Sandrock

"Sandrock is a great place if you can get past the arid environment, frequent sandstorms, constant bandit attacks, incessant conflict over resource distribution, wandering sentient beasts with the goal of global conquest... yep, I do miss it sometimes."

- Mason in

 is the titular city in, the second game in the My Time series. It is a desert town with the smallest population in the Alliance of Free Cities, and is bordered by Portia, Atara, Walnut Groove and Highwind, all of which are other members of the Alliance.

Sandrock's region is extraordinarily hot and dry, characterized by large swaths of warm orange sand punctuated with reddish rocks, earning it its name. There are patches of yellow grass as well as more hilly areas with low shrubs and small trees.

The town is connected to both Highwind and the Alliance capital, Atara, by the Atara-Highwind Railway and to Portia by the Eufaula Tunnel. The Eufaula Tunnel does not exist at the start of either or, but is built as part of the main story. Sandrock imports most of its water from Atara and Portia and exports, , , and earthenware like.

History
"Like a pure sapphire in the desert, the beauty of Martle’s Oasis is truly a sight to behold."

- The Travels of Mayet Bee

Sandrock owes it existence to Martle's Oasis. Martle was a traveller on a caravan from Atara to Highwind. 71 years ago, the caravan rested for the night at an oasis in the Eufaula Desert with plenty of fruit, plants and animals. Martle was so taken in by the scenery that she decided to stay and opened Hotel Sandrock for other travellers. Martle lived in respect for the local nature and demanded that the visitors at her hotel did the same.

Five years later, a group of prospectors discovered that Hotel Sandrock was built near a buried metropolis. This was during the first Alliance-Duvos War, and the discovery led to a huge surge of prospectors and Ruin Divers that wanted to extract the buried metropolis's wealth of Relics and Power Stones from the Old World. The newly arrived prospecting companies cared little for the environment and left most of the local prairie land void of trees, using the timber to build their homes. The wildlife was hunted to create ranches and the oasis was exploited and polluted.

The huge surge in population and the booming extraction business led Atara and Highwind to construct the Atara-Highwind Railway linking Sandrock to these cities to support the extraction industry. Martle tried to repair the damage to the oasis and to replant parts of the destroyed forests, but her efforts were in vain. The scenery that had inspired her to open her rest stop had been destroyed beyond repair.

Due to Sandrock's history, wood has become a scarce resource and water even more so after the pollution and destruction of Martle's Oasis. These setbacks caused most residents to leave the town.

When the player enters the story, the town is close to collapse.

Characters


The Kickstarter campaign, official livestreams and the demo version have revealed a number of characters in the story. Almost all of them are residents of Sandrock:
 * Amirah, a pottery artist. Arvio is her brother.
 * Andy, a boy
 * Arvio, owner of a general store. Amirah is his sister.
 * Burgess, a devotee of the Church of the Light
 * Cooper, a rancher. He is married to Mabel. Elsie is their daughter.
 * Elsie, an independent minded young woman. Cooper and Mabel are her parents.
 * Ernest, an author intrigued by Logan's story.
 * Fang, a doctor. Owner of the raven X.
 * Haru, a criminal. Member of Logan's gang.
 * Heidi, an architect. Hugo is her father and Vivi her grandmother
 * Hugo, a blacksmith. Heidi is his daughter.
 * Jane, a teacher.
 * Jasmine, a young delivery girl. Trudy is her mother.
 * Jensen, a train conductor
 * Justice, the sheriff and leader of the Civil Corps.
 * Logan, an outlaw and former resident of Sandrock. Also mentioned by Mason in.
 * Mabel, Cooper's wife and Elsie's mother
 * Mason, the previous local builder. He retires to Portia in
 * Matilda, Minister of the Church of the Light. Stands in for the absent mayor.
 * Mi-an, a fellow builder. Originally from Tallsky
 * Miguel, a pastor of the Church of the Light
 * Mort, the graveyard keeper of Sandrock. Husband of Martle, the founder of Sandrock
 * Owen, owner of the Blue Moon Saloon
 * Pen, self proclaimed protector of the town
 * Qi, a researcher
 * Rocky, the boss of Eufaula Salvage, a mining company
 * Sandy, a trained camel
 * Trudy, the mayor. Jasmine is her daughter.
 * Unsuur, member of the Civil Corps
 * Vivi, a tailor. Hugo is her son and Heidi her granddaughter.
 * Yan, the "president" of the Commerce Guild in Sandrock.
 * X, a raven. Dr. Fang's pet.

In addition, two characters from the previous game might make an appearance in Sandrock:
 * Mint (), an engineer, is shown in the Kickstarter video but is not included on the concept art sheet of local residents.
 * , a traveling musician, has been mentioned by developer Zede05 as making an appearance. She too is not included on the concept art sheet of local residents.

The finished game is planned to have more than 30 characters.

Locations
"Sandrock is a resource rich city, it's located on top of an ancient megatropolis. But due to a lack of water, their population is low. Portia supplies much of their water."

- Lucy, teacher at Portia's school


 * Sandrock:
 * Sandrock City Hall
 * Milky Way
 * The Breach
 * The Blue Moon Saloon
 * The Tumbleweed Standard (local newspaper)
 * Unnamed ranch
 * Unnamed stable


 * Ruins:
 * Abandoned Ruins (excavation only)
 * Hazardous Ruins (combat only)
 * Half-Explored Ruins (contain both combat and excavation)

The areas surrounding Sandrock feature a number of different terrains: canyons, valleys, salt plains, drylands, deserts and mesas.

Politics
Like the other Alliance members, Sandrock is an independent city state. Little is yet known about its government except that its mayor is a tough woman named Trudy. The local sheriff is named Justice.

Relations with Portia
Portia and a number of its residents have some connection to Sandrock:
 * Portia exports water to Sandrock as a part of their trading relationship.
 * During the mission , the player has the opportunity to help develop a new bus route that brings tourists to and from Portia. The player can then see and interact with the tourists as they wander around town.
 * Mint has been there a few times.
 * Mason was a Sandrock resident and later retires to the Somber Marsh in Portia.
 * once considered moving there.
 * visits Sandrock often. He comes back from a business trip there as a part of the mission: .
 * has clients from there.
 * picked up her hat in Sandrock.

In, Mint, , and Ginger's family will visit Sandrock.

Trivia

 * The landscape near Sandrock is inspired by the Gobi Desert.
 * For inspiration and authenticity, Pathea Games staff took a research trip to the Gobi Desert to learn about it firsthand and ask locals about the environmental trials that they face there.