Gloomhavens
Gloomhavens are pockets where the Gloom thrives. These zones can be as big as a large city or as small as a single city block, but they all share a commonality - nothing, not even the burning of aratha, can dilute the gloom within.
The gloom can become so concentrated that it blots out all life in an area, regardless of whatever protective means were put in place to ward against it. These areas are shrouded in a thick, brackish purple and black fog that blocks out all light. In this way, gloomhavens may even be safer than the gloom itself - they can be seen, and thus they can be avoided. No one truly knows what causes gloomhavens to form, only that to enter one is an act of suicide. Plenty of people speculate their reason for existence though - the gods punish the hubris of a village by overwhelming them with the gloom, monsters gather in such high density and the gloom follows, and any other number of conjectures. Some have dedicated their life to studying the gloomhavens to little avail.
Most large gloomhavens are well known to the public. Smaller gloomhavens dot the landscape, some in undiscovered places that remain unknown. Many people remember the last time a gloomhaven formed near their city or village, or even within it. Such events are often a cause of panic amongst the people, and in the worst cases, a mass exodus and relocation of entire communities and villages. Everyone remembers the loss a community suffers when a gloomhaven forms nearby - what lies within, who must have been caught up in it, the ramifications for the rest of the community. The oldest gloomhavens, which in no way means the largest or most well known of them, may have no record of what once lay within their bounds. They are a mystery to all - unable to see or traverse inside, their contents remain locked away upon pain of death.
Gloomhavens may appear quickly and with little warning, grow gradually and steadily at a snails pace, or anywhere in between. When given enough warning, they are relatively harmless and cause little loss of life. They may force communities to relocate, but this is a small price to pay for survival. Some communities are not as lucky. The gloomhaven grows to swallow them overnight, leaving no chance for anyone to escape. In an instant, the entire community is wiped from the face of Etalyr, thrown away under the weight of the gloom. There are a few recorded cases of gloomhavens naturally dissipating over the course of many years (decades or even centuries), allowing researchers to understand better what goes on within these areas. After a gloomhaven dissipates, the area it once occupied is always rich with aratha deposits. Cities may keep a close eye on nearby gloomhavens to ensure they are the first to collect this aratha should one ever fade.
The gloom can become so concentrated that it blots out all life in an area, regardless of whatever protective means were put in place to ward against it. These areas are shrouded in a thick, brackish purple and black fog that blocks out all light. In this way, gloomhavens may even be safer than the gloom itself - they can be seen, and thus they can be avoided. No one truly knows what causes gloomhavens to form, only that to enter one is an act of suicide. Plenty of people speculate their reason for existence though - the gods punish the hubris of a village by overwhelming them with the gloom, monsters gather in such high density and the gloom follows, and any other number of conjectures. Some have dedicated their life to studying the gloomhavens to little avail.
Most large gloomhavens are well known to the public. Smaller gloomhavens dot the landscape, some in undiscovered places that remain unknown. Many people remember the last time a gloomhaven formed near their city or village, or even within it. Such events are often a cause of panic amongst the people, and in the worst cases, a mass exodus and relocation of entire communities and villages. Everyone remembers the loss a community suffers when a gloomhaven forms nearby - what lies within, who must have been caught up in it, the ramifications for the rest of the community. The oldest gloomhavens, which in no way means the largest or most well known of them, may have no record of what once lay within their bounds. They are a mystery to all - unable to see or traverse inside, their contents remain locked away upon pain of death.
Gloomhavens may appear quickly and with little warning, grow gradually and steadily at a snails pace, or anywhere in between. When given enough warning, they are relatively harmless and cause little loss of life. They may force communities to relocate, but this is a small price to pay for survival. Some communities are not as lucky. The gloomhaven grows to swallow them overnight, leaving no chance for anyone to escape. In an instant, the entire community is wiped from the face of Etalyr, thrown away under the weight of the gloom. There are a few recorded cases of gloomhavens naturally dissipating over the course of many years (decades or even centuries), allowing researchers to understand better what goes on within these areas. After a gloomhaven dissipates, the area it once occupied is always rich with aratha deposits. Cities may keep a close eye on nearby gloomhavens to ensure they are the first to collect this aratha should one ever fade.
Geography
A gloomhaven does not alter the landscape of what lay in place before it, outside of a few exceptions:
- Rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water dry up, as gloomhavens are so naturally warm that the water evaporates at an accelerated rate and is trapped in the atmosphere by the gloom. Rivers will not redirect to flow around the gloomhaven, so any places down-river will also dry up.
- Plant life slowly withers and dies due to lack of light and water.
- Naturally existing minerals in the earth slowly deteriorate until any soil is left barren and blighted.
- Aratha forms in high concentrations within the havens, and can be collected when, or if, they fade.
Fauna & Flora
The Gloom has never disrupted the natural plant life, so pre-existing flora and fauna remain intact within the gloom. Gloomhavens, however, have adverse effects on all life within them. Plants may begin to wither and die as sunlight is blocked out, soil blighted, and water made scarce. People and animals find these places even more inhospitable than the gloom normally is - not even holding your breath will keep the gloom from killing you inside a gloomhaven. Even monsters, which normally thrive within the gloom, cannot remain in a gloomhaven for long before they are driven entirely mad and subsequently suffocate to death. Gloomhavens truly are barren environments devoid of light and life.
Natural Resources
Gloomhavens, for reasons unknown to any who study them, produce high quantities of Anisaratha within their confines, which remains intact should the gloomhaven eventually fade. This facts means that even as a gloomhaven forms, nearby settlements begin to dispute who will take ownership of the aratha if the gloomhaven fades. Deals are brokered between cities even as those who may have lived within the still forming gloomhaven are choking on the vile gloom. A city may pay high prices in gold for the chance a nearby haven might fade in a century, securing themselves a potential long term benefit in exchange for some short term loss.
Alternative Name(s)
Gloomswallows, Gloomdens, Gloomhallows, Gloomvoids, Bleakbarrows, Duskdens
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