Ruins of Urkovain
Urkovain was once a shining city in the Ursian Empire. It's minarets reached towards the heavens like a challenge to the gods and its Sorcerer Lords commanded untold powers. When the empire fell the city was completely destroyed, the land around it shattered, leaving only waste and ruins for miles.
The City That Was
Urkovain was a center of knowledge and learning for the empire. The Ærinoran Elves remember it as a place of wonders and achievements not seen since, surpassing even the magics of modern Dalestone. It was a place where those of power gathered to study the very forces of magic, share their knowledge, and increase it. It's great Lyceum was a centre of philosophy an education, a birthplace of ideas.
Some legends say Zoneth even once wandered the halls of its colleges, either before his godly ascension or to see what magics the mortals would craft from his gifts, for this was the time when the gods strode across the land and mingled with the people of Anvimar. Some say it was Zoneth's presence with the city that gave rise to so many sorcerers within its walls; that people came seeking his blessing and he would awaken the magic within the worthy. While others believe this is foolishness and the Ursian's tapped into some eldritch power, something better left alone, and that is what caused the final destruction of the city.
So it has remained for the last several centuries, a deadly desert scar in the South Eastern corner of the Northern kingdom of Korinthia. The land outside the desert still shows signs of magical blight for some distance, and the nearby dwarven city of Dun Derg has kept its gates long sealed against the surface.
The Ruin That Is
After the fall of the Ursian Empire, the land withered. The great buildings lay in ruins, the grand towers beaten down. In the following decades nearby farmers tried to till the land only to find their crops fail, season after season, and attempts to reclaim the land were soon abandoned. Those who dared to tread closer to the ruined city fled in fear and spoke of shambling horrors.
Then one day things go worse.
The former wasteland turned to sand and dust. Thunderclouds covered the fallen city and the land for miles around, rarely letting the sun through. The very air became a villain filled with rage, whipping sand and dirt with deadly force and any who approached seeking out treasures of the fallen.
Residents
Some say the ruins are haunted by the former residents, turned into terrible monsters that now wander the fallen city. Few get close enough to know for sure. Travelers on the old highway that passes below the cliffs of Urkovain warn of kobolds who have taken up residence in the wastes and occasionally raid travellers and caravans. They dig warrens below ground, avoiding the violent surface, and fight minor territorial wars between their tiny clans. Encounters suggest they compete for the beneficence of some master or god, and occasionally posses minor magics.
Comments