The Eldritch Scar

The Eldritch Scar is a testament to the mistakes of mankind and a reminder that decisions in the far past may have dire consequences in the present day. The battleground of the Fifth Apocalypse is a large and broken wasteland residing in the southwest corner of Mana Jalqabaa between a number of civilized kingdoms, yet the unstable nature of the area makes overland travel nearly impossible. The remains of the Eldritch Scar are an unstable collection of leylines, broken kingdoms and eldritch abominations from outside of Celasper's cosmology. Few of the inhabitants of the Scar are friendly, and fewer still are sane, their minds broken from the colossal horrors that slowly tread around the broken land. These colossi are the avatars of outer beings from beyond the stars, creatures that have existed since likely before the current incarnation of reality. Slowed through desperate magic by the Sihir Magocracy, these dread behemoths now move only a few feet every year, but they are visible from miles around to any foolish enough to traverse the badlands. Summoned at the end of a great and terrible war between mages, the wizards who originally attempted to bind these eldritch nightmares are long since dead, and yet their works remain. Some speculate that if the great Temporal Binding should ever falter, these beings will break free and destroy the world of men. Others speculate that they may simply return to their home dimensions, tearing holes in our reality in the process.
The nature of the Scar attracts a number of different individuals brave or stupid enough to explore the wasteland. Cultists are the first among them, come to worship specific Outer Gods, or attempt to wrest them from their temporal prison. Treasure hunters from Bartsama, Susa, Shujaa or Voel are common enough, though the warriors of Nova Brigodia do their best to turn such glory seekers away. Only the Dust Goblins could be considered natives to the Eldritch Scar. Originally slaves during the Fifth Apocalypse, with the deaths of their masters and countless thousands in the final days of the war, these creatures were left on their own without food, shelter, or culture. While all of these have since been obtained, the Dust Goblins remain hostile to outsiders. Many attempts to unify the goblins have been made by various tribes, but so far without success.
The terrain of the Eldritch Scar is defined by the titular scar itself. Created when the city of Tambraha summoned forth an Eldritch Abomination into the world of Celasper, it was swiftly expanded when the city of Goya attempted to eradicate its opposition by channeling the might of a planet into the Drow capital of Youtao. The blast succeeded in shooting through Celasper, and destroying many tectonic plates in the process, creating the broken cliffs seen today.
While all manner of alien creatures roam the Scar, including an alarming number of Aberrations, that has not stopped explorers from attempting to plunder the abandoned halls of the old world. Bartsama has indeed made a name for itself from the plundering and sale of old relics. So far, no greater calamities have come from this wanton looting, but who knows how long this may continue to last. After all, the colossi take a few steps each year. The end is certain, even if it will come slowly.

Geography

The Geography of Eldritch Scar can be divided into seven regions, each dominated by a specific Eldritch Horror. The terrain within the Scar does not match the natural textures of Celasper, the ground, air, and life itself being inexorably warped by the colossi from beyond the stars. Complicating matters, maps of the Eldritch Scar are difficult to come by and often radically inaccurate. The terrain itself changes from time to time through the broken magics of the Leylines. The different Realms are divided below, by each of the Eldritch Terrors who rule their regions.
The Black Goat of the Woods: Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young is not directly incarnated in Celapser, but their avatar is enough. She sometimes appears as a Goat to her followers, to others a blob of unknowable size. Hers is an active cult, with mad worshippers remaining near her fane within the Tambrahan Woods. Dust Goblins call this region home, finding in the Black Goat a mother they have not known since Lamshtu. Tambraha is still strangely populated by celestials and their followers, though attempts to communicate with them have been unsuccessful. Occasionally boats are sent out into the nearby Gulf of Minara towards Susa, but these vessels are unoccupied, and their purpose is unknown. Crystals of pure arcane magic have punctured the grounds in multiple places, and it is believed that the magics within this region are more broken than anywhere else in the Scar. Of note are the Fathomless Depths. The original name of this lake is unknown, and it now runs far deeper than it once did, all the way into the underdark, and perhaps beyond into the sunless sea. This has created complications as underdark creatures corrupted by arcane and divine magic now roam the territory, searching for an epiphany only the Outer Gods can grant.
The Brigodian Deadlands: This realm is the only one not overwhelmingly populated by eldritch abominations, due in large part to the Order of the Eastern Star from Nova Brigodia. The knightly order maintains a regular patrol around this buffer zone to protect incursions over the Great Brigodian Wall. This does not mean that the territory is without danger, as the knights have decreased their patrols since the civil war in Nova Brigodia began. The territory is dominated by the Black Spire, a great mountain that supposedly served as a refuge for Ibex during the final days of the war. The area is largely a desolate wasteland devoid of life, and a series of strange black hills created from the taint of wild magic and the remains of smoldering ashes from the north.
The Charnel One: Mordiggian, The Charnel One exists in burning agony, and his ashes set the region alight. He is the swiftest of the the summoned, taking a dozen steps for each of his siblings. He is the darkness, the voice of the dead, summoned by a mad Pharoah to punish Sosso and Sihir. Those who die within the region are inevitably raised as blazing ghouls, slaves to hunger and voices for the dead. Those who died in Sosso or Eketo can be heard in the mouths of these ravening monsters who roam the fiery hellscape. Eketo and its great pyramid remain unexplored. Sosso on the other hand is a smoldering ruin. What the goblins of Sihir did not raise to the ground in the Blackfire Rebellion, the passage of the Great Old Ones did. Knights of the Eastern Star report that Sosso's ruins contain one of the few reliable routes into the depths of the Scar itself however. An outpost was once stationed here, but has long since been overtaken by the ashen dead.
The Star Seed: Little is known about Xhamen-Dor, the Star Seed, sometimes referred to as the Inmost Blot. To some they appear as a toad, to others, a great fungus, to others still a terrible serpent. Theirs is a corruption that taints the living not just in body but in mind, and they are believed to be an acolyte of The Yellow King. The capital of Aouzine lays silent at the center of a great forest infected with the Star seed's dark wisdom. Myconids corrupted by exposure to dark magics haunt the forest, along with the remains of Ibex' dark experiments to create the perfect biological lifeforms. Knights of the Eastern Star have been lost within the woods, sinking slowly into the ground as the nightmarish spores that dot the landscape consume them, only to bloom again into something new.
The Stranger: Aucturn, The Stranger was the final eldritch horror to be summoned, and some speculate that the Scar itself heralded its arrival. The poison exuded by the Stranger has turned much of the atmosphere of its region a tint of yellow, killing all things that breathe, but not affecting the numerous uncontrolled automata that roam the landscape around Goya. Warforged and the ensouled metallic remains of the city's inhabitants remain within Goya still, attempting to find an answer to an unanswerable question. Life springs from the ground throughout the region, and if it were not for the deadly poison it would look beautiful to the naked eye. Magics similarly flow freely here, noticeable when the colors of the region change from yellow to other pigmentations. Prolonged exposure affects the people as well, draining their colors and replacing them with new ones. Knights of Nova Brigodia affected by this change have been unable to leave, and their last known expedition ended in disaster when the Knights turned upon each other in the service of the eleventh planet.
The Voidweaver: Atlach-Nacha, The Void Weaver is sometimes mistaken for Lolth, the mother of spiders. Indeed the citizens of Youtao for a brief moment believed they had summoned their goddess when Atlach-Nacha first stepped onto Celapser. Their joy was short lived, as the Void Weaver quickly plunged their realm into a dark night that even the Drow could not perceive. Within the remains of the Scar Atlach-Nacha now resides, though her exact location is unknown. She is described as a black and red spider of elephantine size, or in some stories as a great drider with a hundred arms. Driders, spiders, and things with many limbs hunt through the underdark within the Scar jagged depths. The remains of Youtao lie and the center of the Scar, though none have ever returned from delving into its depths. Magic fluctuates wildly in the depths, and it is believed that there may be extraplanar portals present throughout the caverns of the Scar, created when Aucturn impacted the ground. Some of these portals lead to the Fey Wilde, where Unseelie affected by the Voidweaver's sirin call hunt at will. 
The Wind Walker: Ithaqua, The Wind Walker exists not upon the ground we tread but within the air we breath. Its madness is in cannibalistic urges, and in the intense cold that exudes from its body. Wendigos are more common in this region as a result than perhaps anywhere south of the World's Crown. Color has drained from this realm, taken southward towards the Stranger's fane. This suits the Wind Walker fine, as it prefers the white purity an absence of pigment brings. Nioma, the first city and the great capital of the old empire resides here, both upon the ground and in the air. Indeed, great monuments have been risen from the ground to the heavens by the power of the Great Old One, traversable by funnels of wind between the plateaus. The remains of divine ascension can be seen here, and divine magics function strangely within the area. Homunculi of the Black Heron also remain within the great city, seemingly unaffected by the Wind Walker's madness, but nonetheless loyal to their long dead emperor. Birds upon the wing avoid this region at all costs, as the Wind Walker has its own avians to patrol the skies.

Localized Phenomena

Wild magic runs rampant throughout the Eldritch Scar. Each region possesses different obstacles and challenges that shift depending on which Eldritch Horror exudes its influence. All living things, and many things that do not live feel the touch of the Outer Beings, and their corruption is not a question of if, but when.

History

The Origins of Matanga and Old Mage Jatembe
Before the great wars between magisters, the Eldritch Scar was known as Matanga by the local tribes, roving and nomadic groups who lived upon the land for sustenance. While different forces raged across the surface during the Age of Night, Drow and Goblinkind were by far the most prominent, and many of the original tribes that existed in Matanga were slain. Following the re-emergence of the sun, Drow founded the city of Youtao in the heart of Matanga, retreating back into the underdark and leaving the surface to other settlers. Among those settlers were Firbolg from the south in the land now called Maot, migrating north over many centuries after being abandoned by the Ordning. Eventually the area had been settled by a number of different human, orc, and elven groups originally from the Great River Runway, paving the way for the Ten Magical Warriors arrival.
It is said that the Old Mage Jatembe originally discovered the magical leylines racing across Matanga, and along with his ten warriors, concocted a ritual to form the Ring of Nine Facets, his greatest artifact. His work completed, he and his magical warriors departed back for the infinite green. Two warriors however took note of the area, Black Heron, and Ibex. After the founding of Magaambya and the departure of Jatembe from Celasper, Black Heron and Ibex returned to the area, and founded cities with which to focus their magecraft.
The Nioman Empire
Black Heron founded the city Nioma, using their magical prowess to expand the city's power and influence to unknown heights. This proved to be quite literal, as the master of Aeromancy literally raised his city into the clouds themselves, a feat not seen since the Age of Wonder. Elsewhere, Ibex founded the city of Aouzine, focusing on alchemical creations and the building of new plants, mushrooms and other flora to allow for new and exciting medicines. Conflict between the two cities came within a few centuries. As both groups expanded their arcane influence, the need for more and more power from the arcane leylines grew. Eventually, despite intervention from the remaining Magical Warriors still alive, war erupted.
The first great magister war proved decisive and short. Nioma, and its armies of enslaved goblins and air elementals obliterated Aouzine's defenses, focused as they were on alchemy over sorcery. Nioma emerged as the dominant power in the region, though notably Ibex escaped capture. The Magical Warrior is said to have fled into the Tabim Hills to continue their research. It was here they first encountered the Myconid. Their alliance proved a natural one, and it is from the mushroom people that Ibex learned of Drow within the underdark, and proposed an alliance to undercut Black Heron's dominion.
Black Heron and the Empire of Nioma reigned well into the Age of Heroes. However the reign of Black Heron was troubled. Despite long ago having defeated mortality, the immortal emperor desired more from this world, and the heavens above The Black Heron warped the very foundations of the landscape to their liking, using powerful winds and storms to flatten new areas for farmland or to warp the clouds themselves to dictate which loyal vassals received rain, and which did not. They built monuments to their rule, and elevated magisters above the common folk, enslaving numerous goblins, and elves of the Emujae and Kallijae tribes without discrimination, Within this time the Black Heron founded their own magical tradition, complete with masked apostles. Two of these sorcerers Plumed Falcon, and Dove-Tailed Hornbill eventually rebelled against their master, taking control of the Nioman cities of Tambraha and Goya and declaring themselves independent of Nioman rule.
Rather than put down these rebellions, the Black Heron decided that the time had come for them to abandon this world. Using fell rituals uncovered in Magaambya, the secret teachings of Jatembe, and utilizing the full power of the leylines, Black Heron attempted a ritual of ascension. Had they succeeded, they would have claimed the mantle of God of Tornados. However, the divine gods interfered, sending forth a heavenly legion to slay Black Heron before they could complete their ritual. Believing a catastrophe was imminent, the Firbolg shaman Omen of Eketo led a large group of his kin from the city of Eketo south towards the unsettled and wild lands of Voel. His decision to escape this calamity before it began would lead to his crowning as King Omen I, and the founding of the Kingdom of Voel.
The Second Great Magister War
The second great magister war saw the return of Ibex from hiding to Aouzine, the revelation of Youtao's existence, and the revolts of Goya and Tambraha against Nioman rule, along with numerous other uprisings. In the end, Black Heron was unable or perhaps unwilling to fight any further, and was beheaded by the celestial Keita, Bringer-of-Plenty and a host of Agathions and Azata. The death of the Black Heron brought the bulk of the capital of Nioma cratering into the ground. Only the Black Heron's Palace remains afloat, where it hovers over the Eldritch Scar to this day as a looming reminder of what once was. The plumes of dust that resulted from this killed thousands, and brought about an era of chaos between the city states. Believing their job over, the heavenly host attempted to return to Nirvana, and found their path blocked. Either through a divine rebuking, or as the Black Heron's final act, hundreds of Azata and Agathions were trapped on the material plane of Celasper. Keita, Bringer-of-Plenty, believing their job must not yet be over, seized the "godless" city of Tambraha for themselves and killed Plumed Falcon, intending to begin a society of prosperity and plenty for all of Matanga.
The scramble for power after the fall of the empire proved disastrous for the region. The Drow of Youtao quickly turned upon Ibex and the Myconids, declaring an intention to reclaim the surface as they once had during the Age of Night. House Takedda, the ruling faction of Youtao made alliances with Fey of the Winter Court to supplant their armies, claiming a desire to liberate their siblings from the Emujae and Kallijae tribes. They seized key leylines in the center of the Matanga with which to power fey portals to tear the other cities apart.
The people of Aouzine were swift to counter, although first Ibex concluded that the "people" of Aouzine had to be perfected. As individuals, they were vulnerable to the charms of the fey, to spider venom, to demonic corruption. But as plants, as fungi, what chance would mind affecting magics have? Celebration at Ibex' return to lead their people soon turned to horror, as the mad archmagister began the forceful conversion of their own people into Myconid and sentient plant creatures known as the Vines of Ibex. Seizing territory northwest of Voel they prepared to dive into the Drows tunnels to add them to the collective.
Within the city of Goya, Dove-Tailed Hornbill saw the coming war approaching, and saw they were outmatched. Harnessing the ancient magics of Mount Kavorou, Dove-Tailed Hornbill began the production of a force he hoped could stand against fey or fungi, automatons. The constructs proved slow to produce, and small in number, but extremely effective at destroying the enemies of their city. Still, at the heart of each of these warforged was a soul, and as the war pressed on, more souls were needed. Eventually, after running out of volunteers, and running out of goblin slaves, Goya turned on its own population to maintain the march of metal, and eventually Dove-Tailed Hornbill themselves became the Annihilator.
In the nearby city of Eketo, the defenseless citizens looked out in terror as war began to engulf the region. Knowing they would be swiftly swallowed by the warring mages, they took the only action they could, petitioning the Pharaoh of Osirion to absorb them as a vassal in exchange for their protection. Pharoah Ptask IV, known as the father of modern Necromancy obliged, taking the city of Eketo for his own and deploying legions of the dead to claim the entire region for his own, quickly becoming drunk on the leylines power. The madness of Pharaoh Ptask IV became so deranged that his daughter Hornbeb led a coup against him, becoming Pharaoh of Osirion and exiling the mad king in the city he had conquered.
The divine legions of Tambraha looked out upon the world in disgust at the children of the gods. In the eyes of the celestials these children had denied the gifts of the gods and turned instead towards depravity. A decision was made by many of the celestials that their work was not yet completed. They would not be welcomed home until all of the magi in Matanga were slain. A number of Agathion disagreed with this decision, and fled the city across the Gulf of Minara towards Voel, where they integrated with the local Firbolg over the next few centuries.
Last to join the conflict was the city of Sosso to the far northwest. Lacking magical means to fight the magi of the region, they turned to the only force at their disposal, Goblins. The Sorcerer Council of Sosso began the mass training and arming of the native goblinoids, only recently freed from Nioma's tyranny, and sent them off in countless numbers to defend Sosso's territory.
The conflict lasted for centuries, and engulfed every city and society involved within the region. WIth the exception of Ibex, every society's leader was replaced, overthrown, killed, petrified, transformed, or erased, as were their successors. Apprentice mages began experimenting with more and more dangerous magics in an attempt to outdo and overthrow their masters. Cities created alliances, and double-crossed their allies with alarming frequency until all nations were at war with one another at all times. However, the rate of magical acceleration could not last. As war dragged on, the ground itself began to reject the magical manipulation being cast upon it. Surges in wild-magic began long before the final doom, and this too led to conflicts over who could control the untamed fields of magical energy.
The Blackfire Rebellion
The final era of Matanga began with the Blackfire Rebellion, occurring just a century into the Age of Whispers. Named for the Blackfire Alchemist's guild in Sosso, the goblinoids being used as test experiments rose up in rebellion against the leaders of the guild, destroying their oppressors and removing their chains. Goblinoids and Hobgoblins especially had been gaining sorcerous powers from their constant magical warfare for generations, and as such the number of sorcerers within the rebellion matched the number of loyal Sosson mages. The results were swift, with the Sosson council being eliminated, and the free peoples of Sihir proclaimed. Goblins from across the wartorn expanse began an exodus towards the coastline, abandoning Sosso and establishing their own city free from past evils. Rather than using their newfound manpower to attack their rivals, Sihir declared a desire to end the conflict, and closed their borders, creating magical wards against the outside world.
The Star-Sundering
With the removal of Sosso from the balance of power, several other city states attempted to fill the power vacuum left behind, attacking cities weakened due to slave rebellions. However, Tambraha moved fastest to fill the void, initiating their final endgame. Keita, Bringer-of-Plenty, perhaps mad or simply corrupted by the evils of the world called out to forces beyond the celestials or fiends of Celasper to the world beyond. The realms between the stars and planets, barely explored; the world that existed before the first ideals to the crawling chaos from where Rovagug once emerged. Calling out, the being once known as Keita summoned in a horrid ritual the avatar of the "Black Goat of the Woods". Ordering it to destroy the enemies of the holy, the Black Goat marched upon Aouzine. The horror brought blight to the fields and death to the countryside. Not knowing how to dispel the horrid summoning, Ibex did the next best thing, replicated it. Using Mi-Go servants, they acquired the knowledge from Keita, Bringer-of-Plenty's ritual and undid their magic to summon a beast to counteract the Black Goat. Xhamen-Dor "The Star Seed" was conjured in the form of an Avatar to counteract the Black Goat, but instead it began consuming the fungal remains of Aouzine and bringing the Mi-Go servants under its control.
From here a race began to enact defenses against the star-spawned horrors, often by creating more horrors to counteract them. In Youtao, drow apprentices of house Takedda assassinated their matriarch and summoned forth Atlach-Nacha "The Void Weaver" to take back what was theirs. From the broken city of Nioma Ithaqua's avatar "The Wind Walker" emerged, though no mage took credit for the deed. From Goya emerged no titan, instead the Annihilator sent forth a beam of destruction on the city of Youtao, channeling the power of the planet Aucturn "The Stranger" to destroy their enemy. The effect was twofold: Youtao was largely obliterated, and the Eldritch Scar was expanded. In Eketo, the living phylacteries of the Black Pharaoh attempted to summon the source of their mad faith from beyond the stars to lead them in one final stand, but an error was made within the summoning. Instead, Mordiggian "The Charnel One" emerged, its consciousness split between the living phylacteries and their Lich Pharoah. Each body rotted, expanding to massive size, the flesh being unable to contain the unholy embodiment of hunger.
Questions remain to this day how the true names of the dark-tapestry became known to begin with. The fact that so many different mages began summoning the creatures within days or weeks indicates that somehow the names were distributed, but why anyone would be mad enough to do so is uncertain. Lesser starspawn were summoned by lesser mages. Most of these horrors killed their masters upon their summoning and began to roam the earth to pursue an unknowable purpose. Last to grace the face of Celasper was "The Stranger," emerging from the inter-planetary rift in the ruins of Youtao and travelling eastward. The cities of the Eldritch Scar were destroyed by the monsters they had summoned. Yet even with their original summoners dead, the rampage did not end.
The Temporal Binding
Whatever the original purpose of the great magister war had been, the conflict had now ended with no victor. Only Sihir remained, goblins fleeing towards the city by the thousand daily. Yet the inexperienced mages of Sihir had no actual way to banish the Eldritch Horrors. Aligning with knights of Bengion in Nova Brigodia, the Sihirian Sorcerers concocted a plan to slow the assault. Fighting their way towards an ancient leyline convergence, the mages of Sihir and their allied knights began a terrible ritual. The ritual performed, the sorcerers who participated, and even its location are a closely guarded state secret within Sihir. The effects of their ritual froze time within the Eldritch Scar. Knowing they could not possibly harm the Star-Spawn, they instead tied them to the land they stood upon, entwining their fates. However the spell is imperfect, a few minutes still pass each year. The spell has held for over a thousand years, by virtue of the Scar's leylines. The nation of Sihir, and the Elves of the Joto Rainforest have monitored the Scar since then, but no permanent solution has been determined.
The Eldritch Scar Today
There has been some evidence that the temporal bonds around the Eldritch Scar are weakening for some of the lesser abominations. While the weaker legions have never been truly affected, some of the unheralded star-spawn have shown signs of temporal awareness. Whether this is the work of the Cult of the Black Goat or the Dominion of the Black is unknown. Few of the cities have been plundered successfully, due to the presence of monstrosities still fighting a thousand years after the last mage died.
Within the Scar, a few of the Dust Goblin tribes, the only group of people to call the land home, are attempting once again to unify under the banner of "The Beautiful One". Rumors also persist that a Prophet of the Wastes is preaching about a promised end within the Scar and aiding those they come across. Susan mercenaries are preparing for a massive expedition into Tambraha, backed by Giff firearms and extraplanetary knowledge.
Only Ibex, or at least their creations, managed to escape the temporal binding, travelling south through the roots and vines that pass beneath the surface. The alien intelligence now lies beyond the Wall of Blossoms, where it remains to this day.

Included Organizations

• Bartsama
• Nova Brigodia
• Sihir
• Voel