The unkowable empty
The Plains of Avarice
The years leading up to the Day of Dawn were filled with war and turmoil, making it easy to overlook the changes happening all around. Yet one thing everyone noticed was the lowering tide and the loss of the great seas. Now, years later, the ocean is gone, leaving behind hundreds of miles of grassy rolling hills known as the Plains of Avarice. The great grass plains divide the world into nations, cutting them off like a windswept ocean of tall grass. The average folk fear wandering out into the grass be it superstition or the dangers that lurk hidden within. The only safe way is a path called the Old Road, which cuts through the valleys and is seldom disturbed by the twisted monsters of the fields. The Totemic people call these roads home, and many who travel between the four nations do so among their merchant caravans for protection.
Today the grasslands is plagued by the warped nightmare creatures known as Iv Warped, Twisted magical mutants that have been driven to monstrosity by their unquenchable lust for magic. Transformed by the call of this alien landscape, Black metal spheres that countless risk their lives to hunt: the Siren's Song that promises a source to tap of endless magical essence, which draws those brave or foolish enough to leave the road to scour the fields seeking power; called The Fragments of IV.
Battlemaps set in this location
The Fragments of Iv
Out In the plains powerful artifacts called Fragments of IV can be found, and at first seem unassuming; if one were to stumble upon one without prior knowledge, it would appear to be an iron ball no bigger than a balled fist, marked with runes. Yet a constant war of attrition is being waged in those hillsides over these artifacts.
The horrible truth about the Fragments of IV is that they hold near-limitless arcane potential, and a trained magic user can draw on them as a focus to accomplish virtually any task. However, the tragedy for those who seek these artifacts is that they are doomed to a single fate. Those who draw from the power of a Fragment of IV are changed by it in equal measure; the greater the task, the further they stray from recognizable humanity. IV-warped aberrations roam the hills, forever starved for the same arcana that transformed them into monsters.
These beasts, both loathed and feared, are pale and twisted. Only a trained eye can recognize what race they once belonged to. Most adventurers know to give them a wide berth if their paths cross.
The Outriders
The mounted tribes of Outriders are wild enough to hunt for fragments using any means necessary. They down automota, shatter totemic caravans, and even fight aberrations. These madmen are survivors in the aftermath of the Great Fall, and they have nothing left to lose.
The Outriders are feared almost as much as the monsters of the plains, precisely because they look death in the face and, instead of fleeing, scream war cries and embrace it.
CULTURE
Rulership
No one group truly controls the Plains. The Mamas of the Totemic are the closest thing to rulers along the Old Road. They decide at each rest stop whether travelers can walk with their caravan or not. To travel alone is a death sentence, making them the de facto leaders of the region. Outside their protection, the area remains lawless.
Taboos
Taking Anything from Beyond the Walls: After years of walking the Old Road, the Totemic have established a firm rule: anything that falls beyond the walls lining the path is considered lost. After losing several of their own to the pull of the Fragments, they became superstitious about the valleys where these artifacts can be found.
Turmoil
The Endless War
The Fragments have been tapped in a way that, so far, seems to leave the user unaffected. The Automota—a term the people of Crudilex use for the many kinds of war machines that prowl the plains—are at the forefront of this phenomenon.
Golems, tree ents, ogres, clockworks, undead giants, and the Automota all share a common source of power: the Fragments of IV. These wildly different hulking war beasts draw their incredible strength from these artifacts, allowing for limited yet safe access to that seemingly limitless arcane energy.
The Plains Region
The Endless War
The Fragments have been tapped in a way that, so far, seems to leave the user unaffected. The Automota—a term the people of Crudilex use for the many kinds of war machines that prowl the plains—are at the forefront of this phenomenon.
Golems, tree ents, ogres, clockworks, undead giants, and the Automota all share a common source of power: the Fragments of IV. These wildly different hulking war beasts draw their incredible strength from these artifacts, allowing for limited yet safe access to that seemingly limitless arcane energy.