Understone Monolith
The Understone Monolith is an enormous wardstone that used to provide the city of Understone protection from the natural threats of the neighbouring Bethel Cavern.
It appears to be an obelisk made of obsidian, roughly 40 feet high, with a 5 foot wide square base. Runes of power are embedded just below the surface, appearing as metallic shards of a variety of metals: the green of corroded copper, glimmering gold, whitish silver and more. These runes are less than an inch tall and thousands are strewn throughout the entire structure in a complex lattice that once bound a ritual of High Magic to protect the city.
When it worked, the magic worked in layers. The outermost layer reached upwards of 80 feet out into the cavern, creating a sense of profound anxiety in any creature capable of feeling fear. This, coupled with the selective poison of the fungal forest causing confusion to the fearful made for a potent deterrant all on its own. The next layer, operating out to a range of about 20 feet, caused extreme, crippling pain on the side facing the monument, causing most creatures to withdraw from it instinctively. For the most determined of creatures that got through that hazard, the final layer released an intense burst of gravity in a radius of 5 feet, crushing anything that persisted in approaching the tunnel with a thousand times its normal weight. This last radius is still visible to those who look for it, even after being disabled for millenia, as the rock floor has been pulverized into an incredibly compact material by repeated activations. The effects of these were constrained to only effect creatures approaching from the Bethel Cavern side, and anyone venturing out from Understone would be provided with an amulet that would allow them to pass unharmed. The magic of these amulets was linked to the intended bearer, providing no protection to anyone else. This prevented unauthorized entry - mainly to protect against beasts that might have consumed the amulets along with their bearers, as there was no guarantee that anyone venturing out into the wilds would return safely.
This potent magical barrier failed as an unintended side effect of the Ancoran Empire's expansion into the region of the Iron Hills up on the surface. The magical suppression field of their Anchors makes life on the surface reasonably predictable, but reaches deep into the earth and renders High Magic impossible even in the caverns far below. A hasty barricade was built in the tunnel to Understone, but this ultimately proved insufficient to protect the city.
Type
Monument, Large
Parent Location
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