Vaporius
Vaporius is a heathen desert world within the Koronus Expanse in Warhammer 40,000. It is ruled by a Caste of psychic Priest Kings, and the people are mostly hairless, tan, and cyan-eyed. Whilst de jure part of the Imperium, Vaporius is kind of unique as its culture and religion is completely different from that of the wider Imperial Cult; maintaining some aura of de facto independence. The planet is best known for its indigenous Sand Tigers.
Overview
The cities of Vaporius are made of tile, glass and copper; the deserts are red sand. The small cyan and turquoise seas are made of acid, and other smaller salt seas exist which are way too salty to drink from, and the drinkable water which is drawn up by the Priest Kings from deep underground is actually a parasitic xenos lifeform, think the Water of Mars episode from Doctor Who. The Priest-Kings also make use of small copper and glass robotic drone-robot-cameras to spy on their servant populaces, called Glass Hawks. The Priest Kings' soldiers also wear special Glass Armor which can deflect Lasgun rounds back at the attacker. The only humans free from the Priest Kings' control are the Sandmen, a mysterious group of desert nomads.
Silicon-based rock monsters called The Dwellers in the Heights live in the mountain ridges of Vaporius, and in deep caverns beneath the sand, exiled mutated non-Priest King-psykers who drank the waters of Vaporius called The Unquenched dwell, looking like dried-out zombies. The Unquenched drain water from whatever they touch, but are never satisfied, and even if they are without water for long enough that they collapse into dust, they are unable to die, instead becoming a cursed location of floating dust that sucks the moisture out of whoever enters it. Only psychic attacks can destroy The Unquenched. There are hidden Imperial missionaries on Vaporius, but the Priest Kings realize this and try to stamp them out, despite growing dependency on trade with the Imperium of Man.
