Sundered Plains

The Sundered Plains are a dark and alien landscape. Unholy creatures roam once fertile fields, now blighted by the dark forces released from Titan's Lair. Rain still falls and rivers still dot the land, flowing into stinking bogs and marshes, lost in chasms so deep they seem to penetrate the core of the world. Ragged outcrops of trees, hardly true forests now, still dot the landscape, but one enters their presence at their own risk.

The days seem perpetually overcast on the plains themselves, only giving way to sunlit skies as one enters the foothills of the Burya mountain range. A ceaseless wind stirs the ominous landscape. Foul and nightmarish creatures roam the land where once magnificently beautiful beasts dwelt.

Geography and History
Once known as the Khardassan Plains, this region stretches in all directions from sea to sea north of Heradheim. It is bordered in the north by the vast Khibiny Mountain Range, the east and west by the ocean, and south by Heradheim. The land is dotted with small hills and mountains. During this period and for time out of mind, the plains have been the populated world's breadbasket. Rich and fertile, well-watered from rivers flowing from sources high in the various mountains, it made ideal farmland.

Small forest groves also dotted the plains, providing shelter for a variety of native wildlife and a few people that wished to live more directly off the land. Around the plains themselves roamed great herds of beasts...a massive bison, gazelle like creatures, and wild horses. There were smaller creatures as well, ground-hog like rodents, birds. It was a beautiful land and, for the most part, peaceful.

The Khibiny Mountain Range
The Khibiny Mountain Range (aka the Khibins, etc.) are a high range of magnificent peaks, deep valleys, staggering beautiful waterfalls and seemingly bottomless chasms that serve as the northern most border of the Sundered Plains. The mountain range extends from coast to coast, traversing approximately 4,500 miles. At their narrowest point, they are some 300 miles across and up to 600 miles across at their widest making crossing the mountains a very perilous and labor intensive journey. In total, they cover just over 500,000 square miles. The highest peak, deep in the northwest region of the range, is Mt. Elbrus at 30,000 feet. The highest inhabited mountain area is Mt. Burya at just over 18,000 feet above sea level. The lands beyond the Khibins are mostly unknown. In olden times, maps of that are simply read Here there be monsters.

Climate and Weather
The Khardassan Plains had a wide variety of weather through the year, with very cold and harsh winters and very hot and humid summers. Wind speeds are often very high. Grasslands are among the least protected biomes. The Khardassan Plains were subject to dust storms mostly every year or so.

The Sundering
The land underwent a major rapid upheaval, seeming to change overnight. Approximately three-hundred years ago, the Khardassan Plains were struck by powerful forces. Magic of unspeakable power was released and the land fought back. Mountains walked, twisted, arose to new heights and crumbled to dust and rocky outcroppings. There were untold losses of magnificent animals and people. Amidst the devastation, a new geography and climate was born. The Khardassan Plains became known as the Sundered Plains and the events that forever changed them as The Sundering.

More than the Khardassan Plains were affected by the Sundering. For how each region was affected, please read the information on that land and region.

The Present
The Sundered Plains are a dark and alien landscape. Unholy creatures roam once fertile fields, now blighted by the dark forces released from Titan's Lair. Rain still falls and rivers still dot the land flowing into stinking bogs and marshes and across the land to be lost in chasms so deep they seem to penetrate the core of the world. Ragged outcrops of trees, hardly true forests now, still dot the landscape, but one enters their presence at their own risk.

The days seem perpetually overcast on the plains themselves only giving way to sunlit skies as one enters the foothills of the Khibins and enter elevations high above the plains. A ceaseless wind stirs the ominous landscape. Foul and nightmarish creatures roam the land where once magnificently beautiful beasts dwelt.

Forests still exist and, in fact, have grown across the plains. They are, however, dark and damp places, some littered with fallen leaves although the trees seem perpetually bare of limb. Tangled underbrush hides foul things, nightmarish things. Thorns and vines seek to entangle and rend. The forests, especially the now massive Dark Wood, are places to be avoided if possible.

The Khibiny Mountain Range was the least affected by the Sundering, but it was affected. As the chaos reigned, entire mountains seemed to walk the land while valleys were twisted asunder, some even caving into chasms of an unknown depth. The dark creatures of the Chaos do roam the mountains, more forcefully in the foothills, but appearing here and there, usually with little to no warning, in the mountains themselves. The people that survived the Sundering withdrew to the extreme highland valleys and forests. Even there, they are not entirely safe.

The Henges
As if in self-defense, a last bastion of the Light, a new feature now dots the landscape of the plains. Seeming to have been created by the land itself as it sought to protect those within its embrace, great and small circles of stone dot the landscape, arising mostly on tops of hillocks although a few hide within circular glades in the forests. One massive henge, The Great Henge, stands on a small rise almost exactly dead center of the plains. Most are only large enough for a small group of people and animals to abide in, the Great Henge could encompass an army.

The henges seem to be a safe haven, of sorts. Most have grown up around fresh, running rills or springs that bubble up from aquifers deep underground. To safely cross the plains and forests, it is wise to have a map of the henges. Sleeping out in the open is ill-advised.

A henge's protection is not permanent, nothing and no one can live within their circle forever. Their magic or wards, whatever empowers them, drains away gradually when they are occupied. The more that seek their protection, the shorter time period they can be protected. Some of the henges even burn out and cannot be recharged.

Henges come in all sizes, but are uniformly circular. The may encompass an entire glade, massive stones ringing it with their backs literally to the trees. They can also be circles of small stones, like those used to ring a cook fire. The henges that dot the plains and set atop hillocks tend to be created of the massive stones and locked together by equally massive lintels set atop them. Some of these very large henges contain smaller circles within. All operate the same way, however, nothing of the Dark may enter. As their charge dwindles (sometimes needing days or months to fully replenish), their protection wanes as well.

Be it known that the seeming safe haven of a henge is also a double edged sword. If the unwary seek their protection, unprepared to move on when their power is exhausted, they can be taken by the things prowling the henge's perimeter. Use their protection carefully and drink of their waters sparingly.

In some instances, it seems that drinking the water of a henge will renew one's energy. Drinking too much, can have the opposite affect. Attempting to carry water from the henge destroys any of its benevolent qualities and drinking of it puts one as much at risk as drinking any of the bog water on the Plains.

There are henges throughout the Khibiny Mountain Range. However, the further from the plains you travel, the fewer there are.

The People
Most of the plains dwellers were killed during the Sundering and most that survived and remained were changed in hideous ways. Those that still dwell in the plains have become known as the Revenants. The Sundered Plains, its forests and hills, have become the refuge of the darkest of criminals, people seeking to use or misuse its chaotic powers, or Apostates fleeing the Sacellum. A few were able to retreat to the foothills of the Khibiny Mtn. Range and make their way to safe, small communities that still survive in the highlands.

Magic and Chaos
Due to the focus and force of the energies released from Titan's Lair during the Sundering, while magic still works, it is dangerous and unpredictable. Benign workings can run amok becoming the antithesis of what the user intended. Often the magic recoils on the user, changing them, even sometimes killing...or worse.