A lot of being on Arrakis is the random moments you find yourself in. One moment you could be caught hiding from a sandstorm, and the next raiding an outpost. Not all stories on this planet are one giant adventure at a time, but a bunch of mini ones along the way.

After conquering my fears of the abyss in Hagga Rift. I ventured over to the Jabal Eifrit region for a short amount of time. My time in that region must be the least among any other part of Arrakis I'd be on.

I don’t know what it was about that I was not a huge fan. Most of the sands around it below were filled with quicksand or worse. Making travel challenging. It also had a lot of endless pillars. Later on, those pillars of this region are known for would become the only reason I'd even go to this region in the first place.

You could say there were many tricky spots in the area. Where you would have multiple snipers waiting for you to wander into a camp. I’d end up having to flee the situation above as bullets rained down on me from multiple directions.

Being mostly a melee build. My ability to take targets out at a range was not up to par to get the job done in this instance. I’d end up returning later after finding quite a powerful weapon and getting a few sniping blows in.

Next up, I found myself in testing station 10. This entire station, whatever it was used to research, was long gone. It was now being used as a chop shop for stolen vehicles. I even found a couple of spare parts that I pocketed for myself.

I even ended up finding a unique sword at this location. While I did end up crafting it, I discovered I still enjoyed using a dagger over a sword. While they both have their advantages and disadvantages. I preferred being able to make quicker attacks than slightly slower and more powerful ones.

I then found myself hiding from a portal on my way back home to drop off some loot. It was nightfall by the time I left the testing station. While I could have just made a run for it, and I have the skill to take out any trouble, even a night portal could give me. Some nights, you are hoping for a more silent walk back to base.

While I ended up taking a longer way back to base. I at least arrived there in one piece. My motives then turned towards needing to do a supply run down south. Thankfully, I did not have to take my bike across the great sand gap. I could just pay for a flight, and it was a good thing I did.

Shortly after landing back in the south, for some easy targets to pick off. I found myself having to make a mad dash back to the trade outpost. A sandstorm was coming. Thankfully, I was not caught off guard this time around and would not be spending my time in some damp cave. I got to spend it inside a modest trade post instead.

I then made a short trip over to a wrecked ship to loot some Plasteel Microflora Fiber. I’d need some to craft weapons like the sword schematic I had looted. I also had just been neglecting restocking up on that stuff for a while. The location I hit up did not enough much. It, however, would last me a couple of days.

I, however, had much bigger plans than even what Plasteel Microflora Fiber alone could do for it. I ended up heading back to the region where I had my base and heading quite east. Out far were some ironworks I'd need to scale to loot some Complex Machinery parts.

These would end up being an item I'd never feel like I had enough till one day I'd wake up and see I had 2k of them sitting in a chest. That kind of when you realize perhaps you can lay off raiding the ironworks. I’m shocked they did not shut down for good.

The far east ended up having two locations. While they were both quite run down. One had some missing stairways where I had to do some jumping from burning objects to whatever I could find to place my feet on to climb higher.

The second ironworks required finding someone with an access card to get inside. That place at the time had a fire down in the basement. I ended up leaping around the flames looking for chests to look in before bouncing out of that place before anyone noticed stuff went missing.

While these ironworks were quite out of the way. They were quick and easy targets. I’d be in and out in under five minutes if that. I once turned a corner and did not have my shield got. Got shot twice and almost fell to my death. Outside of that one instance, that is about as exciting as those locations get.

A lot of the time, I found myself back in Hagga Rift. No, no was near the abyss. There might have been that one time I fell in late one night by mistake. I hit the gas on my sand bike instead of the brakes. Thankfully I after wandering around in the dark for less than an hour found a ramp on the far side I could just ride up and out on.

The real reason to be in Hagga Rift was the Carbon ore. I had no idea at the time, but I'd be farming insane amounts of this stuff. It just started off needing some steel to make for some upgrades.

Looking back at those times, I kind of miss my simple life. My sand bike had such a limited cargo hold. Along with me trying to carry as much of the Carbon ore back as I could in my pack. It still was not a large amount.

At the very least, around my base, I had ample iron. So, I did not have to go too far to farm it as the other requirement for making steel. I’d then sit there sometimes for hours watching the rotation of the refinery and all the dust swirling around during the refining process.

My base was becoming so cramped with all the crafting machines I was setting up. I knew the day would come that I'd have to expand. Quite an annoying process if you ask me. Having to knock down walls and build others. All while hoping some random stranger will not just walk right into your base, thinking they can just loot the place blind.

In between a lot of waiting for ore to refine. I’d go out and find new locations to hit. I ended up taking the long way around and climbing up a cliff. I ended up being rewarded with this amazing view of an outpost I was about to rob.

I’m sure they were expecting me to take the easy route, and that road that leads down into an ambush. That day, I was the one doing the ambushing. Loot was as expected for the location, but I just wanted to find a new outpost I had yet to explore.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes you just luck out and find yourself with an amazing backdrop to view the sun at. Exploration on Arrakis must be the biggest thing that keeps me drawn to its wonders. Among all the random spots I found myself at on this particular day, this one tops them all.

Information

Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Dune: Awakening.