Desolations of the Divines
Sadly, there are vast swathes of territory on several of Kelbonnar’s planes of existence, which are scarred and damaged, possibly beyond repair, where the Divines have acted with unrestrained aggression and wrath.
Creation
From what is known, no Divine has specifically gone out with the intention of creating an area of desolation and that they are instead, a product of too much of their destructive power being unleashed within a region, over an extended period of time. As such a demonstration of raw power is only utilised by the Divine when they are fighting one another, or powerful entities, it is not surprising that the vast majority of the desolations on Kelbonnar’s Material Plane have been created since the outbreak of the Divine War. In their bid to incapacitate and kill their enemies, Divines on all sides have inadvertently destroyed plant, animal and humanoid life across vast swathes of land, left enormous craters in the landscape and even taken chunks out of mountains and evaporated lakes and rivers. The exact nature of what happens physically to the landscape during the creation of a desolation very much depends on which Divines were involved in the battle that immediately preceded its creation and the actions of each Divine will leave a tell-tale signature on the landscape – see below.History
To date seven desolations have been created six of which have been created during the Divine War. They are:- Desolation of Astartes: Located in the far south east of the continent of Euristan, north of the Black Wash marshes and south of the Yalthar Jungle, the Desolation of Astartes was created near the beginning of the war, when Polephemites forces ambushed the deity Astartes whilst he was treating with the mortal peoples who used to inhabit the area. Unfortunately for his ambushers and the mortals he was trying to bring onto his side in the conflict, Astartes flew into such a profound rage that he hunted down and killed those who had attacked him so brutally, that he devastated the land for hundreds of miles around.
- Desolation of Polephemon: Encompassing the entire continent of Zastral, the Desolation of Polephemon was the result of the peoples of the now Lost Civilisation of Zastral refusing to side with the Polephemites when the Divine Polephemon came to parlay with them. Despite the fact that the people of Zastral expressed their desire to join neither side in the fighting, Polephemon’s raged at their refusal, and in this rage laid waste to the entire continent.
- Centric Desolation: Once an archipelago in the eastern Centric Sea, the area has been transformed into a cursed shadow of its former self following an extensive battle between Astartian and Polephemites.
- Desolation of Melchis: A large swathe of land taking up most of the region between the southern tip of the Dragons' Tears Mountains and the Snake Tooth Mountains, the Desolation of Melchis is one of the most dangerous of the seven desolations, which was formed when the Divine Melchis was slain during a duel with Astartes.
- Western Desolation: Formed during a battle that took place between the two newer factions in the Divine War, The Siblings and The Dark Pact, the area of the Western Desolation takes up all of the continent of Dricaro south of the Tumuli Hills
- Divine Desolation: The largest of all of the areas of desolation, the Divine Desolation is also the newest, having been created during a cataclysmic battle, the Battle of the Bleached Barrens in the year 524DW, in which all four of the main belligerents in the Divine War fought with one another, in what was wrongly hoped to be the engagement that would end the war once and for all. The area encompassed by this area of desolation stretches from the northernmost part of the continent of Hunar to the shores of the Icefang Ocean and from the Frigid Forest in the west to the Bjornfrost Forest in the east.
Individual Nature
Each region of desolation has its own unique character, imprinted onto it by the inherent nature of the divine power deployed by the Divines involved in their creation, and by what existed there before they were affected. For example, the Desolation of Hissh is now a region that is warped by the cruelty of the god of murder, and creatures and even plants born and raised there will often be cruel and murderous in nature. The area of the Desolation of Melchis is now a swirling chaotic maelstrom, where flares of random magic spark into existence without warning, fuelled by the blood of the dead Divine which has seeped into and poisoned the ground. It is possible for life to survive within the regions of some desolations, though whatever life that does exist within a desolation is irrevocably shaped by their unique natures, generally no for the best.
Related Species
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