Creeping Blight

On the northern edge of the Aurupladi at the borders of the Folding Ruin lies a territory forsaken by the light. Forever shrouded by clouds of ash and dust that blow in from the depths of the Folding Ruin, grass splinters as if brittle shards of glass. Standing pools of water seek to cling to anything it can touch. Each step into the dirt risks sinking into unseen graves. The twisted and corrupted domain spreads unabated, uncured by the missionaries that first found this grave state. Far beyond the reach of any state, scholars petition their superiors to not ignore the growing threat.
The Creeping Blight was discovered after reports of couriers reported barren villages and bodies found traveling the road. A mission was devised by commanders of Mustanir, whose people often travel venture across the Aurupladi. The large company would travel westward, following courier reports. As the legions of Mustanir found the dessicated corpses, there were rumors of corruption that had touched the bodies. Clerics were sought to support and suppress the corruption where they found it, eradicating the traces of the blight.
It was during this time that they first found creatures that were spawn of corrupted lands. The twilight region of the Aurupladi cast in the shadows by the towering mountains, footfalls fell upon the broken land. Clerics, petrified at what they found, began attempted to purge the land of blight. Howls of agony, heard in their own minds, caused great terror. The mission floundered as many fled from the land. As they fled, the knights of Mustanir witness a creature of great stature lumbering in the haze, the ground trembling as it walked. Filled with dread, the company returned to Mustanir.
In the Creeping Blight, Lipikine are ancient creatures of Osgolip that tear the essence from anything they found. They feed endlessly, plagued with an endless hunger. Vampiric threshers, creatures that twist nature into nightmares, feed on the Lipikine. There, they spread, seeking only to multiply. Where there is life, the threshers steer the Lipikine.
Over the past decades, the Creeping Blight has expanded over hundreds of acres. Deep within, intelligence has formed. Cities ruined have become infested by those that have been once thought dead yet perserved by a thirst for life. Their lifeforce now forever changed, is driven by the desire to feed. But still, it is not thoughtless. Within the creeping blight, communities and a hierarchy has formed. But the lines of life are tethered to a master they do not know. The master of corruption.

Geography

The Creeping Blight extends largely into the plains of the Aurupladi, but have large stretches into the Folding Ruin. It is assumed that the abundance of essence found within the Aurupladi has drawn expansion southwards rather than deeper into the Folding Ruin. The ground found within the domain of the Creeping Blight is often found to be soft, breaking apart at the lightest touch. There is little to no vegetation as the common Lipikine devour just about anything. However, the remains of trees or plants with hard stems or dense structures are found present, but lifeless.
The exception comes from the water that does flow into the Creeping Blight. Often seen as a lifeline, the water carries free essence into the vast region. The dried ground becomes a muddied, sinking ooze. Storms that pour over the Creeping Blight only further feed its inevitable expansion as the Lipikine multiply.

History

The Creeping Blight came to be as Lipikine, traditionally wandering creatures, came in contact with a symbiotic parasite capable of controlling the Lipikine. By feasting off of the essence that the Lipikine collected without killing the beast, the vampiric threshers (as this sort of creature is called), produced large swathes of barren area. As the Lipikine continued to consume reinforcing, living structures in the area, a haze of dust became almost constant. This allowed the vampiric threshers, who are weary of being in a vulnerable state (prefering instead to be shrouded or hidden), to venture further out in their domain. The corrupting touch of the vampiric threshers is sufficient, unless treated, to corrupt the nature of the parallel/sovereign relationship. As such, the vampiric threshers have inadvertently produced a territory in which corrupted creatures represent a majority.

Location under

Aurupladi