The Drifting Lands

"These lands, they are strange. A forest lives just for a few days, before a mountain comes and takes its place. And the creatures, I have never seen anything like it before... I am lucky I made it back."  - Vesryn Nala the Explorer

The Drifting Lands is the name used in Skula, and particularly The Clouded Lands, to refer to the lands beyond the Dhoru, or Dusk Storm. The Dhoru surrounds The Clouded Lands and emits a dark purple light, similar to the color of dusk, and separates The Clouded Lands from The Drifting Lands.

Ecosystem

Through Arrukal, the geography shifts and so does the weather. However, fauna and flora have adapted to the strong magical phenomenon and can thus resist and survive Arrukal. For example, plants might have a "storage" of energy that they use to survive the change if it is harsh on themselves or they might simply absorb some of the wandering magic from the air and ground to shift with the land or simply shift themselves into a different form and function. Creatures follow a similar pattern, adapting to Arrukal by constantly searching for their prefered biome and weather or by morphing into a new version adapted to the new environment.

Localized Phenomena

The Drifting Lands are an unexplored expanse of Skula because of Arrukal, which is a natural phenomenon that causes the landscape to change and to shift. Considering coordinates, the same place may be a lush plain but be a mountain or harsh cold desert a few days later. The rapidly changing geography means maps and exploration are not key for adventurers and explorers.

Arrukal is a strange phenomenon affecting The Drifting Lands by causing its geography and weather to shift. The shifting winds caused by Arrukal are the cause of the Dhoru as the conflicting winds merge into chaos. The source of Arrukal is currently unknown to mages from The Clouded Lands but the current hypothesis is that a large source of magic power is affecting the entire world but that there is currently something within The Clouded Lands that is blocking Arrukal.

Natural Resources

From the powerful ambient magic in The Drifting Lands, resources in this region absorb some of it gaining new propreties and effects. There are thus varying types of woods and plants to be used for medical, food, or construction purposes, stones and minerals for construction and smithing, and even creatures for livestock and herding. However, since bringing these resources back is such a feat, the people of The Clouded Lands have yet to fully understand and classify all the resources.

History

However, The Drifting Lands are home to much flora, fauna, and minerals that cannot be found in The Clouded Lands. This caused the appearance of Adventurer Guilds that allow registered members to accept requests for seeking out and bringing back some of these goods from beyond the Dhoru. More often than not, adventurers group up to accept these tasks as the mission is often lethal. About 75% of all adventurers never return from The Drifting Lands. However, we do not know if they have died or are simply lost in the shifting geography.

The returning adventurers often bring tales of great uninhabited lands full of natural riches, potentially because of the strong magic that wanders in the lands. However, there are also tales of terrifying beasts unlike any other that could kill groups of adventurers without breaking a sweat. The strangests tales are the ones that recount the discovery of ruins, hints of civilization, and wandering humanoids in the mist. These tales fascinate mages and historians who wonder what could live in such a place and build a knowledgeable civilization. Thus, the rarest treasures brought back from these lands are books, manuscripts, and inscriptions that could help uncover the mystery of the Voxtral, commonly called Vox or Mistwalkers.

Image created using https://app.wombo.art/ using the prompt "shifting landscape and weather" and the style "mystical".

Type

Magical Realm

Inhabiting Species

• Faagsal