The Forbidden Zone

The Western Gateway into the Legacy of the Precursors

Beware the lands of the Precursor Empires, Or-Ad and Ur-Zen, twin abominations of mortal vanity! Our Lord Eschaton punished these blasphemers with plague and madness for their sins just as He doomed the Race Fathers of old with Skyfire. Even now, the descendants of these heretics damn themselves in perverse acts of sun worship and other idolatries. They think to dwell in the divine light of the sun but they merely shroud themselves in the shame of heresy. I say they are infidels and declare their lands forbidden!

— Bishop's Book of Prayers

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Introduction to the Zone

The Forbidden Zone refers to an ancient territory in the west that has been inaccessible for nearly fifteen years. Always considered inhospitable, the Zone is a jungle wilderness that lies beyond the western reaches of the Silent Sea. Noirlan traders used to maintain an outpost on the shores of the Zone, but that settlement has been lost ever since the Silent Sea became unnavigable.

The Zone itself is a place of legend. Fearsome mutated beasts and savage tribes are said to roam its deepest western jungles. There are also stories of adventurers discovering the ruins of lost Precursor cities in the wilds of the Zone. The legend of Eldorado is one such tale.

Map of the Forbidden Zone

Alternative Name(s)
The Zone, Eldenterra, Elderlands, Land of the Thunderbird
Type
Forest, Jungle (Tropical) Included Locations
Farport Outpost
Green River
Lunar Vault
Pachuco City
Vale of Eloi
Characters in Location
Adelle Mirodar
Related Reports (Secondary)
Farport Epilogue

Ethnography

The Forbidden Zone is known to its indigenous cultures and kin groups as the "Elderlands" (in Pachucese Eldenterra) so-named for the preserved evidence of relatively recent Precursor habitation. The inhabitants of these Elderlands share a common heritage and history of migratory ancestry, for they are all descended from culture groups that settled in the Elderlands after periods of catatrophic population decline and dispersal. In the contemporary period these indigenous cultures may be classified into five distinct hegemonic groups: the Pachucese, the Aryente, the Tabazanna, the Noghra, and the Pimacan.

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Notable Regions

These ethnic groups occupy and dominate their own distinct regions of the Forbidden Zone. The Pachucese occupy the central Valley of Ejidum between the Barrier and Silver Lakes. North of Silver Lake, the Silver Clans of the Aryente hold dominion over the high Plains of Silver. To the southwest of Barrier Lake, the Tabazanna rule the coastal jungles of Tabazan bordering the extreme southern wastes. West of the Aryente, the Noghra rule the mountain strongholds of Terragar. Further west on the frontier of the Deep Zone the Pimacans dwell in the Green River valley between the cities of Pimaca and Azoturia.

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Geography

The Forbidden Zone is an isolated tropical jungle located west of the Silent Sea. Merikan travelers have long mistakenly identified the Pachuco coast and jungle as part of the Zone, but the actual Forbidden Zone lies further inland, stretching from the Concorde River to the Border Marshes and extending west from the Barrier Lake to beyond the sunset mountains of Ahriman.

The Zone is a wild land shaped by years of untamed growth and scarred by the detonation of ancient fire-weapons. These mythical weapons are known as "TNT" to the Exploding Eye Brethren, who worship the ancient blast craters of the Cataclysm as holy places touched by divine power. The cratered leavings of these Precursor weapons are often hard to see, masked by centuries of overgrowth. When one finds a suitable vantage point overlooking the Zone expanse, however, the pits and grooves of ancient explosive firepower are clearly visible in the rippled contours of the jungle canopy. It is said that on still, dark nights, one can see lights burning in the thickness of the Deep Zone, the last burning embers of Cataclysmic Fire.

The landscape is varied and tends towards natural extremes. There are broad low-lying floodplains that overflow with the winter monsoon rains and there are verdant mountain crags, overgrown with lush tropical plants. Numerous rivers and streams pour through the wilderness and often flood during the rainy winter months. Most of these rivers are limestone streams or spring creeks emanating from subterranean aquifers.

Human settlements are common in the middle plains, where the soil is good and the threat of flooding is minimal. Ample sources of fresh water and game sort well with generally fertile growing conditions to provide well for the essentials of human survival and thus the Zone jungle is home to a great many different tribal groups organized into societies as small as the loosely knit kinship groups of Terragar and as large as the sprawling agrarian metropolis of the Two Sun tribe.

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Flora and Fauna

The constant physical feature of this landscape is the Zone jungle, a tropical forest that stretches for miles in all directions. The jungle itself is oppressively thick in the Deep Zone, the lands beyond the Green River Valley homelands of the Two Suns Tribe. Some patches of tropical forest are simply too dense to traverse on foot, which makes river travel essential for those looking to venture to the Deeps beyond Mount Ahriman.

The jungle is home to plant and animal species common to other tropical forest biomes in places such as Tempus. West of the Green River, however, travelers may expect to encounter mutated species, forgotten genetic outriders dating from the Age of Poisoned Sea and Sky. The unusual energies and toxic remnants that linger in the Forbidden Zone have spawned fearsome preternatural aberrations, such as giant poisonous Wolf Wasps and the deadly Snakehead mud shark.

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Natural Resources

The Zone is surely possessed of considerable mineral and agricultural wealth, though the lack of extensive road infrastructure has made it difficult to harness these resources. For example, the people of Pachuco once sought to mine precious metals from the foothills of the Rift Mountains and for a time floated cargo transports across the Barrier Lakes, including Silver Lake, so named for the silver-laden barges that once ferried precious ore bound for overseas trade with Merika and the Southern Kingdoms.

The rich potential harvest of plant species available in the Zone has proven much easier to access and leverage to advantage. For example, the botanical rarities of the deep jungle have recently given rise to new explorations in the arts of alchemy, and pioneering "alchemists" in Pachuco City and Azoturia have employed forgotten Precursor lore and conducted experiments with startling, almost magical results.

For many, the greatest resources hidden in the Zone jungles are to be found quite literally within hidden caches of timeworn Precursor relics. Generations of explorers and treasure hunters have braved unspeakable dangers in search of lost Precursor settlements and the incredible marvels they may yet hold.

Maps

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  Forbidden Zone

  The land of fallen Precursor Empires and home of the the People of the Sun

Included Locations

• Farport Outpost
• Gardens of Acros
• Green River
• Hall of the Sun King
• Lunar Vault
• Pachuco City
• Sumuru
• Terragar
• Vale of Eloi

Characters in Location

• Adelle Mirodar

Related Reports (Secondary)

• Farport Epilogue

Related Historical Events

• 1000 PCE
  Thorpe Expedition Meets Inspector Locard