The Unmaker's Hollow
The Unmaker’s Hollow is a blighted scar upon the land, nestled in the heart of the Thornveil Dominion like a wound that refuses to close. Shrouded in a perpetual gloom where sunlight seems to falter, it is the sacred desecration site where King Daerion Blackthorn performed the first great ritual—ripping the essence from a dying godling and binding its soul to the land, transforming the wild forest into the cursed expanse now known as the Withered Wilds.
Spiritual and Magical Significance
- Locus of Rot: The Hollow is a leyline fracture, a place where natural energy was poisoned and inverted. It now exudes necromantic resonance, fueling nearby rituals and corrupting all life within miles.
- Bound Divinity: The godling’s spirit, torn from its flesh, was not destroyed—but shackled. It whispers from the roots, its voice audible only during deep rituals or moments of extreme spiritual vulnerability.
- Pilgrimage of Thorns: Followers of Blackthorn, especially necrotic druids and Thornshroud seers, make grim pilgrimages here to commune with the land-bound spirit or draw power from its tortured essence.
The Unmaker’s Hollow is not merely a place—it is a memory burned into the land, a festering altar of power and pain. To the Thornshroud Dominion, it is the first proof of their king’s sovereignty. To the rest of the world, it is a terrifying omen of what happens when a forest is crowned in death.
Geography
- Crater of Roots: The Hollow itself is a massive sunken basin, hundreds of feet across, encircled by dead trees frozen in twisted agony—their trunks hollowed, their branches reaching inward like claws. Their roots descend into the center, as if still feeding on the bound divinity below.
- The Bleeding Stone: At the heart of the Hollow is a jagged monolith of godbone, half-buried in the earth. Black ichor seeps eternally from its base, pooling in cracked basins—this is believed to be the last physical remnant of the slain godling’s form.
- Ashen Canopy: Above the Hollow, the trees form a dense, fungus-draped canopy that blocks the sky entirely. The air here is heavy with spores, ash, and sorrow; birds do not sing, and no insects stir.
History
- The Godling’s Name: Forgotten to all but Daerion himself, the slain entity’s name is said to hold the key to either cleansing or amplifying the Hollow’s power.
- The Echo Tree: One tree within the Hollow, entirely fossilized and humming with low moans, is believed to house the last heartbeat of the godling. Touching it can drive mortals mad or grant disturbing visions of the world before Thornveil.
- The Unmaker’s Shadow: On certain nights, Blackthorn’s own shadow appears to walk alone in the Hollow, whispering with the imprisoned god—a remnant of his first act of ascension.
Tourism
- The Hollow Rite: Performed only during eclipses or blood moons, this ritual allows cultists to draw directly from the godling’s sorrow, enabling mass resurrection, landscape corruption, or soul-binding on an immense scale.
- Rootbound Wardens: Massive fungal constructs and undead treants, once druids themselves, guard the Hollow, ensuring no one disturbs the site without permission from Blackthorn or his Rotborn clergy.
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