Deadlands, The

It is clear from the many ruins and artefacts found by explorers that before recorded history, the Deadlands were once home to civilisation much like any other country. The details of what happened to turn into the blighted ashland it is today are never agreed, but every oral account passed down through countless generations contains three undisputed points:

• The elves once occupied much of Galania in what is now only remembered as the Torched Empire.
• There was a war in which the Overgods became directly involved.
• After the Deadlands had been devastated, the elves retreated north to the Sanctified Lands and have remained there ever since.

These days the Deadlands are stalked by terrible creatures, some being mindless husks lashing out at anyone that comes near, others using calculated malice to achieve their depraved, incomprehensible goals. Amidst the nightmares are those who seek fortune and ancient lost secrets: hunters, scavengers and researchers, as well as a few pockets of civilisation that have dared to settle and found ways to survive. Some are outcasts from society banished to the Deadlands to be forgotten.

Locations

The closest major ruin to the Rift is the city of Tepek Letli. Whatever society once thrived here is now lost, its inhabitants transformed into undead horrors that occasionally wander towards the Rift bridges and have to be destroyed. Intrepid explorers claim there are many undisturbed chambers and riches to be found, though this is usually due to them being too dangerous to approach. Scholars who have dared to take notes and sketches while the dead wander nearby have noted fragments of art and statues signifying a cultural importance placed upon dragons, though in what capacity remains undetermined.
The Tower of Voices to the west is generally agreed to have been a temple complex of some kind, though scant few have found the courage to approach let alone explore the ruins, due to the bone-chilling wails and echoing whispers in unknown tongues that be heard from miles around. As with most places in the Deadlands, curiosity is usually rewarded with death.
In the heart of the Hurgenfells stands the Ruins of Golroth, an ancient citadel full of unnamed calamities. Even the bravest of explorers laughs fitfully at the suggestion of entering Golroth, such is the certainty of doom. Despite its lack of exploration, there is no shortage of stories detailing what lies inside: demons, devils, dragons, even the Forgotten Ones. Whatever terrorises its halls, fire and smoke broils within.
To the east of the Hurgenfells, in the shadow of Mount Horatemna, sits the hamlet of Lonehearth. It is one of the few places in the Deadlands where any respite can be found, as creatures appear to give the mountain a wide berth. The denizens of Lonehearth could hardly be called welcoming, though, and almost none are permanent residents. A grizzled, humourless dragonborn priest named Rhogar the Onyx is the closest thing the hamlet has to a leader or any sort of lawkeeping, as he performs ritual prayers to provide some protection.
Atop the bleak cliffs overlooking the Frostflow is the dead city of Withermorn. Unwitting explorers are welcomed into the city with open arms, but veterans of the Deadlands know that the Lords of Withermorn are cunning, bloodthirsty monsters looking for a feast. Those who are lured into the trap usually find themselves enslaved to the will of their new masters - a walking snack, kept on the edge of life as chattel. The city's strange society sees the living and the undead coexisting in a hideous relationship which benefits only the Lords in their dark and forboding castle.
To the northwest sits the town of Windbluff, which provides a terrifying view of the Wound from its cold and unforgiving vantage point. The town is said to be the home of a witch coven that draws power from the evil of the Deadlands through unspeakable, forgotten magic. Deadlands residents claim that the witches will consider any request, no matter how sordid or improbable, but the price for their aid is steep and perilous.
One cannot describe the Deadlands without discussing its most infamous and bewildering feature: the Wound. This dark chasm, dozens of miles in diameter and surrounded by steep and near-impassable mountains, is central to any story regarding how the Deadlands came to be as they are. Nobody knows what it is, whether it existed before the Deadlands or whether it was the cause (or result) of some cataclysmic event. Not even its name is understood, save that it was one of the few things that survived through oral history over the ages. Those determined enough to investigate it have described intense feelings of despair, illness and malaise which become unbearable as the mountains are scaled. What lies within the chasm remains a mystery, as all accounts of successful journeys over the mountains state that either the individuals never returned or were changed beyond the ability to relate what they had witnessed.
On the northern shore of Galania stands Elendris Manor, once home to important nobles long since forgotten, now a den of devils preying upon the desperate outcasts of the Deadlands. The devils do not disguise or deny their nature, as they know that what they can offer is irresistable to all but the most resolute survivor of the wastes. The location of the manor is opportune for the devils too, as it allows them to control who (and what) passes over the Grimflow Bridge to the town of Stillwell, where smugglers ship their illegally-scavenged relics to the mainland for substantial amounts of coin. Whatever price these smugglers pay the devils for passage and protection is surely not worth any amount of gold.
At the bleakest and remotest corner of Galania is the town of Stillwell, a brutal slum brimming with lowlifes who use cunning, bloodshed and betrayal in a constant struggle to profit from the one thing that drives them: smuggling.

Type

Geopolitical, Nomadic tribe