Sarkoris Scar
The region formerly called the Worldwound is now known as the Sarkoris Scar, after the jagged, ugly gash of blackened and broken rock that runs across the land where the Abyssal rift once yawned. Now that the rip between worlds has been sealed and the demon lord Deskari slain, the scattered descendants of Sarkoris dare to dream of reclaiming their ancestral land, though the task that looms before them is forbidding.
Despite Deskari’s death and the scattering of his host, the northlands remain fraught with threats. Although the sealing of the Worldwound cut off the demons’ never-ending reinforcements, it did not kill those fiends already present or purify the blight pervading the landscape. Most of the Mendevian Crusade’s might has been redirected to face Tar-Baphon far to the south, and the holy crusaders who remain are no longer as numerous or as vigilant as they once were. The demon-haunted ruins of Storasta, Undarin, and Iz—three Sarkorian cities that were overrun shortly after the Worldwound opened—have each been reclaimed, but the prospect of rebuilding on such defiled sites was so daunting that the victors razed and abandoned them instead. For now, the soot-stained mines outside Iz and the murky Sarkora River, flowing over the rubble of Undarin, have been left to demons and the dead.
Nevertheless, a small but courageous coalition of crusaders, adherents of the Green Faith, children of lost Sarkoris, and the old Sarkorian gods is determined to restore what it can. Their only permanent outpost is the small town of Gundrun, which they have built up into a walled and warded fort stockpiled with supplies. Otherwise, these self-proclaimed Reclaimers prefer a nomadic lifestyle. In part, this is because the witch-wardens and warriors of old Sarkoris viewed the wanderer’s way as cleaner and nobler than the hierarchical life of towns, but the Reclaimers also favor nomadism because the Sarkoris Scar remains too dangerous to settle. Until more of the region has been purified, any attempt at large-scale encampment outside Gundrun seems profoundly unwise.
Rather than rebuild cities, the Reclaimers focus on restoring wildlands. The mystical city of Dyinglight and its ring of aurora idols, and the repositories of ancient druidic traditions hidden deep in the Shudderwood, are two of their primary targets. However, both of these sites remain in corrupted hands: Dyinglight is surrounded by clans of fiendish, cannibalistic giants, while the Shudderwood’s native fey have been corrupted into tormented and perverted forms. Even the wild animals who roam those lands show the lingering touch of the Abyss in their glowing eyes, unnatural stench, and rampant bloodlust. Still, the Reclaimers are making slow, painful progress. There is no safety in the Sarkoris Scar—not yet. But for the first time in a long while, there is hope.
Despite Deskari’s death and the scattering of his host, the northlands remain fraught with threats. Although the sealing of the Worldwound cut off the demons’ never-ending reinforcements, it did not kill those fiends already present or purify the blight pervading the landscape. Most of the Mendevian Crusade’s might has been redirected to face Tar-Baphon far to the south, and the holy crusaders who remain are no longer as numerous or as vigilant as they once were. The demon-haunted ruins of Storasta, Undarin, and Iz—three Sarkorian cities that were overrun shortly after the Worldwound opened—have each been reclaimed, but the prospect of rebuilding on such defiled sites was so daunting that the victors razed and abandoned them instead. For now, the soot-stained mines outside Iz and the murky Sarkora River, flowing over the rubble of Undarin, have been left to demons and the dead.
Nevertheless, a small but courageous coalition of crusaders, adherents of the Green Faith, children of lost Sarkoris, and the old Sarkorian gods is determined to restore what it can. Their only permanent outpost is the small town of Gundrun, which they have built up into a walled and warded fort stockpiled with supplies. Otherwise, these self-proclaimed Reclaimers prefer a nomadic lifestyle. In part, this is because the witch-wardens and warriors of old Sarkoris viewed the wanderer’s way as cleaner and nobler than the hierarchical life of towns, but the Reclaimers also favor nomadism because the Sarkoris Scar remains too dangerous to settle. Until more of the region has been purified, any attempt at large-scale encampment outside Gundrun seems profoundly unwise.
Rather than rebuild cities, the Reclaimers focus on restoring wildlands. The mystical city of Dyinglight and its ring of aurora idols, and the repositories of ancient druidic traditions hidden deep in the Shudderwood, are two of their primary targets. However, both of these sites remain in corrupted hands: Dyinglight is surrounded by clans of fiendish, cannibalistic giants, while the Shudderwood’s native fey have been corrupted into tormented and perverted forms. Even the wild animals who roam those lands show the lingering touch of the Abyss in their glowing eyes, unnatural stench, and rampant bloodlust. Still, the Reclaimers are making slow, painful progress. There is no safety in the Sarkoris Scar—not yet. But for the first time in a long while, there is hope.
Type
Wasteland
Location under
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