Vindicator Slice
A Wild Slice of Vengeance and Multiversal Chaos
The Southwest Canton of the Kirinal Concordance Zone is referred to as the "Vindicator Slice". It covers the only wedge of the Zone that has fully recovered from the destruction of the Kirinal Catastrophes. The waters of the Kirinal River rise out of the Pit, carrying with them a host of invasive species from across the multiverse. The elves and druids, who call themselves Thaya's Vindicators, have taken on the responsibility of conserving what is useful and culling what is not.
Even though it's run by elves, I've always been welcomed in the shadows of Menelost with the soldiers and rangers. As long as I avoid the old robe-wearing faeries, I can definitely have a good time with the young Entulesse! The Anomalous Forest has the best hunting, Thaya's Tears has the best fishing, and Menelost itself is the best party town in the Zone, hands down!
The wild southwest portion of the Kirinal Concordance Zone is named for Thaya's Vindicators, who cultivate the chaos of the only densely forested region of the Zone.
They are an alliance of moon-worshipping elves, druids, and their allies who honor the memory of the dead goddess Thaya by guarding these lands that were once her home.
The Kirinal River rises out of the Pit here, bringing the waters of the Manifest, along with whatever lives in them. Over the decades, an Anomalous Forest has grown along the riverbanks, filled with flora and fauna from across the multiverse. The Forest now covers the entire slice, spilling into the neighboring Golden and Garrison Slices.
At the river's source, the Vindicators have built a lock system to filter out pollutants, contaminants, and actual monsters. When necessary, they can raise a dam of force to block out particularly vile or hazardous flows. Fortunately, the waters of Heaven flow every seventh day, cleansing the river and resetting any damage from the previous week's Manifests.
The Gate of the Crescent Moon
The Gate of the Crescent Moon, Iant Curuin Ithil, stands underneath the living citadel of Tol Acharn. All who pass from the Manifest into Vindicator Lands, whether by river or road, must pass through it. The dam and lock complex that controls the Kirinal River's flow is woven into the living trees that form the Gate itself. Elves and druids developed this miracle of magical engineering through decades of careful horticulture and spellcraft.
The Gate forms a crescent of marble combined with the trunks and branches of immense willow trees that guard Tol Acharn. Its waters spread into a network of elven-made canals and lakes that regulate the flow downstream to Thaya's Tears. The artificers strive to guide the flow while disturbing nature as little as possible. In an emergency, they can command the trees to merge together, woven with fields of magical force, blocking everything from rivers of blood to flows of lava.
A Sea of Sweet Wine
Somewhere, out among the stars of the multiverse, there drifts an ocean of sweet red wine. On this blessed Day of Prime, the Moon: Mother, Maiden, and Crone, has brought it to us as a gift and a blessing.
Today, I have the fortunate duty of guarding Iant Curuin Ithil, the Willow Gate of the Crescent Moon. Unlike our fellows at the other Manifest Gates, we do not stand boldly before the entrance to our lands. We linger amongst the branches of the sacred willows, hidden in the green. We see those who pass by, though they rarely see us.
They call this new ocean the JamJar Sea, named by an Isekai Seeker, after a vintage from her homeworld. I drink a skin of it now, ripe berries and thick jam. Too sweet for my taste, but I imagine it will be agreeable over ice and fortified with fruit.
As the sun descends on this welcome Day of Harvest, the great tankers begin their return to their respective Manifest Gates. Those passing through the Willow Moon float beneath our watchful branches. The fireflies flash green for those that pass unmolested. For those that flash red, we descend.
A small balloon glides through, piloted by a rabbitfolk doe, one of our client peoples. The lightning bugs flash yellow, and I make myself known.
"Hail Sister Rabbit! I'll need to inspect your..." I broke off as I grew closer, recognizing her. "Pardon, mum! I didn't recognize you out of uniform!"
She laughed. "Hail Brother Entulesse! That's correct, if I were on duty, you'd have to salute me, but I'm not. Please carry out your charge."
"Yes, mum!" I made a show of inspecting her little balloon, noting the casks of JamJar strapped to the deck. Satisfied, I waved her through.
Tol Acharn
The green living fortress, Tol Acharn, sinks its roots into the southwestern rim of the Pit. Its towers grow from living trees woven together through the ancient arcane arts of Amredhel and the primal power of the druids of Tarfydd. On a Day of War, the fortress itself shifts and grows to meet the threat. Living battlements crowded with archers extend over the Pit. Some of the towers are living Sky-crown Dreadnaughts, capable of tearing free from the fortress to rain down magical bombardments before returning and taking root once more.
The Dryad Who Sang
I have not been small enough to be drunk for more than a century, but the river runs red with wine today. I can feel the delightful buzz once more. I remember when I was young and mortal. I remember when I sang and danced with my pipe-playing friends.
He played for me on pipes of reed,
On bed of leaves he met my needs.
Now he sleeps, beneath my keel,
The faun who once did spin my wheel.
I basked in my pleasant memories until a voice broke my reverie.
"I never knew a skyship could sing so sweetly!", said a rabbitfolk standing beneath my stern.
"I wasn't always a ship, Sister Rabbit!" I replied with a chuckle. "Once, I was a little like you. A dryad of the deep forest, bound to a tree that was also a star craft."
"And now you're bound to a warship?"
"Bound, little one? Of course not! I serve the Moon: Crone, Mother, and Maiden! My body now carries you and yours to her silver realm! My home is no longer a grove of trees, but the stars themselves! Tell me, who is bound? Thee or me?"
Menelost Telperion
The settlement of Menelost Telperion takes its name from the gigantic silver tree with naked branches that towers above it. Once the blessed Silver Tree of Thaya, it died when she did, on the first night of the War Against the Far Realm.
Still beloved by those who worshipped her, the elves and druids built a military base around it. In time a city grew around its roots. The tree itself now serves as a great skyport, it's boughs serving as docking platforms for Telperion Skyships that launch towards the Shattered Moon when it rises full in the sky.
The fortress-town hums with activity: soldiers and skyship crews celebrating life before facing death on the surface of the Shattered Moon.
Karaoke Night Under the Silver Tree
Despite the free wine flowing in the river right next to Menelost Telperion, the bars of Silver Shadow Grove were overflowing tonight. Or maybe it was because of the free wine, every starling on leave had money to burn dirt-side, and they were determined to spend it no matter what! Street food vendors hawked balut in the shell and banana leaves of bibingka, the smoke from coal fires curled up to the silver boughs.
I was in my usual spot, sweet wine sangria in one hand and a hex crystal microphone in the other, belting out my favorite song, "She's a Troublemaker", when my contact finally showed up in her Moon Balloon.
I wrapped up the chorus and rushed over for a hug. "I'm so proud of you, Lieutenant Little Moon!"
"Thank you, Lt. Ulalen, I..." the rabbitfolk began, straightening into a salute.
I waved it off. "Enough of that Littlle Moon! We're the same rank now! You can call me Aymer!"
She grinned, flashing her buck teeth. "It still feels weird, but I'll try!"
"So," I said glancing at her balloon, "were you able to get the wine we need in that little balloon of yours?"
"Absolutely! If I learned one thing from my mama, it's how to load a balloon! I managed to get five casks up here for you to take to ger on the Barrow Shard."
"I'm really looking forward to meeting the famous Ambrosia the Shard Drifter!" I leaned in and counted. "But there are six casks here?"
"The last one's for me," Little Moon replied with a wink. "I've got plans for it. Now, let's see if the karaoke guy has this song I just learned!"
Andon Vairea
Andon Vairea sits on the Outer Ring of the Zone, where the mandates of the Concordance end amidst the chaos of the Anomalous Forest. The settlement marks the place where the Kirinal River dives beneath the rails of the outer ring and rushes out into the Kirinal Wastes. Here, the elves and druids have grown the final living lock, a woven tangle of trees and sluices, to filter out any pollutants that the Kirinal Pit may have sent downstream.
Despite the danger this deep in the Forest, Andon Vairea thrives. Many rangers choose to raise their families here. Some who seek to escape civilization, and its prying eyes, also come here to live on the fringes of the Concordance.
The Distillation of Winesea Brandy
Yes Mama, five casks." I said to the flickering ,crackling image in my hedron. "They'll be with Lt. Ulalen, she's really excited to meet you!"
The static began to surge, "Mama, the syzygy's ending!"
My mother's middle-aged face shimmered, she began waving energetically. "I'll be looking forward to it, honey! Thanks for thinking of me! Love to you and your partners!"
"Love you, Mama! Say hi to my dads and the kits!" The connection to the Shattered Moon ended with a snap.
I looked up at the Shattered Moon and waved, knowing she was waving back down to me. When I was a kit, I used to stare at the blue-green world below and dream of walking in the forest. Now here I was, living in it.
My balloon floated down to the ramshackle riverside building that had become my home, the Anomalous Lock Distillery.
"Pip! Nyla! I'm home!"
A pair of shifters, one feline the other houndish, burst from the doorway. Their aprons already stained with syrup and smoke.
"Little Moon! Welcome home!", Pip the hound exclaimed. "Let's get that cask into the pot!"
Nyla the cat grinned, "We're about to make history, you know! The first batch of Winesea Brandy!"
There's so much to discover in this article. It really makes your world come alive. I like the narrative woven throughout about the sea made of wine. They'll have to wait for it to come back to make some more brandy!
Explore Etrea | WorldEmber 2025
Thank you so much! These slice articles take a lot of time and effort, I love making them. I'm glad to see that you do too!
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