The Scar
The Scar is a cursed desert of black sand that sits along the western coast of Southern Amaron. The Scar was named after how the land appears and feels dead everywhere within the desert, like a wound upon the ground itself. The event that created the Scar is ancient and known by few, but is feared, for the power to create such a large desert, devoid of life and inhibiting all magic, must have been powerful indeed.
Geography
The Scar is a large stretch of dead land consisting of dark, black sand. Nothing grows in this land and the only creatures found here are twisted and malformed from the lands influence. Rolling hills and vast canyons, all covered in this thick, dead sand make up all of The Scar. The landscape is plain and unchanging, giving the relatively small desert a much larger feel, especially when trapped inside. The Scar also borders the Western Sea.
Localized Phenomena
The most well-known phenomena of the Scar is the supernatural effect on magic that this dead land has. As soon as a traveller begins their journey across the Scar, they find any magical items sapped of their magic and rendered useless. Any spellcaster within the desert also finds their magic sapped and pulled down into the ground to fuel a seemingly endless void of magic that is believed to be the Scar trying to heal itself.
Fauna & Flora
There are only two known creatures that survive within the Scar, adapted to the strange land. The Skel'Ouk are a primitive people, only wearing leathery skins made of the native Sand Sharks to cover up genitalia.
The Sand Sharks or Ponookkil are the only other creature that lives within the Scar, causing a strange harmony between the two races where they rely on each other to survive.
Natural Resources
The only natural resource of any use that can be found in the Scar is the black sand that makes up this dead desert. When stored in preservative vials and transported from the desert, the black sand can be used to nullify magic. For example, a pocketful thrown at a mage who is casting a spell will cancel out and absorb all of their magic, stopping them from completing the spell.
History
A great war was waged on the land that became the Scar. The war came to a climactic end at the location that has become the Scar, during 6602BU. It was during the time of the Illithid rule, when the landscape was dominated by twisted buildings and chained Gith slaves. The war was between the Illithids and their Gith slaves, led by the Archlich Pentergost, and a people that have since been lost to history. The Sorok. The Lizardfolk Sorok are just as ancient as the Illithids but were almost entirely wiped out in the event that caused the Scar. Before that, they were very powerful and controlled great pyramids and temples throughout the land that becomes Vastrya. However, both of these civilizations wanted to expand and take over the land for their Gods and other more personal reasons, which made them bitter enemies. The only other civilization capable of competing with the Illithids and Sorok at this time were the Dragons from Kurvald Dehlaine, who were content isolating themselves within the Holy Desert. The final clash between the massive armies of Psionic Illithids controlling thousands of Gith slaves, against the enraged and barbaric hordes of Lizard-like Sorok took place in the plains which would become the Scar. The Sorok knew that they were outmatched, so they created the most destructive weapon in the history of @vel, the Xiloxoch . A device that consumed souls, fashioned from stolen experimental Illithid technology that Pentergost recently invented when creating phylacteries for himself, and used them to power the Xiloxoch. The Xiloxoch was a massive diamond-shaped object that floated above the ground and contained multifluorescent lights surrounding it in pulses of magic. To be near the artifact was to feel the blistering heat of the sun, the cold of the deepest oceans, the richness of life and magic, and the emptiness of space. Etched across the diamond-shaped device were intricate patterns and shapes that substituted for the Sorok techniques of accessing the magic of Velaria. The Xiloxoch was designed to drain the life from the Sorok's enemies in stunning numbbers, bolster the Sorok ranks, be used as a channelling focus for Sorok shamans, and absorb enemy magics. However, the weapon went awry upon activation and the Sorok shamans immediately lost control of it. The Xiloxoch overloaded with raw, primordial magics that the Sorok were too inexperienced to try and control, causing a colossal whirlwind of corrupted energy that enveloped all of the Sorok army and most of the Illithid's. This catostrophic hurricane sucked the life out of everything in it, completely draining the life essence and killing any creature inside it, as well as the ground itself. Then, when the artifact could no longer contain that much power, it erupted in a planetary explosion that was felt throughout Velaria. The combination of all the different magic types and souls that were powering the Xiloxoch created a devastating blast of multicoloured energy that rose high into the sky and caused earthquakes across the realm. This left the land forever black, dead and cursed. A constant reminder of how dangerous magic can be, especially when used by foolish mortals.
History is the study of all the world's crimes, and there was no greater crime to the land itself than the creation of the Scar. A prime example of our utter bovine view of what magic really is and what we should be doing with it. One thinking about pushing the limits and trying to take control of Nyx's lifeblood for their own personal gain should just spare one glance to the stretch of death called the Scar. That, is what happens when we mortals meddle with powers above us.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments