Blightshore

The Miskath Strand

The blackened seaboard that forms the easternmost edge of Wildemount is a savage wasteland struggling to recover from the arcane havoc wrought by the Calamity so many years ago. The Miskath Strand was once a temperate expanse of arboreal pulchritude and coastal tranquility, but it has since become a lonely stretch of hazardous terrain and maddening isolation. This coastline of cursed earth and the surrounding area have come to be known as Blightshore, a fitting moniker for the once-proud seaside paradise defiled by the Betrayer Gods. Here, among the Miskath Strand’s smoldering remains, explorers vie for the opportunities offered up by Blightshore’s weird new varieties of flora and fauna—not to mention the hidden wealth that lurks within the lightless vaults of the Betrayers themselves. Life in Blightshore is difficult at best; for many, it represents a true test of spirit as they weather the persistent chaos of Blightshore’s terrain.

While the Dwendalian Empire and its constituents seek to establish a foothold in the more hospitable regions of the Miskath Strand, these efforts are consistently hampered by Blightshore’s less scrupulous denizens. Remote operatives of the Myriad and the Revelry, intrepid pilgrims from the Kryn Dynasty, outcasts from the fallen city of Draconia, and goblinoid nomads from the Xhorhasian wastes form the motley civilization of Blightshore. Moreover, this land is home to many undead horrors and wandering hollow ones.

Bizarre Terrain of Blightshore

The strange landscape of the Miskath Strand has been savagely reshaped by the Calamity, infusing the earth with chaotic new elements and especially inhospitable terrain. As a result, much of this region of Eastern Wynandir remains relatively unmapped by modern scholars.

The terrain and weather features described in the sections that follow can be encountered anywhere within Blightshore’s defiled expanse. Many of these areas present hazardous (and potentially fatal) conditions for travelers and explorers. As your players traverse the desolate badlands of the Miskath Strand, you can present Blightshore’s weird and wondrous terrain as a character in its own right. And perhaps there are even stranger features of this accursed frontier that wait to be discovered, tamed, or avoided at all costs.

Earth Motes

These chunks of broken land hover and swirl in the air, held aloft by unknown arcane forces. A typical earth mote is 1d6 × 10 feet in diameter and hovers 2d10 × 10 feet above the ground. Earth motes are capable of supporting the weight of modest structures as well as creatures.

Electric Wind

The galvanic breezes of this supernatural gale are latticed with currents of lightning, which stab through the air with primordial fury.

• Ranged attacks through electric wind are made with disadvantage.

• Any creature that starts its turn surrounded by electric wind has a 5 percent chance of being struck by lightning. A creature struck by lightning must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
  
  

Ember Thicket

A dense grove of blackened, leafless trees perpetually smolders with the dull glow of arcane embers. This copse is choked by a cloud of ash and cinders, which constantly rain on the cremated forest floor.

• An ember thicket is a lightly obscured area.

• Creatures gain one level of exhaustion for every 10 minutes spent inside an ember thicket without suitable protection from the heat, smoke, and ash.

• Ranged attacks through an ember thicket are made with disadvantage. A ranged weapon attack made through or within an ember thicket automatically misses a target beyond the weapon’s normal range.

Etheric Rift

An etheric rift appears as a light fog or spectral haze. The interplanar tracts of this anomaly reach in and out of the Border Ethereal. Unseen trenches and invisible paths overlap throughout its vaporous expanse.

• An etheric rift is a lightly obscured area.

• Any creature that enters an etheric rift or starts its turn there has a 33 percent chance of gaining the effect of the etherealness spell until the end of its next turn.

Gravity Funnel

This cylindrical area is affected by the unseen pull of heightened gravitational force. A typical gravity funnel is 3d10 × 10 feet tall and 5d10 × 10 feet in diameter.

• Strength checks made within a gravity funnel have disadvantage.

• A ranged weapon attack made through or within a gravity funnel automatically misses a target beyond the weapon’s normal range.

• Creatures and objects that are fully contained within a gravity funnel have resistance against force damage.

• The gravity funnel counts as difficult terrain.

Psychic Miasma

A virtually imperceptible mist of preternatural psychotropic vapor hovers above the ground. This coruscating miasma corrupts the sanity of the living and fortifies the grim resolve of the undead.

• Creatures that are fully immersed in psychic miasma have vulnerability to psychic damage.

• Any creature that enters a cloud of psychic miasma or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become afflicted with a random form of long-term madness. Creatures that can’t be poisoned automatically succeed on the saving throw. A creature that successfully saves against the psychic miasma is immune to its effects for 24 hours.

• An undead creature that spends at least 1 minute in a cloud of psychic miasma gains advantage on ability checks and saving throws for 24 hours.

Rust Rain

This crimson precipitation is corrosive to ferrous metal and caustic to creatures.

• Rust rain corrodes nonmagical, ferrous metal objects. If the object isn’t being worn or carried, the rain destroys 1 cubic foot of it for every 10 minutes of exposure. An object must be covered to avoid exposure. If the exposed object is nonmagical metal armor, a nonmagical metal weapon, or a nonmagical metal shield being worn or carried, it takes a permanent and cumulative −1 penalty to damage rolls or the AC it offers for every 10 minutes of exposure to rust rain. A weapon that drops to a −5 penalty, armor reduced to an AC of 10, or a shield that drops to a +0 bonus is destroyed.

• Any creature that starts it turn in rust rain and isn’t covered by an umbrella, a shield, or some other form of rain protection takes 1d4 acid damage.

Toxic Fungus Colony

A virulent expanse of malignant fungal growths blankets the landscape and fills the air above it with spores.

• Any non-plant creature within 20 feet of a toxic fungus colony is poisoned. A creature poisoned by the colony for 1 hour has a 20 percent chance of gaining a random form of short-term madness.

• A toxic fungus colony can be bioluminescent. A bioluminescent colony sheds dim light within its area and for an additional 20 feet beyond its outer edges.

Uncanny Phenomena

The arcane fallout from the Calamity is so widespread throughout Blightshore that the very land, sea, and air have been subtly altered in strange and mysterious ways. As characters explore the post-Calamity Miskath Strand, roll on the Uncanny Phenomena table as frequently as you like to augment the world they encounter. If you roll something that doesn’t make sense, roll again, choose a more appropriate entry, or use the result as inspiration to make up your own phenomenon. The magical effects of these phenomena can’t be dispelled.

1. It smells of death here. This area is permanently ridden with the stench of rot and decay.
2. Incorporeal phantoms move in and out of reality here. These apparitions ignore any interaction with creatures
3. Everything is a single color here. All physical matter in this area adopts the pigmentation of one of the seven colors of the rainbow or the color black
4. Nonmagical fire can’t burn here.
5. Sources of light here appear kaleidoscopic. Empty air refracts light in this area, creating dazzling displays of prismatic colors.
6. Any character who sleeps here dreams of a different life on a different world in a different body.
7. There is no sound here. This area is permanently under the effects of the silence spell.
8. This place is supernaturally unlucky. Attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws cannot be rerolled in this area.
9. Water turns to acid here. Water introduced to this area becomes acid in 1d4 days.
10. This place is haunted by fragments of the Far Realm. Whenever the target of a Wisdom saving throw fails its save, that creature has a 5 percent chance of becoming afflicted by a random form of long-term madness.

BLIGHTSHORE CONTRABAND
The unique environs of the post-Calamity Miskath Strand have produced a number of strange new substances that can be cultivated for both noble and illicit purposes. The regulation of these bizarre drugs proves difficult, however, as their exotic qualities often confound those who would subvert their questionable usage. As such, supply and demand remain steady despite the inevitable hazards of production.

Black Sap. This tarry substance harvested from the dark boughs of the death’s head willow is a powerful intoxicant. It can be smoked as a concentrate or injected directly into the bloodstream. A creature subjected to a dose of black sap cannot be charmed or frightened for 1d6 hours. For each dose of black sap consumed, a creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 2d4 hours—an effect that is cumulative with multiple doses. Black sap is valued at 300 gp per dose

Blight Ichor. This bitter chartreuse concoction is distilled from a fungus native to the Blightshore badlands. The sickly green liqueur harbors potent psychedelic properties. Provided it is neither a construct nor undead, a creature subjected to a dose of blight ichor gains advantage on Intelligence and Wisdom checks, as well as vulnerability to psychic damage, for 1 hour. For each dose of blight ichor consumed, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1d6 hours and suffer the effects of a confusion spell for 1 minute. An undead creature subjected to a dose of blight ichor gains advantage on all Dexterity checks and is immune to the frightened condition for 1 hour. Blight ichor is valued at 200 gp per dose.


Soothsalts. Soothsalts are derived from a naturally occurring crystalline substance discovered throughout the wilds of the Miskath Strand. The crimson crystals have been mined from cavernous veins like those in the mouth of the Miskath Pit and found within smaller geode formations near sites ravaged by the Calamity. Soothsalts are consumed orally in lozenge-sized doses, and frequent users can be identified by the telltale crimson stain around their mouths. A creature subjected to a dose of soothsalts gains advantage on all Intelligence checks for 1d4 hours. For each dose of soothsalts consumed, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion—an effect which is cumulative with multiple doses. Soothsalts are valued at 150 gp per dose.

Type

Region

Location

Wildemount 

Included Locations

Cauldron Sea

Ebonglass Massif

Far Hharom

Ghor Veles

Incanter's Rest

Miskath Pit

New Haxon

Olc Skerry

Rotthold

Tooth of Zehir