The Ashen Plain

Near the Village of Oakhurst and the Sunless Citadel, this wasteland is said to have been created by Ashardalon, a rampaging Great Wyrm.

Geography

In the southern region of Sovereign State of Duvik's Pass, there lies a stretch of ruined ground about a mile in diameter. The surrounding area is verdant ranchland, but this small area is nothing but scorched earth and stone.

Ecosystem

Aside from the rarely-seen Searing Ankheg, this barren wasteland hosts no other life.

History

Hundreds of years ago, during the reign of the ancient human king, Helderoth, the Golden Plains, as they were once known, were lush and fertile. The mountain pass was the location of at least half a dozen fortresses built by Helderoth to protect his territory, Stoneface Stronghold being the largest. In the height of his nearly three-century reign of terror, the Great Wyrm Ashardalon the Mighty set his sights on expanding his territory to the prosperous mountain pass as a new site for his ever-growing hoard. The ensuing war destroyed Helderoth's kingdom and nearly all of his fortresses, including Stonetalon, which was swallowed by a ravine after Ashardalon split the ground beneath it in a fit of pique.

A small faction of the Cult of Ashardalon took up residence in the nearly destroyed stronghold, now located at the bottom of the deep ravine in the Golden Plains foothills, changing its name to the Sunless Citadel. They worshipped here for many years with the venerable Gulthias, the cult's leader, moving between this location and the main temple of the NIghtfang Spire.

After the death and banishment of Ashardalon at the hands of Dydd the Wise, Dydd pursued Gulthias from the Nightfang Spire to the Sunless Citadel. But before her party reached the ravine, Ashardalon the Undying, fresh from escaping the Abyss, finds her out in the open and lays waste to her entire caravan. The mixture of elemental and abyssal fire reduced everything for a mile in diameter to ash and scorched stone.

Type

Wasteland