The Twilight Gate
Although many of the aeryths that fortify the borders of
Ios lie deep within the forest, the Twilight Gate stands at
the very edges of the woods, rising out of the shadows of
the mountain peaks that separate the elven nation from
the Bloodstone Marches beyond. Each of the gate’s pillars
is formed from a single, massive stone carved with ancient
Iosan symbols, and each was once warded by potent Magic.
Shortly before the Claiming, skorne poured through these gates from the Bloodstone Marches to the south, and although the Iosan defenders fought with all their might, they were unable to turn back the invaders before they had penetrated deep into the elven nation.
The Twilight Gate still bears the scars of these battles. The pillar to the north, which was partially shattered during the conflict, now juts forth like a broken tooth, and for more than a mile beyond the gate, many of the trees and plants still show signs of the devastation wrought by the invading skorne army. For whatever reason, what little vegetation has grown back here is sickly and strange, and the trees contort themselves into unnatural shapes, their branches reaching like claws toward any who pass by.
There are those who say that the elves and the skorne formed a desperate alliance in the last days of the invasion as the magnitude of the infernal threat became clear. If the tale is to be believed, the Iosan turned upon the skorne when the danger was over and slew them without mercy. The blood spilled during that act of betrayal is said to be the cause of the strange and threatening plant life that has sprung up near the Twilight Gate, and it is why the ghosts of slain skorne and even the feral spirits of tormented warbeasts still walk these woods—or so the story goes.
Shortly before the Claiming, skorne poured through these gates from the Bloodstone Marches to the south, and although the Iosan defenders fought with all their might, they were unable to turn back the invaders before they had penetrated deep into the elven nation.
The Twilight Gate still bears the scars of these battles. The pillar to the north, which was partially shattered during the conflict, now juts forth like a broken tooth, and for more than a mile beyond the gate, many of the trees and plants still show signs of the devastation wrought by the invading skorne army. For whatever reason, what little vegetation has grown back here is sickly and strange, and the trees contort themselves into unnatural shapes, their branches reaching like claws toward any who pass by.
There are those who say that the elves and the skorne formed a desperate alliance in the last days of the invasion as the magnitude of the infernal threat became clear. If the tale is to be believed, the Iosan turned upon the skorne when the danger was over and slew them without mercy. The blood spilled during that act of betrayal is said to be the cause of the strange and threatening plant life that has sprung up near the Twilight Gate, and it is why the ghosts of slain skorne and even the feral spirits of tormented warbeasts still walk these woods—or so the story goes.
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