The Blackflame Gulch
On 24 Julell 231, during a warm summer night, a gargantuan fissure opened up in the western territory. Following the earthquakes that shook the continent, a wall of black flames shot up to the sky. It was hundreds of feet tall, visible across all of Concordia as a darker shade of night sky, blotting out the stars. The flames remained for about an hour, after which they faded to below the surface level. Miraculously or by design (this is still debated among scholars), no settlements were lost in its formation. Only a few dozen people died, mostly from building collapses and fires caused by the earthquakes.
The aptly named Blackflame Gulch is only 300 feet wide on average, but has registered depths of 15.000 feet. It opened up an expanse of caves and pockets of ostiumite crystals. During the War of Flames, these crystals were active and formed portals to the lower planes, allowing demons and devils to move into Concordia freely. It was the (accidental or intentional) result of an explosive magical chain reaction caused by Shadow Sector Black. This secretive organisation succeeded in the ascension of their mortal leader to become an archdevil, Auridithax the Ambitious.
The War of Flames lasted from 231 to 296. Concordians had to fight for their freedom and survival, aided by the devas that had arrived in the Honeycomb Hills just a couple decades earlier. Eventually it was through the efforts of the Paragons of Pariah that the fiends could be banished, finally allowing enough time for the destruction of the countless portals in the Blackflame Gulch.
Nowadays, there are still many dark creatures in its depths. The remaining gulch is still a 180 miles long scar on the earth, dotted with strongholds built for monitoring and protection. The tunnels pockmarking its walls still have to be fully mapped, allowing ample vertical grounds for exploration by Concordia's adventurers. Any remaining ostiumite portals are to be reported to the Crawlers, so they can safely destroy them and slowly make the Gulch safer every year.
The aptly named Blackflame Gulch is only 300 feet wide on average, but has registered depths of 15.000 feet. It opened up an expanse of caves and pockets of ostiumite crystals. During the War of Flames, these crystals were active and formed portals to the lower planes, allowing demons and devils to move into Concordia freely. It was the (accidental or intentional) result of an explosive magical chain reaction caused by Shadow Sector Black. This secretive organisation succeeded in the ascension of their mortal leader to become an archdevil, Auridithax the Ambitious.
The War of Flames lasted from 231 to 296. Concordians had to fight for their freedom and survival, aided by the devas that had arrived in the Honeycomb Hills just a couple decades earlier. Eventually it was through the efforts of the Paragons of Pariah that the fiends could be banished, finally allowing enough time for the destruction of the countless portals in the Blackflame Gulch.
Nowadays, there are still many dark creatures in its depths. The remaining gulch is still a 180 miles long scar on the earth, dotted with strongholds built for monitoring and protection. The tunnels pockmarking its walls still have to be fully mapped, allowing ample vertical grounds for exploration by Concordia's adventurers. Any remaining ostiumite portals are to be reported to the Crawlers, so they can safely destroy them and slowly make the Gulch safer every year.
