The Vale and Valetouched

The Valetouched

Much is believed to be known of the region of forest that is simply referred to as the Vale from those who have braved its depths for brief periods of time. It is commonly known to those who live in regions surrounding its outskirts that the place is one that preys upon the minds of any who dares tread within the mists that fill the air amidst the trees, leaving a lingering urge to allow more of it for those who manage to escape back to safer ground. Less commonly known, but still known to many, are those who remained longer and allowed themselves to be lulled to sleep; at which point the cursed mists begin their assault on the victim’s senses, causing hallucinations and nightmares that leave phantom sensations behind that feel all too real to be mere coincidence.

For most, that would be the worst they would suffer, for no sane individual would willingly remain in the Vale for longer than that. It is clear that while the Vale seeks to lay its claim, they are not of the Vale, and the land itself rejects them… but were one to push past the mental torments and linger longer still, they might find that the Vale’s influence goes much deeper in ways that few could imagine living through. Yet, for the creatures that call the Vale home… and the unfortunate few who find themselves lost within its depths but aren’t granted the mercy of a way out, the curse becomes more ingrained within them.

These beings, referred to by those who know of them as “the Valetouched,” are no singular entity or creature, but an identity given to anything that has lingered long enough in the Vale to allow its influence to take root within them… literally. While the mists are what most focus upon as the source of the forest’s influence upon others, they hide within them a secondary source of the Vale’s ability to ensnare those within - airborne spores from the plant life that has long since been warped by the curse of the land. These spores are, in fact, the reason for the subtle urges of those who have breathed in the mists to return even after departing the Vale, for they carry small traces of the mists with them and linger within the body for a time. Normally, they eventually are expelled harmlessly, but prolonged and extended exposure to the mists, and thus breathing in more spores without leaving the Vale, allows them to truly take root within the body.

Should this begin to occur within something or someone, the symptoms can manifest in a number of ways depending on the individual and the duration of time that such effects go unnoticed or untreated, for it varies from creature to creature. Some more common effects, however, are as follows:

• Degradation of sanity as the spores and mists integrate with the consciousness of the victim
• Violent behavior toward others, particularly aimed at those who are not suffering any afflictions associated with the Vale
• A gradual conversion of portions of the body from flesh and bone to plant-like forms, typically in the extremities and moving inward. This can resemble roots, vines, moss, etc., depending on the original physiology of the subject.
• A growing tolerance toward the disorienting effects of the Vale’s mists, finding navigation to be easier… if one’s cognition is still intact.

It should be noted, however, that these effects take a long while to “naturally” begin to take effect over the typical psychosomatic effects of the mists, especially when precautions are taken against the mists themselves. Those who possess physiology hostile to the survival of the spores within the body are also protected in this manner. Furthermore, the mists themselves do not equally carry the spores in constant concentration; some pockets bear a greater density, and others carry next to none at all. It would take at minimum close to a year of regular, near-constant exposure to the Vale’s mists with enough spore density for effects notably different from the typical influences of the mist itself to take effect… Thus, such reports of “Vale-touched” beyond the creatures native to the Vale are often unreliable or just the ramblings of one who had yet to recover from a trek into the Vale.

Such effects are theoretically treatable if caught in time, but the longer they are allowed to integrate with the body, the more dangerous such efforts would be to the survival of the host. The most reliable treatment is preventing the process from even beginning at all, but if one were able to purge the spores that had managed to take root within the body’s tissues, recovery would be potentially possible.

Make no mistake, for if a sentient being were to be so deeply influenced by the Vale that they became Vale-touched and warped by the forests, they would be likely very dangerous and lacking any semblance of the sentience they once held. They would be more monster than man; a living part of the Vale itself, accepted by the cursed lands as one of its own. For one to maintain their sanity and hold over their humanity through such a transformation of the self would be a miracle in itself…