Svensellrith River

Once one of Heirbrosse's five Grand Rivers (and the widest of them all too), the Svensellrith was a conduit of prosperity and wealth for the north, and for Royth. It pours mightily out of the vast central mountains, fed by some world's tallest peaks. Then it breaks into a riot of smaller rivers, influenced by strong tributaries washing out of the northeastern mountain arm.

In the autumn of 3415, two mountains at its origin simultaneously erupted, consuming the Keynode metropolis of Taraband. This process violently destroyed the Communal Stone networks in the city and the Roythan High Temple, resulting in a unprecedented surge of destructive magic overcycle. The Svensellrith hosted strong cities and settlements down its entire length, all of which were terribly blighted in some way. Many near the eruption simply vanished.

Geography

Before the disaster, the shores and area around the Svensellrith rivaled the lush, verdant climes of Everharvest.

But the blight seemed to have used the water and the communities along it as special kind of current, for within a few months most life ceased altogether. For many miles, there is nothing but colourless, hardpacked dirt. Patches of crude grey grasses patrol the shores on occasion, interrupted by the occasional ghost town. These abandoned places appear to have aged many hundreds of years.

The weather is uniformly calm and typically cloudless. There is no rain, only the beating sun. Starlight in the river region has a distorted, sickly glow, as if a film of sleep dust is caught in your eye indefinitely. No magic works.

Svensellrith itself is calm, for no fish jump and scant few dare to travel it by boat. The water is assuredly poisoned in some manner, as any who drink it suffer a wasting malaise which carries them quietly off to death in about a week if they do not leave and seek medical attention. Much the same is assumed about the grass.

Treasure Hunters

Now virtually useless and inhospitable, the Svensellrith maintains one redeemable quality: it is the fastest, most reliable and most convenient route to the ruins of Taraband (and the rich outlying land that enjoyed the vast capital's purview). Reckless fortune seekers, undeterred by the cursed lands and lack of magical availability, have long hypothesized that untold riches lay buried in these lands—that not all of it could have been erased by the blight. Indeed, many items of value have been recovered from the dead towns further from the epicenter, so why wouldn't more exist deeper in? To this day, no one who has been close to the destroyed city reports of finding great treasure.

Alternative Name(s)

The Poison River

Type

River