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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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The wasteland that separates the hives is covered in abrasive and highly corrosive ash, the end product of fifteen thousand years of industry. In densely populated areas of Necromunda hives may be separated by only fifty to a hundred miles of waste, while in other areas the waste may stretch for thousands of miles between hives. The ash layer can be miles deep, forming shifting ranges of dust dunes, which can bury roads and transport tubes, and erode the base of a hive during one of the frequent dust storms.{{Fn|1g}} Over this desert lies a cloud layer of airborne pollution, so that the great [[hive spire|spire]]s of the hives rise from a drifting mist of tainted vapour like islands out of the sea.{{Fn|1c}}
The ash wastes are mostly composed of metallic oxides, powdered plastics, and inorganic chemicals which take millennia to reduce. The ash occurs in many different, often vivid hues, such as sulphur yellow, citric green, cobalt blue, pink, mauve, and various shades of grey, and it varies in texture from fine dust to crystal. It’s an inhospitable environment where the ash corrodes equipment and poisons organic life, and no unpolluted air, food, or water can be found. A surprising variety of creatures do survive; there are fungi, [[algae]], and bacteria which live on the waste itself, as well as mutated animals. These are believed to be responsible for the limited free oxygen content of Necromunda’s atmosphere.{{Fn|1g}}
During the planet’s calmer season, which coincides with the long extinct summer, liquid pollutants rise to the surface, forming slick-lakes and short-lived blind-rivers. Streams meander across the land, vanishing into sinkholes in the dust only to rise elsewhere. Imperial scholars who have studied dust ecologies believe that there may be currents and tides within the ash surface. These transient rivers and lakes can dry out, forming a hard pan on the surface of the dust. These dangerous areas conceal deep seas of fine dust beneath them and to fall through the crust of a pan is certain death.{{Fn|1g}}
