Veirloh
Veirloh is a rugged limestone island, ancient and unyielding, where the tortle and Cenotaph dwell among deep roots of magic and history. Sheer cliffs crumble into the sea, and towering stone stacks stand like forgotten sentinels along the coast. Dense, uncharted jungles press against labyrinths of sharp rock sails that rise and twist across the land like petrified waves. Beneath it all, endless cenotes yawn open into the shadowed sea caves below, drawing the curious and the reckless alike into the heart of an island that continues to return to the sea.
Battlemaps set in this location
The Falling Lake
Along the northern cliff coast of Veirloh Island lies a large crater lake atop what was once a mountain. It was leveled into a towering crater during the same lunar meteor event that created the Baldaraj sinkhole on the opposite side of the island. The southern rim of the crater is open, allowing the lake to pour out in a massive seasonal waterfall that floods the tiered cliffs below for a third of the year. During the remaining months, the lake slowly refills from periodic rains, glimmering like a silver bowl filled with clear blue water.
The Falling Lake is among the most isolated places in Crudilex, as reaching it requires a perilous climb from either the slick coastal cliffs below or through the untamed jungles and cenotes of the southern face. The few mortals who have reached the summit arrived by airship, unaware they were the first to set foot there.
The Cenotes
Veirloh Island is almost completely made up of limestone, and as such, is riddled with cracks and caves formed by the frequent tropical rainstorms common to the region. As the lime slowly dissolves and washes away, cavities form beneath the surface, occasionally causing the ground to collapse into the sea caves below. These sudden collapses open circular sinkholes like windows up from below.
These cenotes are especially common in the Stone Forest and the northern parts of the island. They are notorious as lairs for all manner of monsters and are generally avoided. The creatures that dwell within are often aggressive, and the footing around these sinkholes is never entirely secure. One wrong step could send an explorer plummeting into a basilisk’s den hidden beneath the ferns or dropping a hundred feet into an underground lake.
Uogosho
Uogosho is home to the Cenotaph, a race of awakened arcane golems who are magically bound to the central structure of the city, a vast marble archive. This enormous archive stands half-submerged in the bay, preserving knowledge from the slow erosion of time. Stone tablets are inscribed with extraordinarily intricate runes, which only the Cenotaph can read. These tablets allow a Cenotaph loyal to Uogosho to absorb the contents of entire books directly into their minds from anywhere in Crudilex instantly.
Even as the tides rose and swallowed much of the library, the ancient Cenotaph continued their duties without pause. Unbothered by the sea, they remained steady in their work, with no need to breathe. Today, the same constructs who once built the city continue to inhabit it. Their bodies are covered in moss and vines, shaped by years of overgrowth. They have adapted to live alongside the encroaching jungle, allowing the fast-growing plants to weave into their stone forms and into the towering, brutalist architecture of the Uogosho itself.
Eastern Stacks
The Eastern Stacks are towering limestone sea stacks that rise from the waters along the eastern coast of Veirloh Island, each topped with tufts of jungle. They stretch along the shoreline, marking the path toward the Trapjaw Keys. These formations stand as what remains of a much larger landmass in the shape of Veirloh before thousands of years of erosion slowly wore the limestone cliffs away, leaving only these scattered pillars above the surf.
God’s Cradle Island
God’s Cradle Island lies at the westernmost edge of Crudilex, a landmass split in two by the Soulgate. Long ago, this island was the stone prison of the god of the sea. On the Day of Dawn, the powers that held the deity captive weakened, and the divine force within erupted, breaking free. The shattered mountain left behind now stands as a husk, like a discarded cocoon.
The world has forgotten the true significance of this place. The island rests in the central bay of the West Reef, an extremely treacherous stretch of ocean notorious for its violent tides and shifting currents. The island itself is often hidden beneath the ever-changing sea, appearing and vanishing with the tides. God’s Cradle is one of the rare places where a traveler can approach and physically touch the Soulgate. Some believe the island’s rocky cliffs and fractured crevices conceal secrets, perhaps a hidden path that leads beyond the mortal world, or a lingering connection to the divine power that once entombed there.
The Noctrite Meteor
The Noctrite Meteor fell on the ancient marble metropolis of Azoum, striking the limestone island with such force that it caused a massive sinkhole to open—perhaps the largest in all of Crudilex. In its wake, the impact left behind a powerful Sanguine Ley Line anchor. The surge of sanguine essence into the region was the first of its kind in the western seas, awakening entirely new forms of magic and life.
The sinkhole itself became a strange and unique biome. Deep, hanging mists and trapped moisture gradually transformed the area into a lush rainforest, like a vast natural vivarium. Towering plants and colossal fauna thrive, all shaped and altered by the constant pulses of blood magic that radiate from the ley line’s core.
Stormwrack Pass
Deep within the Stone Forest lies a narrow stretch of land between two ridges, forming the clearest and most direct passage through the region. This natural corridor offers what would otherwise be an ideal route across the island, cutting through an area where the dense limestone formations make travel nearly impossible.
However, It is home to a territorial sky giant who rarely leaves his storm cloud form. His presence causes constant downpours, lightning strikes, and flash floods. The storm unwilling to allow anyone to cross through its territory.
Stone Forest
The entire northeastern quarter of Veirloh Island is covered by the Stone Forest, a vast, jagged expanse of towering limestone outcrops that make travel nearly impossible on foot. Sacred to the people of Veirloh, these sharp rock formations are the remnants of ancient fossils, worn away over thousands of years by relentless rainstorms. What remains are long, blade-like fins of stone that rise and fall across the land, forming a maze of stone sails.
Very little of the region is passable. Though climbing is possible, it requires exhausting effort, often taking hours to move just a few feet while scaling ridge after ridge of sharp stone and carefully avoiding the deep, narrow pits that lie between the rocks. Because of this the Stone Forest remains largely unexplored. Within its depths, countless animals and monsters have adapted to the harsh terrain, thriving without interference from hunters or adventurers.
Plasour
Plasour is a coastal village nestled within deep emerald forests, rich with ivy, ferns, and towering trees. The landscape thrives under the endless rains and countless creeks that flow down from Stormwrack, filling the region with vibrant shades of green and constant mist.
The village is home to a tortle community renowned for their woodworking. Their homes are built on raised platforms, passed down through generations, each adorned with intricate scrollwork and masterful carvings all glistening in the mist.
Baldaraj
Baldaraj is a sinkhole forest formed by a Noctrite impact. It is home to the village of the Cult of Baldaraj, a group of tortles who worship the massive shard of red Noctrite that lies at the heart of the crater. The alien magic of some being trapped inside of this crystal has caused the Tortles who've attuned to it to act in strange and inhuman ways, leaving them silent, emotionless and still.
Long ago the city of Azoum was crushed under a meteor that fell from the shattered moon. The event was cataclysmic, bringing mass death as fragments of the moon rained down upon Crudilex, causing widespread devastation. Within these meteors were enormous red crystals known as Noctrite. Some, like the one that created the Baldaraj sinkhole, even contained imprisoned creatures from beyond the world.
In the years following the impact, a unique tortle culture rose around the crater. The tortles of Baldaraj soul-bond with the lunar creatures trapped within the crystal, using their empathy to study and understand these alien beings. However, this process alters them. In their obsession to fully grasp the soul of the creature inside, they changed, losing the warmth and emotion that defines others of their kind. This unsettling transformation has led to a deep-rooted mistrust of planar travelers among the tortles of Veirloh. Many believe that anything from beyond Crudilex poses a threat, and they fear becoming like the quiet, distant tortles of the cult of Baldaraj.
West Reef
The West Reef is a broken expanse of pink coral lying at the very edge of the world. It is known as the resting place of Blackfoot’s Folly, the legendary explorer vessel said to have been the first to sail from the inner lands to the outermost reaches of Crudilex.
This treacherous reef lies wedged between the Soulgate—a massive shimmering barrier that prevents anything from leaving Crudilex—and the island coast. The tides in this region are infamous and unpredictable. The waters rise and fall by hundreds of feet, surging and draining east to west as the sea itself is shaken from below, like water sloshing in an enormous basin. Because of these violent and erratic tides, the West Reef is considered impossible to sail by boat.
Azoum
Azoum is a half-flooded marble metropolis, the seat of the Caretaker, the Seer-King, and his court of Minders—renowned chronomancers of exceptional skill. The tortle of Azoum are highly defensive by nature, their hard shells like a metaphor for both their city and their society. Towering fortified walls, arcane artillery, and powerful siege defenses all stand ready to shield them from what they have come to see as a dangerous and hostile world.
The city of Azoum was founded during the reign of the winged serpent Liki’Akamora, whose devastation of his kingdoms to the north left nothing untouched. Fearing that they would be next, the tortle of Azoum began to prepare for the worst—and they never stopped preparing. Though Akamora never descended upon them, their culture of fear remained deeply rooted. The city continued to fortify and isolate itself, its walls growing ever higher with each passing generation. Even now, the tortle of Azoum remain vigilant, convinced that the serpent king or some other danger like him will one day descend upon them.
Minder’s Clock
Upon the crowning of a new Seer-king, called a caretaker, the grand clock begins to count. When a chime sounds, it signals an era of great change. At the fourth chime, the king falls dead. No one knows exactly when these chimes will come, yet no king may wear the crown without first winding the grand clock.
The Minder’s Clock is an Atlantean device from the Age of Magic, originally known as an Antikythera Calendar—a gift to the tortle from the ancient Atlanteans. For thousands of years, it has shaped the cultural and religious beliefs of the tortle. The clock grants limited glimpses into the future and chimes to signal times of great upheaval in the world. Caretakers and minders who read the clock must sacrifice a portion of their life force to wind it once every four chimes. This solemn act is regarded as a mournful, sacred duty. Since the tortle believe in their own immortality, it is said that they must all eventually take on the mantle of caretaker.
The Seers in the sand
The Seers in the Sand comprise the only chronomancer university in the world of Crudilex. While the inner countries of the Plains of Avarice strictly prohibit the practice of chronomancy, making the study of this magic largely mysterious, Veirloh never developed such taboos. In fact, the culture of Azoum embraced the ability to glimpse the future as a central element of their religion.
The Seers in the Sand train scholars skilled in the art of omen reading called Minders, particularly the reading of sand fall. They pour grains into bowls and interpret the shapes they form, or study objects washed ashore by the sea. These subtle signs provide clues to future events and guide their predictions.
The school itself is housed within a seastake accessible only by land bridge at low tide. the inner halls topped by a stained glass orb roof that filters the sunlight in vibrant patterns over the minders within.
Sunken Azoum
The city of Azoum was originally founded as a center for learning, dedicated to exploring the natural world and understanding the laws that govern Crudilex. It was one of the oldest such places, perhaps even the very first. In its early days, the tortle and the Atlanteans worked together, uniting their knowledge to study the mysteries of the world. They brought their discoveries to Veirloh, where they carefully examined and cataloged them.
However, an upheaval within the Atlantean courts caused many to flee back to their distant capital, leaving the tortle of Azoum to manage the accumulated knowledge on their own. Over time, the old Atlantean quarter of the city fell into disrepair as more and more of its original residents departed. Eventually, neglect and erosion allowed the sea to claim the district, swallowing entire blocks. Today, the sunken quarters of Azoum are made up largely of these abandoned Atlantean structures, their marble ruins now lying beneath the tides.