Emar Dorsat

Please...

don’t go...

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

On the southwestern side of the Demar Forest, sits an ancient fortress on the shores of Lake Sirinah. There is a silent, haunting beauty to its graceful, stark ruins. A pale blue light glimmers from ancient runes that are carved along structure's base and at the crown of every archway. The perpetual faint strands of fog, wrapped like a shawl around the structure, gather and reflect leaking magical light to give the place an otherworldly atmosphere.

A visitor might notice that the grass, trees, and other plants around the fortress and its hill over the lake, look tired and gray. Then there is the matter of shadows watch from high windows...

Shadows with burning ice blue coals for eyes...

Emar Dorsat by CB Ash

Emar Dorsat, or the "Hill of the Frozen Moon", is an ancient structure in the annals of history. Many ruined castles, temples, or fortresses were built for the usual reasons. Defense. A place of worship or study. For the Runelord Order, Emar Dorsat was both and a potential refuge.

Emar Dorsat was a place of study. However, it was never benign.

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

Dark History and Darker Designs

Just after the Runelord Order was founded, Shaduk Nystal Drynock foresaw a need for a refuge. A place of study and contemplation. Centuries later, it was uncovered that Shaduk Nystal had foreseen a time where the Order would be under assault. Therefore, the members would need a place to hide.

He proved correct almost 1000 years later when the Order was decimated and Emar Dorsat fell.

However, during its time, Emar Dorsat was a well-fortified sanctuary and laboratory. There the Shaduks of the Runelord Order explored the mysteries of magic and the planes. They marched countless prisoners from across the lands through the black granite gates.

None ever left alive. Only a few left as twisted magical monstrosities or undead.

There is a rumored condition. Very rare. Of a person who is a ‘living undead’. It sounds odd but they are undead who still possess their full mind and are free of necrotic corruption. It’s said the condition is actually from a magical infection. A weapon invented at Emar Dorsat. Supposedly, the formula is still there, along with a half-finished cure. Or so the story goes...

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

The effects of Emar Dorsat and what was done there is still felt today. Horrific creations such as ‘magespawns’, cat-scorpion hybrid ‘necrocores’, or leech squirrels can be traced back to Emar Dorsat. Then there are the region wide disasters known as the Black Sand Swell and the Haunted Scar that vaporized thousands.

The Fortress and its Surroundings

Emar Dorsat is divided into three major regions. There are the surrounding forests outside the fortress called Spiderwood. Past that would be the outer walls with a stronghold at each compass point known as the Dal'Mogat Gates. Finally, there is the inner keep of Emar Dorsat named Runekeep with its four needle-like white towers and central brown-white bone hued tower.

The Spiderwood by CB Ash

Spiderwood

The only boundary between the Demar Forest and what locals call ‘the Spiderwood’ is the gray-green foliage and the sea of spiderwebs.

Spiderwood is several acres of the surrounding forest around Emar Dorsat that has been taken over by several colonies of wasp spiders. The location is almost a literal maze that has exits near, or at, one of the black stone Dal’Mogat Gates.

What attracted the wasp spiders to the region in droves is unknown. Some rumors suggest they were attracted by the leaking magical energies of Emar Dorsat itself. The same energies that feed the forest, causing the gray-green deathly hue of the plant life.

However, there is compelling evidence that a wasp spider ‘queen’ gathered them together. A wasp spider who was magically mutated by a corrupt kryptforge. If the stories are true, she and her vampiric treant husband rule the region with a firm hand.

I've heard they like visitors to their 'kingdom'. Meeting new people. Provided they stay for dinner...

— Kavi ot’Maninga Sukir Arroweye, Orisnuc scoutmaster from KaraKorum

Dal’Mogat Gates

In the ancient language used by the Runelord Order, Dal’Mogat means ‘Barrowsoil’. The term could not be more accurate. Black stone walls rise above the Spiderwood, presenting a foreboding appearance. Yet, one of the more insidious defenses lay here. In its day, at first appearance, the gates would seem to be poorly defended. Only a few of the hardened Darksteel Company would man the defenses.

However, if attacked, the true defenses would appear.

Victims of magical experiments and more were buried there over the centuries. Those were the fuel that the Runelords used to create hundreds of ‘grave elementals’ which they then left buried in front of the gates and in the inner courtyard. During an attack, these grave elementals rose from underneath the attackers, who often joined the ranks of the grave elementals seconds later.

Rumors persist that even though Emar Dorsat fell, its possible hundreds or more of grave elementals remain buried there, waiting for intruders.

Runekeep

The center, and heart, or Emar Dorsat is Runekeep. This was the inner keep and main court hall of the Runelord Order. Here was the armory, magical forges and engines that crafted the Void blades used by the Darksteel Company and Graveknight stalkers, library and living quarters for Runelords and Darksteel Company alike.

The keep is octagonal, with four needle-like towers that rise from the ground like graceful bone-white skeletal fingers.

In the center of Runekeep rises the main tower, Whispervault. Here, according to scholars, lies the entrance to the catacombs and arcane laboratories of the Runelord Order.

Somewhere, deep in the center of that, lies a vault of kryptforges. A repository of magically copied memories from members of the Runelord Order over the generations.

My order, the Rampart Order, tried hard to erase this open wound of evil. Hundreds died to bring down the Runelord Order. But this place? It's like something wants Emar Dorsat to exist. Maybe its Emar Dorsat itself...

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

RUINED STRUCTURE
1010 years BILC

Founding Date

1890 years BILC (Before the Iron Crown Library)

Alternative Names

Hill of the Frozen Moon

Type

Fortress

Parent Location

Demar Forest

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The Obsidian Kryptforge

Stories suggest that deep in the dead white-gray stone bowels of the fortress lies one or more of the mysterious kryptforges crafted by the Runelord Order.

However, this might be the resting place of the Obsidian Kryptforge, or one of the original Runelord kryptforges used to craft the lesser ones. Scholars suggest a kryptforge is a storehouse of ancient knowledge. Secrets known only to the nefarious Runelord Order.

The wildest stories claim they may even be a gateway to other worlds.

No explorer that has survived Emar Dorsat has claimed to have seen or found an Obsidian Kryptforge. For almost a century, the ruined fortress has stood silent. Only wasp spiders, grave elementals, and possibly living shadows or small bands of undead have kept the location company.

However, in the past fifteen years, mysterious lights have been seen from the ruin. Magical energies, more than the powerful magics from the capstones, have glowed from the tall windows of the inner towers. Also, when the twin moons align, a blast of wraith-pale energy electrifies the fog over Emar Dorast for at least an hour.

If the bards and skalds are to be believed, Emar Dorsat may have found itself a new owner. Worse, it could be a kryptforge has cracked and is malfunctioning…

Eruption at Whispervault by CB Ash

In Falcon's Rangers, we have a saying... 'One problem, one town, one Ranger'.

There's a reason at least five to ten of us go to haul someone back from Emar Dorsat... or haul back whatever's left of them...

— Bruthazmus, Falconer ranger