The Strifescar
Tis a land without reason. A Jebbing Strait, a Los Notal, a Bahra Isola; all of these combined and more. It is what it wants to be, and rarely have we asked the earth what dreams plague it at night.
Geography
The Strifescar is a vast ravine, a rift within the very Clock that stretches across the land of Amilyn. Having sundered the Mountains Glym, much of the terrain is hard rock and granite; hostile and difficult to traverse for all but the most determined of travellers.
In many areas, the Scar dips deep into the earth, cracking the foundations of The Clock. Here, the great gears of The World-Engine can be found in various states of damage and disrepair, spreading their sickness and malaise to all those who come near them. In these parts can the caverns of the dwarven realms be found; their strange ecosytem warped further by the madness of the Harlequin.
Ecosystem
While there is an ecosystem, it is relatively ill-understood. There have been virtually no reports on the workings of the Strifescar, for few are foolish to descend into its depths, and fewer still return. That said, it appears that flux and change rule dominant over the region.
Little stays permenant in the Strifescar, whether it be the laws that define it or the corridors and grave canyons that comprise it. Evidence of hunting patterns and nests can be found in the ruin and rubble littered within the region, and they appear to reflect a chaos in the environment that matches the madness of the area. Nature, ever wily, appears to move with the tides and eddies of the land, and those that could not keep pace did not survive to follow.
Ecosystem Cycles
Less cycles and more events, the life of the Strifescar merely changes as it does, and the habits and patterns of those within it follow suit. Repetition appears to be rare, from what little can be discerned, and the only reliable rule is that nothing here is.
Some have theorised that the Witching Hour plays a part in the near-constant flux; the shadow of midnight preparing in some way for the advent of the new. Certainly, there appears some evidence for this but as ever is the case with the Harlequin, what once will happen will rarely happen again.
Localized Phenomena
To say that the Strifescar is a unique phenomena in of itself is an understatement. A rift into madness, a vent into the Jester's riotous mind, it is filled with all manner of engimas and oddities.
- Solomon's Labyrinth: Without rhyme or reason, the Strifescar will change. Paths once followed will lead elsewhere or vanish in their entirety, while caverns filled with ancient ruins will suddenly repair themselves or fall further into Entropy. This has made mapping the region nearly impossible, and yet a way was discovered. The Chronicle, Solomon, discovered that each path and place and even 'time' possessed of it a certain narrative element. Whether it be of grave danger or perilous tension, whether it be of music or purest silence. Whether it be adventure and heroism, or bleakest tragedy, one could map their route through the cavern by searching for a story told. How this phenomena occurs, or why, not even Solomon could say, for he vanished soon after into the Strifescar, eager to prove their theory.
- Gyr-Rot: So deep does this wound in the earth run, that the very gears of the Clock are exposed. Such carries with it the dangers of glym-steel, the deep sickness and malaise contact and exposure to the metal of the World-Engine brings. Though such can be navigated, some have found themselves trapped within the changing pathways, caught by the teeth and grinding gears, forced to suffer that most painful of deaths at the hands of an uncaring god.
- The Azure Sky: One of the first things a traveller of the Strifescar will notice is the sky, for it is no picture of the heavens they will have ever witnessed. A deep azure ocean filled with stars and mindless torrents of colour. Such is not the sky of Amilyn or anywhere on Erodas. Quite possibly, it is not the sky anywhere within the Clock outside of the strange and terrible realm known as the Great Veil. Madness lurks in its beauty, impossibility and strife, and brightest of all hangs a lightless sun that many have come to call the Tricksy Star.
- Horizon Edge: Perhaps one of the strangest occurrences within the Strifescar, it is indeed possible to travel from one end to the other. That does not mean one can leave, however. Rather, should one manage to traverse the entirety of this realm, you will find the passage leads you only to the very edge, where the sky meets the rock in some strange fusion. Known as the Horizon Edge, it has led some to believe that it is only possible to depart by the means of which you entered
Climate
Like much within the Strifescar, the weather and temperature are subject to the mercurial whims of the land itself. Frequently temperate, it has been known to plunge into a deep artic frost that turns the blood to ice, or roar into a furnace that shames even the vast deserts of distant Jainir. Fortunately, such changes appear to be tied to the locale; a route once pleasant will always be such even as its location changes.
Of note however, are the winds that travel down the passages and caverns. Sometimes tempest and sometimes but the lightest breeze, they carry upon them quiet whispers and lunatic mutterings. Some think these are the words of the Harlequin as they weep to themselves in madness, while others claim them to be lost souls trapped within the rift. A rare few even claim they are the work of something older and more dangerous than the Jester's Prince, some remnant dream of an ancient entity that slumbers still to this day.
Fauna & Flora
The creatures of the Strifescar are relatively unknown. Those few who have dared traverse the depths report either nothing in endless about, or do not return at all. It is expected that some of the native fauna of the Makaran Empire may be found down in the depths, but whether they have been changed by their exposure to the Jester's Prince is unknown.
Plant life, however, thrives. From mushrooms emerging from the deep cracks beneath the earth to strange flowers that once perhaps dwelt in sunlight and fresh air, the Strifescar is littered with colours fluorescent and vibrant. It would not be foolish to describe this realm and beautiful as a result, were it not for the dangers hidden within every scent and pleasing sight.
- Ophelian Rose: A rare budding plant found within the depths, it appears totally unique to the region, having no equivalent in the caverns of Makar or the surface realms. Said to have sprouted when the Knight Ophelia charged into the Strifescar in madness, its scent is both potent and alluring. The few recovered have proven to possess an unusual ability to numb those in their presence when gathered in large enough quantities, and the leaves induce a state of deep sleep, though often tormented by nightmares.
Natural Resources
Being as it splits the very earth from Naggaryn to the Brazen Empire, it is of no surprise that the depths of the Strifescar possess and vast variety of mineral wealth trapped within its walls. Much of it is hidden and out of reach, and some more of it is... different, wrong and altered, but there are a few unique oddities to the area that only the Harlequin could dream of.
- Dreamweave: Those who have reached the edge of the Strifescar, seen where the horizon meets the world, report that it is not some seamless transition, but rather like fabric sewn together. It is said that one can pick at the knots that keep it tethered, pull on the string that makes them both up, and use them as any other would. The benefits of this are unknown, as are the consequences that come with unravelling reality itself.
History
The history of the Strifescar is one of total mystery. In 52/47/04 it suddenly appeared, a vast earthquake that plunged the Mountains Glym into the depths, shattered the very earth and firmament, and left Amilyn split in twain. The cause of it will perhaps never be known, as from its depths poured the endless hordes of the Jester's Prince, and such questions were forgotten in the wake of a conflict unlike any other.
This Anarch War spread across the continent, the Strifescar the home from which these lunatics based their onslaught. The speed at which it arrived however, matched the speed at which it stopped. For reasons beyond the ken of those who fought, the armies vanished, leaving only the Strifescar silent and oppressive in its wake. The Brazen Empire would construct the bastion of Lastwall, the House of D'Modri marshall the living dead, and others would design their own answers to the insanity that had appeared and left their world upturned, but none could claim answer to the question of why it had appeared in the first place.
Or whether it would ever be gone.
Alternative Name(s)
Cyr'Erasma, The Edge, Rhun'Mawr
Type
Abyss
Location under
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