Medusa Desert is great desert west of Llewdor in the middle of the continent of Tanalore. It is part of or lies near the Great Western Desert[1].
Background[]
The parched sands of the desert seem to reach forever westward. Beyond the initial sand, the hot ground becomes parched and dry, with cracks in the dry mud. Ultimately the desert is bounded to the west by the swamp and the Impossible Mountains and a timeless city, the city of Tanalore (named for the herb Tana).[2]
The sky in the desert is usually a cloudless, deep blue. The sun is very bright and very hot in the sky."
The flora in the hot, dry desert is scant. The only plants that grow are cactus, thorny shrubs, and an occasional stunted tree. Occasionally, after a rare rain, flowers spring up everywhere in the great desert. At most times there are no flowers, as it does not rain for a long time.[3]
The desert is sometimes referred to as the maze desert or the desert maze. In Derek Karlavaegen's earlier maps it is marked with the warnings "Desert Beware! Medusas" & "Danger! Desert" to warn of the medusas inhabiting it.
Alexander survived the desert in Llewdor by skirting its edges and avoiding the medusas that hunt there.[4] He defeated Medusa with a mirror. She is implied to be the Medusa from which the desert received its name.
A lone mountain can be seen to the north, seeming to float on the horizon.
Not much lives in the desert, besides the medusas, there are only snakes, lizards and buzzards.
The bones of past explorers can occasionally be found, who became lost in the desert, and ultimately succumbed to heat stroke and died miserably in the dreadful desert. With lack of water, the desert has been known to play tricks on the mind, to those who are thirsty.
The deadly desert is another of Daventry's many deserts, hot and dry, and endless. This is likely a property of the universe itself; always inventing itself, the edges of the world must blur and seem to go on forever.
Behind the scenes[]
The desert was marked as Desert Beware! Medusas in the first edition and Danger! Desert in the second edition of the King's Quest Companion, but appears as "Medusa Desert" in the map in the 3rd edition.
In the hintmaps, the sections of the desert beyond the main strip of desert is called the 'Desert Maze'.
In the game, the desert is described as 'the great desert'. The Official Book of King's Quest uses this to call it the Great Desert or the Great Desert Maze, or the Great Western Desert.
It is actually possible to get lost in the maze portion of the desert. The only way back is either randomly find the way out, or use the magic map. Usually after a while Alexander will die from dehydration.
Desert (unofficial)[]
The desert appears in the fan games, see Desert (unofficial).