The Scorching

Written by Crafty_Dm

The Lands of the Vaelwood Thicket Burned for a Year
Smoke Filled the Skies as Far North as Armimar
As well as the Skies over Avalar.
It took Great Magic and the Peoples's Determination
To Contain the Great Conflagration.

~ Elimar the Green

The Scorching is one of the Greatest Disasters in the History of Evermyst that Destroyed the Vaelwood Thicket and transformed it into the lands known as the scorched barrens. War had raged in the Vaelwood Thicket for the previous 12 and although it had endured many wildfires and disturbances during that tumultuous time nothing compared to when a great burning meteor fell from the skies and set the shaking the very grounds for nearly hundreds of Miles but setting the Vaelwood Ablaze.

Some say it was Prophecy others say it was by God's divine. Those closest affected by the Scorching say Dark and Demonic Magics caused this Disaster. The lands in this once lush Valley burned for a year killing or driving off all of the wildlife.

The Once Lush forest is now referred to as the Scorched Barrens. This Great Metaphysical Disaster greatly affected not on the land it impacted but also shook the lands and the people of Elabor for centuries to come with a massive scar upon the continent.

Manifestation

On the Day of this Great Disaster, several Astronomers Recorded a Great Burning Fire Falling from the Night Skies. People in the foothills and Mountains surrounding the Vaelwood Thickets witnessed the Meteors' impact. Earthquakes were felt as far as the ancient peaks and across Charglen Rise all across Western Elabor. The Fire that ensued Lit up the night even beyond the horizon then Smoke and ash filled the skies as far north as Arimar and drifting over the Continent of Avalar. The Impact of the meteor was so great that the shockwave drove the seawater of the Southern Isthmus to flood the Town of Brinegate forever changing it. The Meteor and Following Conflagration ravaged and destroyed The Stronghold of Maevras Black, three villages and several small thorpes that occupied the Thicket Valley floor.

Localization

Since the Scorching the Valley that was once the Vaelwood Thicket has become a Barren Hence the name the Scorched Barrens. Although Hundreds of years have passed since the Scorching, the ground grows little to no vegetation it is said fires were so hot they lingered in the very Roots of every tree. The ground is dry and cracked with Fissures running deep into the earth throughout this valley. The temperature here never drops below 70 degrees in the nighttime and Soars in the mid-day till well in the evening over the Hundreds with an average temperature of 115-121 in the Mid-day hours. The Land is marked with a Great Crater whose Ridge can be seen for miles. Only those foolhardy enough to venture over its ridge and into the crater itself have attempted to do so many never to return and those that have often changed forever. Adventurers heading into the fissures and deep cracks within the crater return with their constitutions sapped, many suffer the effects of the Warp Plague or have lost their Sanity. Use of Magic Within the Crater is said to be more Unpredictable and Irradic and when one approaches the crater it becomes harder to fight back feelings of Doom and Dread. Very few creatures call the Scorched Barrens home, those that do are dark, twisted, ravenous, and demonic making this region one of the most deadly in all of Evermyst.