Sea of Decay

"This is like the sand from the bottom of our well. It looks like these trees must die and fossilize and then crumble into sand... The trees of the toxic jungle must have evolved to purify the earth of all the pollution we humans have made. The trees absorb the pollution so it becomes inert, then they die and petrify and then crumble into purified sand."

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki

The Sea of Decay, the Sea of Corruption, the Toxic Jungle, the Rotten Sea, the Rotwood, or 腐海 all refer the the mega landscape environment covering the majority of the Earth in the series Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki.

Map of Tourmekia and surrounding territories

A jungle of various toxic plants and fungi covered in a thick miasma that kills humans, the Rotwood began to cover the Earth after the Seven Days of Fire, an event that covered the Earth in flames and brought down industrialized civilization. In conjunction with the growth and development of the Rotwood, giant insects evolved and adapted to protect the Rotwood and prevent humans from destroying it. When the Rotwood is threatened, the insects will swarm and stampede, carrying spores from the Rotwood with them, so that it can expand and continue to cover the Earth.

Lifecycle of a Mushigo Palm

While most human tribes fear and live in conflict with the Rotwood, there are certain tribes of humans that regularly interact with and live among the Rotwood. The Forest People, 森の人, are a tribe of humans that are the descendants from the Kingdom of Eftal that fell 300 years prior to the Nausicaä. They live in and use resources from the Rotwood to survive. They do not use fire, have foam membranes to keep out the miasma, have suits and filtration systems created from insects parts, and are also given insects eggs for sustenance. Forest People

Nausicaä, through her own sceintific research, discovers that the purpose of the Rotwood is to cleanse the earth. The plants and fungi of the Rotwood draw in the poisons that are in the ground and soil created by industrilization and makes them inert; the organisms of the Rotwood themselves are not poisonious, it is the poisons in the ground left by humanity that makes the dangerous. After making the poisons inert, the organisms of the Rotwood die, fossilize, and leave behind clean and clear sand and soil. Nausicaä learns that it was humans before the Seven Days of Fire that created the miasma and Rotwood to cleanse the Earth of the damage humanity has caused.

Side Image

Background Image

Description: Kinnoyu

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Music

All art in description by Hayao Miyazaki

Map

Mushigo Palm Lifecycle

Forest People