Dabeleske
Legend tells of a horde a thousand years ago, the Legions of Ozgarez, which broke through the walls of the abyss into the valley of Barovia. The breakthrough was foreshadowed by a poisoning of the woodlands. Wildlife was slowly driven mad, entering frenzies which caused them to kill their kin - those which survived were slaughtered where possible by locals trying to quell the spread of mania. Plantlife in the area became blighted and the trees began to wither and harden, turning black as coal.
As the area continued to wither, the Barovians took to calling the area "Dabeleske" - Demon's Place - and the very earth became cracked and dried. In the depths of winter, a spike of black rock pushed forth from the ground, and from this poured a horde of demonic beings from the depth of the earth. King Ustav brought together his finest warriors and tried to push the demons back but the horde was unstoppable. Calling on the combined power of the Morninglord and Mother Night, he channelled the opposing divinities of sunlight and darkest night into his sword, which turned to pure crystal through the force imbued within. Unleashing the blade, Ustav unleashed waves of Nightfire onto the demonic hordes and forced them back to their channel. Plunging the crystal through the dark rock, he fused the black column shut and halted the rise of Ozgarez in the material plane.
Ustav lived for many more years as a watcher of the valley against the Ozgarez and the crystal sword, named Gatekeeper, was passed down through successive protectors across the generations until it came to the hands of Sergei von Zarovich centuries past. With the death of its wielder at the hands of Strahd, the whereabouts of the sword have become lost to history.
As the plot, Yeenoghu Rising, continues, a few demons of sufficient power have been able to surface out of the cracks across Dabeleske.
Geography
Dabeleske is an area a mile-wide in the depths of the Old Svalich Woods south of Vallaki. A thousand years ago it was 5 miles wide although the Svalich Woods have slowly overgrown the cracked earth again, the will of Strahd overpowering the historic demonic effects in the area.
No grass or undergrowth grows, exposing the earth beneath. The earth is cracked and ruptured, and the topsoil is black and ashy. Where the rest of the Svalich Woods are overgrown and choked with trees and roots, dead trees within Dabeleske are spread out with metres between them. Mists curl around the trunks and branches reach through the fog like arms of tortured souls.
In the centre of the region stands a 3m-high 2m-wide column of shining black marble, shaped like an upright melted arrowhead. On one side is a seam, running nearly the full height of the edifice, seemingly fused together. In the middle of this seam is a single eye-shaped hole, 4-inches wide and disappearing into the dark depths of the structure.
Fauna & Flora
Animals are absent.
Plants are withered away.
Trees are blackened and twisted.
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