Ess, the Seeds of Corruption, and the Madness

Ess and the Seeds of Corruption

On Order

To understand the Seeds of Corruption, you must first understand Mendor.
Mendor is not exactly an entity, but it has a will. It is strict and selfish, favouring order and refusing to entertain those who would act against this. Throughout its existence, it has gifted great power to champions to keep chaos at bay.
In the First Age, it gave gifts to four races. To the dragons, it granted ascension, allowing select few to rise above others and govern them. To the Elves, it showed architecture, inspiring them to build ingenious structures and tiered societies. To the Fey, it gave the power to mould the Hesitant Creation that sprawled over the land, twisting it into absolutes: flora and fauna that would follow the invisible flow of nature. And finally, it created the Patchwork: Oathkeepers who would keep balance and trust between the different civilizations.
In the Second Age, in the face of the destruction of the Antithesis, it took nine brave citizens and made them deities, giving them the principles and power to teach and guide their followers, and most importantly, to keep the Antithesis sealed in the Hollowgrasp.
There are too many guesses as to what Mendor’s champions were in the Third Age, but without a doubt, it had some role in ending the war.
Mendor’s will to stability is not unique. There are other lands who also favour order. But none are as dedicated to their priciples as Mendor. It goes directly against the every changing power struggle of the Ancient Seas and is globally considered its opposite.

On Chaos

Next, you need to understand Ess. Or at least, what can be understood about it.
Now Ess is very likely an entity, but not necessarily in a way that mortal minds can understand. It is easier to think of it as a force that has various personifications.
The little that can be confirmed about it has led to a consensus that it originated from the Astral Plane. It is a force of chaos that travelled from existence to existence, impregnating worlds and planes with Madness. It was pursued however, by opposing forces, chasing and fighting it through all of reality. These warriors are also abstract entities, but who have the ability to take solid form, and use that to combat Ess. These are the Titans.
While we cannot know for sure, the Titans chased what we hope is the core force of Ess to our world. It scattered itself, plunging into the the Ancient Seas, and sowing the Madness that still defines the Seas today.

The Seeds

The parts of Ess that landed in Mendor did not have as fluid of a dissemination as it did in the Ancient Seas. Though the land could not eliminate this powerful force, it was able to lull them, to diffuse their power, and restrain their movement, generally keeping them contained in one region. These fragments of Ess have been labeled by the Crosswood Druids of Mendor as The Seeds of Corruption.

Even with Mendor’s best efforts, they have been awakened in the past. There was a particularly powerful awakening of one of the Seeds in the North-East of Mendor. When this happened, the native Orcs, Halflings, and other species, all sensed a growing evil and evacuated. This presence was sensed throughout the world, and drew the remaining Titans, who roamed the Ancient Seas, slaying Sea Monsters, to Mendor to fight their final battle. They were ultimately as successful as they could be, and took permanent forms, slumbering inside mountains to seal the Seed for as long as they could. Unfortunately, not much later, High Elves seeking magic “discovered” the land and made home there, and through the whispers of the drowsed force, were by Ess, and over generations, changed into the diabolical Snow Elves.
The other notable awakening of a Seed was when a Fey experiment accidentally mixed with one of the Seeds. This spawned the first of many Antithesis, perhaps the most accurate representations of Ess that Mendor has seen. That is the only Seed to have fully awakened, but fortunately, it is now trapped within the Hollowgrasp.
Today, all of the Seeds of Corruption likely have hosts: beings who are tied to the Seeds and feed their individual tastes to keep them in their slumbers. These hosts are the unseen heroes of Mendor, and in history and legends, have often been misunderstood as villains. The most powerful, the essence of Ess itself, is still trapped in an everlasting dream deep within the North-East of Mendor. Guarded by the Titans, it is the most dangerous, but most secure of the Seeds. We have nothing to fear from it.

On Madness

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a sea beast and a Sea Monster?
The overlapping quality is Madness. It is difficult to define. Some say it is a condition. Some say it is a source of potential. All can agree however, that it is a link to Ess.
Those who are cursed (or gifted?) with Madness are able to develop outrageous power, but at costs that are typically not clear at the time of the exchange. Sometimes they slowly lose who they are. Sometimes they lose those around them. Regardless of the price, those who are infected with Madness tend to seek out more, either of their own ambition, or because reality conspires against them to put them in a position where they cannot survive without it.
There are some races that are not so easily entranced by the Madness: Giants and Goliaths, who carry traces of Titan within them; the proud Dwarves and Dragonborn, who are tied to the great mountains that were Mendor’s first statement of order; and Angels and Aasimar, who strictly revoke chaos.
And some races are vulnerable to it: Elves whose endless patience is rivalled only by their endless desires; Fey, who are far too curious to ignore even deadly callings; Tieflings, who are indirect descendants of Ess; Humans, who were chased from their once magnificent kingdoms and forced to grasp at anything they could to survive; and Genasi, who are neatly divided into aspects of nature, but long for the aspects they cannot have.
It used to be more possible to cure Madness. The Titans had the ability to take Madness within themselves, and destroy it there. However, there are no more roaming Titans. Perhaps those who followed in their teachings, or those of powerful celestial might could find a way to work against it. But be wary: untrained treatment could cause it to spread instead of heal.

Madness Spells

Detect Madness

1-level Divination (ritual)

Casting Time 1 action

Range Self

Duration Concentration, 10 minutes

Components V, S

Ritual
For the duration, you sense the presence of Madness within 30 feet of you. You see faint auras around any visible creature or object in the area that is infected with magic and you learn which echelon of Madness it is at (1-3, 4-7, or 8-10). The spell can penetrate most barriers but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.

Class(es): Madness User 4-10

Locate Madness

4-level Divination (ritual)

Casting Time 1 action

Range Self

Duration Concentration, 1 hour

Components V, S, M

Choose an echelon of Madness (1-3, 4-7, or 8-10). You instantly become aware of the quantity of creatures of that echelon within 1000 feet as well as their creature type. Choose one to zero in on.
You sense the direction of that creature as long as it is within 1000 feet of you. If the creature is moving, you know the direction of its Movement.

Class(es): Madness User 4-10