The Planar Wastes

"Merely gazing over the walls of Lauciat Castle at the Wastes is enough to fill you with hopelessness. It seems like there's nothing in every direction except south where the road heads on to the Dwarven hold of Valdohr, but we Watchers know better. We can feel the planar disruption out in the Wastes. Those of us who have been here long enough can just about count the Outsiders as they push through the thin veil between our world and theirs. If it feels hopeless sitting safe and secure in our castle, with all its protections against the all extraplanar threats out there, imagine marching out to do battle with the monsters from beyond so that they stay in the Wastes."
A Watcher's Journal, by Avanor Truespark

Localized Phenomena

Within the Planar Wastes, rifts frequently open in the barriers between the planes, discharging all sorts of Outsiders before closing again. In this blasted wasteland, the art of conjuration is greatly strengthened and far more dangerous. Spells of summoning often call forth greater numbers of creatures than normal, but must be cast carefully to avoid drawing in beings that should not be summoned. Opening a gateway to another plane is far easier here, but there is an even greater risk than usual of the door being opened onto the wrong plane.

History

The Planar Wastes were not always the way they are today. Once, this blasted wasteland was the heartland of a great kingdom whose name has been lost to history. The mages of this kingdom were unmatched in the field of summoning creatures from other planes to serve the whims of the summoner. For a while, this was a great boon. The creatures summoned by mages were put to work constructing buildings, enforcing order within the realm, and, if need be, unleashed upon the kingdom's enemies. The good fortune was not to last however.
The art of summoning was still new to the world and its dangers were not yet known. A group of mages were not content with infernal bodyguards and elemental servants and so they decided to look further, beyond the outer planes, for creatures to summon and bind. To the utter dismay of all Nesia, they found something. Their search drew the attention of beings within the Far Realm that are best left unnamed. These beings corrupted the mages and forced them to open a gateway to the Far Realm, out of which spilled horrors unimaginable.
This tide of horror swept across the kingdom, destroying it in its entirety. For reasons unknown, the horrors did not spread beyond the natural borders of the now ruined kingdom, instead staying and reducing the fertile plains and great forests to nothing but wasteland. The presence of these abominations weakened the strength of the barriers between planes and so the Planar Wastes were created, a place where stepping between the planes is an easy task.
In more recent centuries, various groups have attempted to contain the creatures that dwell in the Wastes. The Knights of the Material were the first to take up the cause, but they eventually fell to extraplanar corruption and gave rise to the Cult of the Outside. The most recent to take up the mantle are the Knights of the Watch who guard the borders of the Wastes and hunt down extraplanar creatures elsewhere in Nesia to train their members. The methods of the Watchers have so far proven to be the most successful, but only time will tell for so long.

Alternative Name(s)

The Wastes, Lenasian Wastes

Type

Wasteland

Included Locations

• Archive of Lorenon

Contested By

• Cult of the Outside
• Knights of the Watch

Related Historical Events

• 1 1E
  The Fall