans for their blood but drink demon blood?

2: Mirages - oh great ideas posted above, that should definitely be a feature!

3: The Tarim Bassin and the Taklamankan desert - ah, I know it well. About 1/3 of a campaign I ran was in that area, so I can PM you if you want real world info

I hope I can see it with my own eyes one day!

 

[Eltab]

1) I feel like you might be thinking of a Mongoose Publishing book, but I know the least about 3e products as I was lapsed from the hobby for much of that time.

2) All of these sound good, definitely thinking along similar lines... Crops turned to bone? As in grains turned into human bone? Is that Biblical or did you make that up? I can't wrap my head around it, but somehow it is creepy and probably exactly the sort of thing I should include.

1) Probably Sandstorm, referenced above. There are books with other climates available, in case you want mountains under some desert.

2) I was thinking of the stalks of a corn plant (X-Long humerus), but sure!
Big leafy veggies (lettuce, spinach) could look like thin hipbone. Celery might look like a collarbone. Nuts, peas - or the kernels of corn on a corncob - look like single finger- or toe-bones.
The original material IS Biblical (Genesis) but I let my imagination run with it a bit.
While on vacation last summer, I passed a copse of white trees (probably ash but I'm no plant-ologist to know the difference). The first look I got out of the corner of my eye while driving, it looked like a bunch of arm-bones sticking out of the ground. I'm going to use that as the "lair effect" of a nature-corrupting demon in an FR adventure I'm writing.

 

[UnknownDyson]

Perfect opportunity to use viper trees (plant-like demons native to Azzagrat) http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Viper_tree. You could make them more like cacti or dessert plants but just as dangerous.

 

[Ancalagon]

You definitely could do something with this - the last tree

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Ténéré

This tree could be on the real world, or perhaps it has already slipped into the abyss, or is at the very edge. The tree could have a guardian. Perhaps the guardian has just perished?