Keening
Keening is a desolate, wind-blasted land where sound itself is a memory. It is a realm of craggy mountains, dead forests, and echoing valleys where no birds sing, no wolves howl, and no voice can cry out without consequence. The domain is ruled—though that word barely applies—by a Darklord who no longer speaks and a curse that reverberates through stone and soul alike.
The Darklord: Tristessa
The wretched and forgotten Tristessa is Keening’s Darklord—a banshee of unspeakable sorrow, bound eternally to the slopes of Mount Lament.
In life, Tristessa was once an elven priestess, full of grace and pride, until the death of her child broke her mind and soul. Her keening wail—a cry of grief so powerful it sundered her spirit—resonated across reality and drew the attention of the Mists.
In death, she became a banshee, and her scream is so terrible that it can shatter glass, life, and sanity. The Dark Powers silenced her as punishment, cursing her to haunt the world in frustrated, soundless torment.
Tristessa now resides in a cavern within Mount Lament known as the Cradle of Stillbirth, where she cradles the memory of her lost child and unleashes silent howls of anguish that quake the mountain but make no sound.
She cannot speak, cry, or scream—yet her psychic agony seeps into every stone, causing creatures to weep blood, hallucinate, or act out ancient griefs they do not understand.
Tristessa is not a ruler in the traditional sense. She is a presence—a curse given form, her despair echoing through the land and enforcing a dreadful silence.
Keening is death by silence. The land itself rejects noise:
Spoken words become muffled, barely rising above whispers.
Screams, songs, and music fade unnaturally, as if devoured by the air.
Sound-based magic often fails or warps, and those who rely on hearing—bards, musicians, spellcasters—find their senses dulled or distorted.
Sonic disturbances are punished: a loud noise may awaken Tristessa’s wrath, causing tremors, psychic backlash, or spectral visitations.
The people of Anwrtyn have survived by adapting to silence. Some worship Tristessa, believing her grief must be honored. Others fear her and blame outsiders for disturbing the fragile stillness.
Keening plays on themes of grief, silence, isolation, and emotional suppression.
Grief Made Manifest: Tristessa's sorrow is not just backstory—it is the land’s essence. Travelers might be overwhelmed by memories of their own losses or haunted by Tristessa’s pain.
Sound as a Weapon: In a land where noise is cursed, the act of speaking or creating sound is a dangerous and transgressive act.
Loneliness: The land discourages community. Words cannot be easily shared, and even companionship can feel tenuous when nothing can be said aloud.
Unresolved Loss: The people of Keening live in the shadow of a sorrow they cannot name, shaped by a mourning they no longer fully understand.
Geography
Keening is hushed in the most unsettling ways. It is not merely quiet, but oppressively mute, as if the air itself swallows sound.
Mount Lament, the great mountain that dominates the land, is a jagged, foreboding peak wrapped in clouds and windless snowfall. Its presence exerts a palpable weight on the psyche, as if it listens.
Anwrtyn, a cold and isolated village at Mount Lament's base, is the only known settlement. The villagers are all deaf, either born so or rendered thus by the domain's oppressive magic. They communicate by signs or tapping rhythms into stone or wood.
The land is bleak and frost-choked, its trees gnarled and skeletal, its wildlife gaunt or unnatural. Ice forms even in summer, and the wind never carries sound.
Travelers report hearing strange vibrations through the earth, or the sensation of screams that they can feel in their bones but never actually hear.
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