Into Empty Lands

Over 50.000 people used to live here...Now it's a Ghostown.

— Varis Ederon, First Centurion of Chaironea

-Attention!-

These documents are classified as C5, meaning either the original or first-rate copy of said texts. Therefore access is to be granted only:

• to members of the Archives of Chaironea ranked Senior Archivar or above

• in specialised reading rooms I9 - I12

• under highest security measures

• to outsiders under all of the above, with definitive approval by the High Archivar and under guard (3 guards per visitor)

Document Overview

Title: Into Empty Lands
Author: Varis Ederon
Classification: HI-O-A2-C5-S1
Number of Copies: 10
Location: Archive 3, Special Section 4, Aisle 2, Compartment N2

What began as a simple diplomatic mission turned into a journey that would uncover one of the most mysterious and harrowing events in history. The following notes were taken from the personal journal of Varis Ederon, leader of the first expedition to venture north in the aftermath of the Desolation.

— Intro from the revised edition by Master Archivar Adrian Modaris, est. 2466 DA

Addendum I. - Historical Basis

Excerpt from: In search of the past. Findings of the archaeological excursion following the stations of the Ederen Expedition. p 43

Conducted by: Historical Archive of Chaironea 03.05 - 12.08 1200 DA
Lead by Senior Archivar Ridra Villeris
...Despite extensive research and excavation attempts, the expedition leadership had to accept the fact that the overwhelming majority of locations and markers mentioned in the log are irrevocably gone. Of the most important noted...only the Mines of Magrid remain and the ominous aura (as noted by Segeris)...which drove our party to near insanity on the first night prevents any excavation attempts. As to the horrifying effect of the Desolation, the occurrences at the mine give more credence to the thought, that the event in early 793 DA was not natural. Despite repeated counterarguments by factions within the administration... This theory is only further strengthened by later reports...The purges between 810 and 821 DA are prove enough...

Addendum VI. - Psychological Effects

Excerpt from: Shadow on the Mind. An analysis of the psychological repercussions suffered by northern colonists.
Written by: Medicar Vergil Artarin, Senior Medicar at the Hospicia Cara Veii, dated 807 DA

...Illnesses of the mind, while each containing a basic group of symptoms, appear different from patient to patient. While we cannot say with any amount of certainty why this is the case, the sciences dealing with the mind are still only in their infancy, after all, we know that they vary from person to person. Not so in regards to the "Desolate Touch".
Colonists returning from the north alive all share the exact same symptoms:

• a psychological condition similar to what is known as "Battle Trauma"

• phases of utter panic when dealing with silence (patients require constant sound even during sleep)

• heavy night terrors leading in some cases to heart attacks or difficulty in breathing

• episodes of isolation, general unresponsiveness even when faced with physical trauma

This alone is quite the oddity among the known mental afflictions. Even stranger is the seemingly "unbiased" character of the affliction. Heritage, status, physical health, prior mental state, none of these seem to matter. The individuals will travel north and return after a period of 5 to 10 days, often in either manic or traumatized states. The mentioned symptoms will then manifest immediately. As of now no type of therapy has seen any success...

Read the Document

Into Empty Lands

Personal Log of Varis Ederon

15th of Martius 794, Chaironea

It is official. As of the 20th of Martius, I am to lead a scouting mission up north. In cooperation with the Rhovarin, our group of 50 men will assemble on the kingdoms northern border before heading into the lands of the Sikirians. It was only a matter of time.
The trade caravans have been missing for over 3 months now. No sign of them, no messenger to excuse the absence. This alone is ground for confusion but apparently, we aren't the only ones waiting. Messengers have raced all over the north, no one has seen or heard anything. And it's not just traders. No signs of border patrols, the villages closest to our borders have remained dark at night. At first, I was sceptical but now I too start to think that something strange may be going on in the north.

---

12th of Apris 794, Nedrin Village

About 5 days after we set off from the border we came upon the first larger settlement. We hadn't encountered a single living soul until now and this village, Nedrin as a road sign said, proved no different. It was silent, only the wind strove through the empty streets. Enclosures had been broken, the fences splintered as if the animals had thrown themselves against them. The traces we found in the broken ground led us to believe that they had fled in what seemed like a manic stampede. We found no hints as to the cause and after several hours of search, we decided to leave Nedrin and continue north.

---

5th of Meis 794, Brickman's Rock

The picture of Nedrin repeated itself along our route. Empty villages and homesteads wherever we went, the animals have fled. Day after day we scaled increasingly steep terrain as plains turn to hills and mountains. After 4 days we reached the crest of the mountain...
We made camp in the shadow of a large stone pillar. Segeris told us that this was the stone upon which Markus Brigman had found his end. As the night went on he told us tale after tale. Of a time when the north was wild and untamed when legendary figures like Brigman the Outlaw and Midrid Goldtongue wandered the earth. Soon we all shared stories and tales, real and fiction. For the first time since we left Nedrin, we forgot the strangeness that surrounded us.
The next morning we split the party. No apparent danger had presented itself in weeks and it was easier to cover more ground this way. Segeris continued on north along the mountains and hills. I would travel toward the Sikirian capital.

---

6th of Meis 794, Northern Highlands

It was only when I stood there on the crest watching the vast flat expanse that was the northern highlands that something hit me. Before we had been bewildered and confused as to the Northmen's sudden departure but now as I stared into this endless expanse a strange feeling settled in my gut. Normally the calm, green plains and clear blue sky would have been a happy sight. But now they seemed off, somehow wrong and almost consuming in their emptiness. Something wasn't right... My companions call to move shook me from my thought. Slowly I began to follow them. We had been travelling for hours when I noticed the hairs on the back of my neck standing...

---

21st of Meis, Road to Ashin

The strange feeling hadn't abated. I only managed to push it out of mind. On the 10th day, Mt. Gerion came into view. It massive silhouette towering like a titans fist above the endless, windswept plain. And as the dark shape continued to loom over the horizon day after day it returned with a vengeance. I finally realized what it was. Fear. I feared what we would find in Ashin, the great city carved from the mountains lifeless flanks. Not like fear of monsters or spiders. No something different. This was something more primal...

---

24th of Meis, Ashin

Empty. Utterly empty. The walls, the streets and markets. Buildings merely hollow shells. Things are strewn about, tables set for dinner, the food untouched by both man and time. Weapons, toys, tools everywhere as if left in the middle of some activity. We spend hour after hour scouring the city for any sign of life. This is absurd! Ashin held more than 50.000 people! How can they disappear just like that? There are no signs of combat, no signs of mass panic or some sort of calamity. It looks as if they just vanished.
We made camp in the abandoned city watch. It's nice to eat like a civilized person once again but my appetite has left me. None of the others is eating, too caught up in discussing this...this...I don't know what this is. I have settled myself a bit away from them, near a big window overlooking one of the cities few parks. I need calm to write and think and the soft song of nightbirds and crickets has always calmed me.
Strange...I can't hear them. At first, I thought that they may just be quieter than normal but...No I can't hear anything. Going down the stairs and looking out the front door, I listened again. Nothing.

---

Note - The following parts are not fully preserved and some barely existent.

27th of Meis, 2 days from Ashin

We didn't even last a single night. In a manic frenzy, we ran from the gates, down Mt Geron's ancient slopes. We didn't stop until the sun stood high in the sky again. We paused for 2 hours and then run again. The entire day and the entire night. Only now do we dare make camp again.
There is something wrong with that city. Over 50,000 people disappeared, no sign of battle or struggle. Just empty streets. No animals, bugs or vermin. There hadn't been since we entered this land I realized. I hadn't paid it any real attention before but now...
There is something wrong with that city... With this entire land. Empty houses, cottages and cities. This endless, windswept plain. No humans, no animals, no life. Only silence...encroaching from every corner...absolute....suffocating...

---

20th Iunis 794, Last House and Meeting Point

Run. Pause. Run again. Day after day. Away our minds screamed. Away from that silent mountain. Away from the empty city and its thousand hollow eyes...
Even weeks away, Geron's massive shadow had sunken beyond the horizon again, the fear lingered. Its claws deep in our minds. We visited no other village or town. Made long ways around every house or farm we came across. I cannot spend another hour in one of those silent halls.
On the shores of what we knew as Lake Meris, we made camp...
A few days passed as to our great surprise the other group arrived...
They had come upon a mining town...
Their story was frighteningly similar to ours. Utterly consumed by fear they had run screaming into the night...
As I look around me I can see only haunted eyes, faces as pale as ash. They must mirror my own. We will start home tomorrow. March through uneven terrain. Through the eastern hills and woods, away from any civilization.
Secretly I am glad. It will take far longer. But there are no houses there, no farms or villages. No silent city...

Close

Type

Journal, Personal

Medium

Paper

Myth

The Desolation of the North

Location

Northern Vardania

Authors

• Varis Ederon

by Darkseid

On Sikirians
The last of the great tribes to form what became later known as one of the Northern Hegemonies. Experts in cavalry combat they ruled vast swaths of the north from the 740s on. The event known as the Desolation changed that. In late 793 DA, the entire population of northern Vardania disappeared seemingly overnight. Some claim that over a million people vanished leaving only empty houses and fields.

by Darkseid

Purging the Silence
Repeated attempts to recolonize the empty north ended in disaster. Colonists would move into the abandoned towns only to leave them in a manic frenzy a few days later. Madness and terror were common sights among those unfortunate enough to try. The silence never left...
Finally, the Vardanians had enough. Beginning in 810 DA the city-state of Chaironea and Rhovarin Kingdom sent military expeditions north. Torching every building they could find, they left the north a wilderness. Humans did not return until the early 11th century.

The land is cursed! Cursed I tell you. It took the Sikirians. It poisons the mind, drains the life from the body. Leaves hollow and soulless men. The north has to be cleansed! Burn it until nothing is left!

— Varis Ederon