Wild Zone - Elysium

"The rocks cut into my feet with each step, and with every other step, my skin cracked and shed even more. Every ounce of life falls from me, taken from me by the soil, by the air, by the envy of this dead earth. Even the sky wishes me dead, as the burning eye of the sun has not let me out of its sight for days without relief. I pray that I have done something to slight the land or invite this curse on myself. For, if this is the fate of all who venture here then I can imagine no other reason than that this land merely despises us."

--Final entry of a wanderer's journal, found in the remains of an Elysian Beast.

Out of the five chaotic Wild Zones that surround the main continent of Edda, Elysium is one of the deadliest. Existing to the East of Avalon, and carefully watched by the soldiers of Rongomyniad, Elysium's closest land is full of jagged, treacherous mountains. Some daring souls, powered on by the spirit of adventure, or the promise of greatness, have attempted to venture past its borders, but the land seemed to deny them that victory.
For one, the specific entanglement of the Leylines saps any and all magic from the land and those who travel through it. Each mortal being has a bit of mana taken by the environment, much like how we all exhale, but the land in Elysium doesn't return any magic for the metaphorical inhale.
Second, the few brave expeditions into Elysium that have returned to tell the tale speak of a strange environmental paradox, where even after hours upon hours of daylight, the sun will still hang in the sky. Even after setting, it'll begin to rise mere moments later.
Third, and most conquerable of issues, the terrain is incredibly harsh, with jagged rocks, sheer cliffs, and seemingly endless mountains stopping logical travel, and even those who can fly naturally find it hard to pass the mountains as they get closer together and taller, meaning safety only exists where the air is too thin to breathe.
Clinically, Druids and other casters who specialize in Leyline health describe the effect of the environment as an internal clog of the leylines, but it's been so persistent, and the land is so harsh, that there's no way for them to repair it, especially for however long Elysium might really spread, since no one has ever passed its mountains.

Geography

Elysium consists of arid, rocky deserts scattered with tall mountains with steep, jagged peaks. All of the previous expeditions into the land have shown no sign of even former water sources, such as rivers or lakes, and no signs of plant life ever existing either. Some people have theorized, due to the strange effects of the sun in this region, that this is because the land is in fact locked in a sort of stasis, but there's no way to confirm or deny that idea. However, it is contradicted in some circles, as old stories and mythologies that seem to reference the region describe it as a wide plain of golden flowers and wheat, giving Edda the term Elysian Fields.

Localized Phenomena

There are many strange phenomena that occur within the borders of Elysium, all of which can be described as Hostility. 

• As previously noted, the sun never truly sets, leaving wanderers without the respite of darkness and coolness for the night. 
• Furthermore, any magic that is attempted not only fails but the energy is absorbed into the earth, never to be released. This includes the magical growth of items such as seeds, and the creation of water or food via magic as well. 
• Speaking of water, any water that falls onto the soil doesn't wet the ground, in a way that could be manipulated back into its owners' possession, but instead either dries up completely or vanishes altogether. One adventurer even noted that two cracks in the ground seemed to be closer together towards a point where he spilled a drop of water as if the land itself buried it.
• Lastly, the environment has been described as getting more and more treacherous the more one explores. Whether this is due to simple exhaustion of physical and mental capabilities, even the few who have ventured through the air found the same altitude becoming harder and harder to breathe in, not to mention the mountains getting closer and closer together.

Fauna & Flora

There's only one type of creature that exists in the otherwise dead land: Elysian Beasts. This is a catch-all name for monsters that come from this region, as there are few things they share in common. For one, each Elysian Beast has four limbs, rust-red colored chitin that is twisted in strange curls and knots, a circular lamprey-esque maw, and a destructive desire.
Other than that, Elysian Beasts are varied in almost every other attribute. Size, shape, physical abilities, and method of attack, it is all varied. Strangely, no sign of these creatures has been visible within Elysium itself, leading to no clues about their nature or life, or even how they reproduce, as they are frequent enough to assail Rongomyniad at least once a month, and their remains disintegrate as soon as they are slain.

History

Elysium has always existed as a treacherous land as far back as geographic records of the area go. In all the years since, while the people of Edda have come to understand more of the challenges of the land, nothing has really been learned about it, or if anything exists past it.
The one exception to this rule is in records of a long-dead ancient, unnamed religion, one which even predates the Cabal of The Night Sky and their star worship, where it tells the tale of an ancient feathered dragon that fled unknown assailants by fleeing "Past the forests of the deer, past the frosts of the giants, past the sands of the stars, and even beyond the golden fields of Elysium." Seeming to reference Atalanta, Magnum Opus, and Avalon respectfully. While this doesn't match up with any records of the landscape, it could imply some lost former glory that this predating culture was aware of.

Alternative Name(s)

Dead Land, The Threshold

Type

Desert

Contested By

• Avalon