Nameless Moorlands
===Contains book spoilers for chapters 5-6===
Geography
Situated between King's County and Procha County in Ricusa - Anglon, this elevated region is a moorland with peat bogs, heather, lavender, acidic soil, and steep hills. The land is barren and dreary.
Ecosystem
Large overhangs with tunnel entrances are sparsely scattered around the region, which contain fungi - food for the Things. The caverns also contain cave moths and small spiders, being the place most rich with life; which is not a hard accomplishment.
Thin streams run through the lands, which are the only source of water suitable to drink. Peat bogs filled with murky green water are spotted around the region too, thick with mud and almost a death sentence to fall into.
Localized Phenomena
A permanent fog shrouds the rolling lands of acidic soil, seldom granting access to the light of Grace to penetrate. The air is nauseatingly humid. The region can cause headaches and hallucinations.
Fauna & Flora
There is no creatures in the moors with the exception of nameless entities, known by those who see them as "Things of the Moors", described as dark, emaciated, thin, almost amorphous silhouettes. They are scared of humans just as humans are scared of them, and use their intense psychic magic to defend themselves and get people to leave. However, most people lose their will to move when their minds have been infiltrated for long enough, causing them to be trapped in the moors in an eternal cycle of mind-numbing pain.
As for plant life, the grass is dry and yellow and purple heather and lavender fields are common. There are areas of tall ferns and mossy overhangs.
"Painful was the misery in the presence of these husks, their faces unseen yet sobbing and frightened of the wilted skin that stitched their very beings. Rejected was their vision of warmth in this cold seclusion; their tears were the falling rain from overcast skies and their breath the fog that binds these unwilling victims. Onlookers struggled to swim within their memories and discerned only a damp horror of what once was which had now become, alas the boys could not comprehend the depth of the ocean; they refused to dive into the abyss of reminiscence and uncover the truth of what they beheld. The Things pleaded, but their inner voices could never surpass the waves of which drowned the boys in dread."
- In presence of the Things
History
Far back in the Origin Age, the moors were once a spectacle of nature, with rolling valleys of colourful heather and lavender.
A civil war was ignited long ago upon these warts of the earth, choking the air with the stench of death and decay. Folk depict haunting stories: of the forsaken bodies swallowed by the soil as they lay cold and alone, with some saying the remains reach out their ghostly hands to catch wanderer’s ankles and drag them down with them. Other accounts say the souls of the soldiers take the manifestation of dark, emaciated, almost amorphous silhouettes, ever-watching yet seldom seen in the distant shroud.
After a number of disappearances, a new law was ordered to mark those whom enter the moors as deceased, as out of the many people to venture there, only one has ever returned, and they were not the same. Myths of the moors turning people into mindless undead became prominent, and any future individuals to escape would be sent to a cleric to ward off any curses. No curses were ever found, however the people just assumed it was due to the curses being too powerful. Ultimately, those who return from the moors are shunned from civilization and were usually killed off.
In 1516 Platinum Age, King Bathan of Ricusa and one of his friends wished to challenge the rumours of the lands, and so they ventured in. The two came across a neglected cottage and stayed there for a while, however after a day their heads swam in a sea of nausea and confusion. They had brought provisions to last a week or two, however they were unable to escape or walk far before retreating back into the cottage; and months passed. The king's friend died of thirst, and starvation of the mind and stomach took hold of Bathan; food ran out and he had no choice but to use his friend's body as a food source. At this point, his mind could not go any less mushed mentally. He ventured rarely to caverns to collect white mushrooms as food, but it was barely enough. His skin was pale and green; his eyes were sunken; his clothes covered in holes. All his being was of decay, except for one accessory: a brass circlet atop his thinning head.
4 years since Bathan's disastrous venture, two boys - Zephos Dewarm and Daerel Foremaul - entered the moors unintentionally, and encountered the cottage. They talked with the old man and slept on the floor that night. Once awoken, they were prepared to leave the moors as fast as they could, before their minds were too far gone. On Octenvil 11th, the boys had successfully escaped the moorlands.
"We came to challenge the rumours of the lands, to show that it is traversable; but we underestimated it. The humid air made us disillusioned and the Things of the Moors devoured our senses. We attempted escape, but the fog and darkness drove us in circles. This cottage became our crumbling sanctuary, until starvation of the mind and stomach took hold . . . and we were no more. Only I remained."
- King Bathan
Type
Moor
Owning Organization
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