Corruption of Maeos

2. Maeos, the Incorporeal

Possibly one of the more mysterious of the Dragon Lords, if only because we still don't know what her powers were exactly. She had the ability to phase in and out of existence, and her aetheric powers could pass this trait on to other objects and beings.

She was an evil Dragon Lord, allied with the dark god Tarcur. The Silver Age Humans decided long ago that she needed to be destroyed.

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Thus did it happen during the year 82Ksa, over four hundred thousand years ago, in the skies above the Rethillian Plains, a battle took place between the Sky Fortess Leo, and a Dragon Lord, Maeos the Incorporeal. The battle was said to have lasted for two days, and was witness by the majority of those living on Vreathe at the time.

Maeos attempted to flee, landing on the moon Kalbeth. She attempted to phase an entire world out of existence, the then Leo then fired all of his cannons at once. The resulting destruction on the moon, this blackened scar, is still visible to this day even after the world was terraformed. An injured Maeos attempted to flee again, but was struck by another broadside. She then fell to Vreathe below, crashing into Rethillian, creating an impact crater that spewed out corruption that continues to this day.

Extended periods of time spent in the corruption should be avoided. This aether will corrupt you, and you yourself will start to fade out of existence.

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From the Book of Dragons, by Salika.

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The Maeos Impact Crater

Located on the border of the Empire of Irellith and the Dragon Marches of the Kingdom of Cassel, The Maeos Impact Crater measures roughly 10 kilometers across and a kilometer deep. The sides of the crater are heavily eroded. Ever-present Neon gas spews out of the crater, glowing red in the presence of Mana and blue in the presence of Aether, the two colors never seeming to mix. This Magic Mist occurs in the greatest frequency in the world at this impact crater.

The bottom of the crater is normally obscured by fog, but every few years, the fog clears a little and the bottom is visible. Buildings are at the bottom of the crater, appearing to look like mining equipment. It isn't known if this operation was started by Silver or Bronze Age humans, but during the Iron Age, very few people have even attempted to venture in the crater. The levels of corruption are too high, and a person will simply fade from existence before they make it to the bottom.

The magic fog has a clear path to the sea, where it will settle and eventually disperse. The corruption has less effect the further from the impact crater it gets, but is still powerful for quite some distance into the sea. There is an entire area in the waters around here that isn't safe to sail in. The spread of the corruption is also kept in check by a massive Aether Fence built by the sea elven Kingdom of Nereite.

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Incorporeal Sickness

Aether comes and goes and the vast majority of people on Vreathe experience surges of Aether from some source at some point in their lives, whether it is because they ventured in areas with dragon corruption or magic mist rolls into their town, or they are an experienced mage casting hundreds of spells. The human body seems to have a tolerance for aether of all kinds, its corrupting effects unable to take hold as long as exposure is kept to less than a day or two.

For the Corruption of Maeos, if one is exposed for too long... It starts out as a feeling of uneasiness which then progresses into headaches within a few days. After a week, the skin and hair turn translucent. After a month, the fat and muscle turns translucent, revealing the internal workings of the body. Mentally, a person is completely mad at this point, claiming to see and hear things that just aren't there. During the final stage of this Incorporeal Sickness, a person fades completely from existence. This process is extremely painful as their body literally starts to fall apart.

It should be noted that races such as Orcs and some Humans lacking a Mana Lung have vastly increased resistance to Aether. Lamias also have increased resistance to dragon corruption. This is why nearly all people living in the Dragon Marches are Orcs, Humans, or Lamias.

Celestial Events

During various celestial events, the corruption of Maeos will do something, almost always by making various objects and things randomly appear out of nowhere, which then disappears as quickly as it appeared when the event ends. Some of the most notable events are below:

Date and Celestial Event	Effects
Full Moons Once per Month	The giant Scales of Maeos appear. They disappear again the next day. Any piece separated from the scales turns into an Aethercite crystal and are of a similar quality to those found on the Island of Rosika, but it is much more dangerous to gather crystals from the scales of maeos. The issue is that when the scales appear, so do horrifying creatures... Everything that was previously faded out of existence by the corruption of Maeos appears for several hours around noon. These things are utterly changed and defend the corpse of their master with their lives. The peoples of the Dragon Marches ready themselves for a fight, killing these changed people and creatures until the event ends. There isn't much in the way of cleanup as when the event ends the all the corpses disappear from the battlefield, but the separated aethercite crystals remain.
Blood Moons ((Total Lunar Eclipse))	Fade Stones appear, having phased into existence. They appear randomly and do not disappear when the Blood Moon ends. A popular item with thieves and assassins, this form of aethercite is able to make the user invisible for a short period of time. After use, the fade stones disappear, never to be seen again.
Black Moons ((Total Solar Eclipse))	Meliorate Stones appear, having phased into existence. They appear randomly and do not disappear when the Black moon ends. Meliorate Stones are able to make invsible things visible in a radius of several dozen meters on use. No one should ever use these stones because once the invisible is aware of you, they will never stop haunting you.
The Winter Solstice Once per year	For several hours around noon, the sunny skies seemingly tear themselves apart and show a night sky from a completely different world. It appears as if the entirety of the Dragon Marches are phasing out of existence to this new reality. Luckily for the people here it is only the sky that does this, creating a window into this new world. There is an odd beauty with the colors dancing in the skies and the strangly shaped heavenly bodies. When the event ends, the skies go back to normal and it is as if nothing happened.
Planetary Alignments 1,000 years ((The giant planets, Tarsuros, Almos, Yannia, and Noras align within 25 degrees of each other))	The Usetos phase into existence, their entire people and their technologically advanced civilization, around the corruption of Maeos. This type of aetheric Dragon was created by Maeos and their existence on Vreathe was tied to Maeos's lifeforce. When the alignment ends, the Usetos disappear, with nothing but their memory. Portraits made of them disappear, as does any object traded with them. Their unique technology disappears. It is literally as if they never existed.
The Sun does... something? ((Said to next occur in the next five years on Vreathe))	There are ancient silver age texts that stated the background levels of the corruption were getting stronger exponentially to when the Sun passes through something called the Galactic Plane. This Galaxy is lost knowledge during the Iron Age, but it does explain why the Corruption of Maeos has been getting much stronger in recent years, why more people have been getting sick with dragon corruption and fading from existence, why more horrors and more scales appear with every full moon...