Valley of Sorrow

The narrow valley is the only entrance into Yan Omopu, the home of the Omopu Gnomes. Once verdant pasture, it is now a gloomy and desolate tract of barren land, home only to the dead. None may cross it and those foolish enough to make the attempt are never heard from again. It has protected Yan Omopu for three hundred years from those who would wish its inhabitants harm.

The first half of the valley is quite lush, though an eerie silence hangs over the place. The green ends abruptly half way down the valley as life gives way to death. Nothing grows in this half of the valley and any trees that once stood are now twisted and shrivelled. A deathly pall hangs over the place and a tattered mist creeps low over the ground.

Those who approach the field are assaulted by an overwhelming sense of sorrow, said to be a warning to those who have wandered in by chance. For any who ignore the warning and cross onto the field a horrifying death awaits as the twisted spirits of the slain gnomes rise up and consume them.

History

The valley was the site of a brutal battle between the Omopu Foreguard and a battalion of Khalumian Chasers. Fifty Gnomes held off against the two hundred strong battalion for half a day, allowing the valley inhabitants to retreat to the safety of Yan Omopu. Eventually they were overrun, but they had inflicted severe casualties upon the human invaders who were now in no shape to pursue the fleeing civilians. The Khalumian Captain sent one of the Foreguard survivors to Yan Omopu with a message He then retreated to the far side of the valley to set up camp and wait.

You have two days to surrender before reinforcements arrive. Then we will raze your city to the ground and kill every last one of you. Surrender is your only option if you wish to live.

— Khalumian captains message

The following day the wives of the fallen warriors came down from Yan Omopu to collect the bodies of their loved ones, as was custom amongst the Omopu. What they saw drove them mad with grief. Before retreating the Chasers had gathered the bodies of the fallen gnomes and displayed them in a macabre and grotesque tableau. The wives howls of sorrow and vengeance were heard by a wandering Djinn who offered them a dark deal. Consumed by grief as they were, the wives accepted and sealed their fate.
The small guard that accompanied the wives watched in frozen horror as they each slit their own throats and poured their lives upon the dirt. The ground began to rumble as the blood snaked out in tendrils across the ground, the vegetation began to wither and the trees to shrivel. The bodies of the wives and warriors slowly began to sink into the trembling ground. When the rumbling had stopped the bodies were gone and the whole area in front of the valley pass had become barren and deathly silent. The guard, who had remained untouched by the dark magics, fled back to Yan Omopu in horror.
Two days later the Khalumian reinforcements arrived and as one they moved down the valley. As they approached the dead half of the valley a mist began to move in, slowly at first, but by the time the entire enemy force had advanced onto the field it had grown to cover them. Then the screams began, clashes of weapons and howls of terror and pain echoed from the mist, it lasted mere minutes before silence fell once again. When the mists cleared the bodies of six hundred Khalumians lay dead on the ground. When the Gnomes came down the next day to see what had happened most of the bodies had already sank into the ground.

Type

Battlesite / Battlefield

Yan Omopu

Home to several thousand Omopu Gnomes that fled their homeland when the Khalumian empire invaded. Hidden on a large plateau in the mountains it kept them safe for over a hundred years.

Omopu Foreguard

Gnomish scout units, tasked with patrolling the valley and beyond. Their job is to eliminate monsters and wild animals that threaten the people of the valley, and also to warn Yan Omopu of approaching enemies. They are some of the most highly skilled warriors amongst the Omopu.

Khalumian Chasers

Elite battalions of the Khalumian imperial army. Tasked with putting down slave rebellions and resistances, and hunting escaped slaves and criminals. Known to be merciless and cruel, their reputation discourages the less brave from revolting.