The Scarlands

The Scarlands stretch like a festering wound across the northern reaches of C'Naelia - an ancient rupture in the earth and spirit of the land, where the laws of nature have been frayed and rewoven by chaotic hands. Once werdant and prosperous, these lands were torn aaprt in the aftermath of the Great Devastation, when Naediolon collapsed into itself and the Ethereal Wellspring became the untamed Ethereal Vortex.

No map dares to name all the places swallowed by the Scarlands. What was once a lush corridor between Eleriad and Ilairyon is now a fragmented nightmare of twisted forests, scorched plains and blackened rivers. The very earth pulse with wrongness. No birds sing and no insect hum. Only eery silence broken by the occasional bloodcurdling scream of a Aether Being and the dissonant chime of Aether motes twisted beyond recognition accompanies the wind.

Why people are forbidden to enter

The Scarlands are not merely dangerous - they are forbidden by decree of the Northern Council of Kingdoms, upheld with ancient oaths and enfored by magical barriers and sacred wards.

Aether is wild and undpredicable. Magic misfires, inverts or takes on lives of their own. A healer may find their magic turns flesh into crystal. Fire might freeze instead of burn. Portals opened in the Scarlands may never lead home - or may lead somewhere far worse.

Inhabitants:

• The Scarbound: Humans who entered long ago and survived - but at a cost. Their bodies are riddled with magic-twists, glowing veins. They are no longer fully mortal. Some guide the lost and some only seek to end their suffering.
• Aether Beings: Not all that walks - or floats - in the Scarlands is of this world. Strange, lumious figures - beings thought to be orn directly of corrupted aether - drift through the land. Some are mindless, others cunning but all are dangerous. The Aetheri believe these being were once spirits of the Wellspring itself, driven mad and broken when Naediolan fell.
• Corrupted Aether Motes: Once gentle companions to magic-users, the Aether Motesin the Scarlands are monstrous parodies of their former selfs. They flicker with sickly, mismatched hues, trailing corrupted essence that scars the land.
• The Towers: Constructed by bold Aetheri, each tower is built within the Scarlands as a research hub. Most are abandoned or destroyed. A few remain. Their purposes vary - some sought to cure the corruption, others to harness it.