Centric Desolation
Once the area of the Centric Desolation was known as the Lynrik Isles and was the sister archipelago to the Kelrik Isles in the west. Now, the Centric Desolation is now a blasted wasteland, corrupted by the celestial energies unleashed by the Astartians, the Polephemites and the Siblings in a week long battle in the Divine War for an artifact said to lie somewhere beneath the waves in the region.
Geography
Sitting in the eastern half of the Centric Sea, the Centric Desolation was once a tropical archipelago, much like the Kelrik Isles off to the west. The region is a mishmash of islands, some barely large enough to accommodate a single modest house, some large enough that one could travel so far inland that one would lose sight of the sea.
Before the Divine War these islands were blanketed in palm trees and lush undergrowth, with many animals, birds and fish calling the islands and their surrounding waters home. Several communities of sentient beings had established themselves in the archipelago, with one, the city-state of Mai-On growing into a major trading hub and stop over point for the merchant routes crossing the Centric Sea destined for the Sultanate of Binsharaz.
Now, the flora of these islands where it has been able to survive at all is twisted and corrupted by the sheer quantity of magical energy unleashed during the fighting and the settlements, their peoples and the animals that used to inhabit the islands have vanished, with only life beneath the waves managing to cling on, albeit in a perverse form of what it used to be (see below).
The Spear of Fornast
Whilst it is not known for certain, the reason that the such a vicious battle took place in and around the Lynrik Isles is thought to have been over an item, known as the Spear of Fornast. The tale, as it has been pieced together by the learned sages of the Material Plane’s mortal races began after the creation of alliance in the Divine War known as the Siblings. One of the Divines who joined this alliance, Hvanmara, knew that they stood little chance of prevailing over their stronger rivals, the Astartians or the Polephemites unless they had a significant advantage in their favour. So Hvanmara summoned her most talented and trusted servants, a Celestial called Fornast, and charged them with creating a weapon capable of turning the war in the Siblings’ favour. Knowing that remaining in the celestial planes to carry out this work was fraught with danger, Fornast travelled in secret to the Material Plane and set up a hidden workshop on one of the Lynrik Isles, where they began many thousands of hours of unceasing toil to enact the will of their mistress. Eventually, after nearly four decades of work, Fornast crafted a weapon, said to be capable of destroying any Celestial or even one of the Divines if it inflicted but a single scratch upon them. Overjoyed with their efforts, Fornast reported their success back to Hvanmara and the rest of the Siblings. However, Hvanmara and her allies were disgusted by what Fornast has created, labelling it an anathema to their kind. They ordered Fornast to destroy this at once, but filled with feelings of confusion and betrayal, Fornast came up with another idea. He sent messages in secret to both the Astartians and the Polephemites, offering the weapon up to the highest bidder, but instead of riches he was rewarded with destruction. Forces of the Astartians and the Polephemites, along with those of the Siblings who had learned of Fornast’s treachery descended on the Material Plane and the Lynrik Isles, where they battled one another ferociously for possession of the Spear. The battle lasted for an entire week, and when the celestial forces finally disengaged with one another and withdrew, they left nothing in their wake but a desolate, twisted landscape. Whilst it is clear that none of the sides managed to secure Fornast or the spear, nobody has been able to fathom what happened to either of them. Some believe that Fornast was killed and the spear destroyed during the battle, but others believe that Fornast hid the spear somewhere beneath the waves of the Lynrik Isles, and that one day he will return to reclaim it and use it to wreak his vengeance on the Divines.Localized Phenomena
Two localised phenomena have been noted within and around the area of the Centric Desolation, which are known as the Desolate Doldrums and the Corrupted Waters.
Desolate Doldrums – Any sailor experienced in plying the waves of the Centric Sea will warn of getting too close to the Centric Desolation, lest one’s ship be caught within the Desolate Doldrums. This is an unusually still and windless area of water that occurs both between the islands of the archipelago and for many miles surrounding the area of the desolation itself. Any ship that gets too close, whether deliberately or by being blown off course, can quickly find itself stranded with no wind at all to manoeuvre itself back to kinder waters. Untold numbers of ships remain floating unnaturally still around the Centric Desolation, where they remain as floating warning markers for passing mariners and a graveyard for their sailors until the wood of their hulls finally rots through and they slip beneath the waves.
The Corrupted Waters – Those brave or stupid enough to enter the Centric Desolation will tell you that whilst its islands are almost completely denuded of life, its waters teem with all manner of creatures which have been corrupted by the sheer amount of celestial magic used during the battle. Shoals of fish within the area of the desolation are twisted into ravening swarms, ready to devour anything fleshy that falls into the water. Larger creatures are said to have been warped into aquatic monstrosities, some so large that they could destroy an entire ship with a flick of their tails or tentacles. Thankfully for those that ply the waters of the Centric Sea or dwell along its coastline, these creatures are mostly confined to the area of the Centric Desolation. However, every now and again one will venture into the Centric Sea proper, where it will cause havoc until it is either destroyed, or makes its way back whence it came.
Natural Resources
As the battle that reduced the region to its current state of desolation was relatively recent in the timeline of the Divine War, the Centric Desolation remains one of the only places on Kelbonnar’s Material Plane where the bones of Celestials can be found. Even the tiniest fragment of these bones fetches an enormously high price, though they are generally traded in black market circles to both avoid suspicion and the disapproval of the many people who would frown on such a trade.
Acquiring these bones is difficult and dangerous work, and only the most confident or foolhardy of souls take on a contract to travel to the Centric Desolation to search for and collect them. The vast majority of those who set out on such a venture do not return.
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