The Valley of Ghosts
"Naught but cold wind lives in the valley. Crops won't grow if you plant'em, animals spook the minute they smell it. You cut the grass, it grows back, right in front of your eyes, until it's back to that same perfect length. Nothing ever changes in the valley. It's like time stands still. It'd be beautiful, if it weren't so unsettling."
-Nephepresh Sesert, Explorer The Valley of Ghosts, also known as the Valley of Rhau, is an immense river valley south of the shield range mountains. The valley is scattered with the ruins of a long-lost civilization, commonly called the old kingdom of Rhau. Named after the only decipherable glyph found in any of the ruins, the old Kingdom of Rhau stretched from the foothills of the shield ranges all the way to the sea.
Scholars disagree on what happened to the builders of the Old Kingdom; some say a natural disaster forced them from their homes en masse and scattered them across Varad. Others claim that incursions of beasts from the rift overcame their civilization, citing the enormous walls stretching across the mouth of the valley. Still others say that some magical catastrophe wiped them from the world, but all these theories remain just that: theories. What is certain is that the Valley of Ghosts now stands silent and still. The entire valley is under a strange enchantment-the land itself cannot be disturbed. Footprints disappear, tent stakes are pushed from the ground, crops are uprooted, and the endless grass fields that cover the valley grow back when cut. Though the valley seems large and fertile at first glance, all attempt to colonize the land have failed. The ruins themselves are similarly untouchable; excavated sites will cover themselves up. ancient doors opened will close on their own. Samples of stone taken from the ruins will disappear, only to reappear in the exact spot from which they were taken. Explorers plumbing the mysteries of the valley must prepare well; no plantlife save grass grows in the valley, and water taken from the river will mysteriously disappear from waterskins (or bellies) soon after it is taken. Well-provisioned caravans are the only reliable means of survival in this mysterious place.
-Nephepresh Sesert, Explorer The Valley of Ghosts, also known as the Valley of Rhau, is an immense river valley south of the shield range mountains. The valley is scattered with the ruins of a long-lost civilization, commonly called the old kingdom of Rhau. Named after the only decipherable glyph found in any of the ruins, the old Kingdom of Rhau stretched from the foothills of the shield ranges all the way to the sea.
Scholars disagree on what happened to the builders of the Old Kingdom; some say a natural disaster forced them from their homes en masse and scattered them across Varad. Others claim that incursions of beasts from the rift overcame their civilization, citing the enormous walls stretching across the mouth of the valley. Still others say that some magical catastrophe wiped them from the world, but all these theories remain just that: theories. What is certain is that the Valley of Ghosts now stands silent and still. The entire valley is under a strange enchantment-the land itself cannot be disturbed. Footprints disappear, tent stakes are pushed from the ground, crops are uprooted, and the endless grass fields that cover the valley grow back when cut. Though the valley seems large and fertile at first glance, all attempt to colonize the land have failed. The ruins themselves are similarly untouchable; excavated sites will cover themselves up. ancient doors opened will close on their own. Samples of stone taken from the ruins will disappear, only to reappear in the exact spot from which they were taken. Explorers plumbing the mysteries of the valley must prepare well; no plantlife save grass grows in the valley, and water taken from the river will mysteriously disappear from waterskins (or bellies) soon after it is taken. Well-provisioned caravans are the only reliable means of survival in this mysterious place.