The Worldwound was the name given to the demon-haunted wasteland at the northernmost reaches of central Avistan between the years 4606 and 4718 AR. It was created when a planar tear to the Abyss opened in the Kellid nation of Sarkoris shortly after the death of the god Aroden, and for more than a century was among the greatest threats to life on the face of Golarion
The geography of the Worldwound was a sickening, flexible thing, with the features of the land shifting in front of the viewer's eyes. This fluidity of form grew worse the closer one got to the actual rift at the center of this region. The thin veil between Golarion and the Great Beyond tore completely there, and demonic monstrosities poured forth unabated from the depths of the Abyss. At the distal reaches of the Worldwound, where it bordered on the surrounding realms, this instability subsides.
Ancient roots
The earliest hints of this demonic disaster can be found in truly ancient texts that detail the times before Aroden's ascension to godhood, when he walked Golarion as a man. There are ancient myths of Aroden vanquishing a demonic cult dedicated to Deskari from the Northmounds of Sarkoris, driving his cultists from the land into the Lake of Mists and Veils. For thousands of years this was viewed as just another obscure myth, but with Aroden's death and the following events it took on a new significance.
Fall of Sarkoris
Before the Age of Lost Omens on the site of the modern Worldwound was a powerful, yet barbaric, Kellid nation called Sarkoris. When Aroden died, it caused a very slight planar shift that knocked the whole of Golarion from its normal metaphysical alignment and slightly toward the fearful abyssal plane. This shift manifested itself in the northern reaches of Sarkoris as a planar tear,[6] where their mystics and witches foresaw a time of chaos and a thinning of the borders between realities.
The Worldwound began its encroachment with strange demonic beasts haunting the barrows and tombs of the Northmounds. These foul creatures soon spread out and attacked nearby isolated clan holdings. While worried, the people of Sarkoris believed that Aroden's imminent return would solve the problem.
Rumours began to spread of a mile-long cosmic blight that was rimmed by jet black flames located southwest of the city of Iz;[5] this site became known as the Worldwound. This corruption soon spread to engulf an area the size of a country, destroying what was once Sarkoris. The Worldwound's unchecked expansion was only halted when the Mendevian Crusades were launched.
Mendevian Crusades
Hearing of the Abyssal incursions in the north, the church of Iomedae dedicated itself to closing the rift and stopping the demons' advance. Still reeling from the death of their goddess' patron, Aroden, the clergy decided that a crusade would unite the still fledgling faith and complete the task Aroden had started against the followers of Deskari so long ago.
Since the First Mendevian Crusade was launched in 4622 AR, thousands of devout Iomedaeans traveled across the Lake of Mists and Veils and up the West Sellen River to the Mendevian capital of Nerosyan to battle the demons of the Worldwound. They beat back the Abyssal onslaught numerous times, but did not close the rift between the planes until the five-year Fifth Mendevian Crusade, which accomplished the task between 4713-4718 AR.
Sealing and resettlement
The Worldwound was sealed after the adventurers who inspired the Fifth Crusade killed Deskari. Many of the traumatized crusaders resettled across Avistan, though often not without problems related to the horrors they witnessed during the campaign. Demons continue to roam the land, which is now called the Sarkoris Scar and is being resettled by Sarkorian descendants. Demons stranded on the surface still roam the lands, and are still opposed by remaining crusaders, Green Faith adherents, and followers of old Sarkorian deities.
Etymology of the term "Worldwound"
The term "Worldwound" was most likely derived from a line in the Ballad of Prince Zhakar, which tells the tale of a brave band of men who fought their way through to the center of the chaos-tinged "wound in the world".
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