The Dolmen Ways

In the hidden heart of the forest that looms just beyond Castle Overwatch crouches a stone circle (cromlech) comprised of a series of standing stones (menhirs) and ancient stone archways (dolmens). These are the Dolmen Ways, a series of magically wrought pathways that connect the Overwatch settlement to distant points in Keoland. Presently, the only active dolmen connects to a matching archway near Keoland's capitol city, Niole Dra.
These magical pathways can be traversed only by Captain Spile and those he has specifically designated. Only a handful of trusted officials in Niole Dra are aware of their existence and have been granted the ability to make use of them.
In traversing the Ways, sojourners simply cross beneath the threshold of the dolmen before finding themselves suddenly plunged into an oppressive darkness. There is a brief sensation of stifling pressure and the unimaginable weight of a million tons of earth before the traveler emerges a few heartbeats later; hundreds or even thousands of miles from where they began. It is rumored that those of ill intent who attempt to use the Ways without being granted leave simply never reappear on the other side. These are paths that traverse the bones of the earth themselves, the ancient and primeval arteries of the world. For this reason, the Dolmen Ways are sometimes also referred to as the Stone Ways or Spile's Stone Ways.

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Ecosystem

The cromlech which contains the dolmens is under the constant supervision of a menagerie of woodland creatures. Birds will distract wanderers, deer will lead them away, and when all else fails, larger predators will provide ample dissuasion. What the archdruid has wrought, nature itself protects.

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History

The Dolmen Ways were created by Captain Spile, one of the Lords of Overwatch and an urban druid of notable potency. Harnessing his affinity for stone and architecture, the Captain drew upon the primordial elemental energy of the region to raise great stone megaliths from the bones of the earth.
The first of these stones he placed in a great ring. These standing stones, these menhirs, were to be the foci for the local ley lines, drawing the energy into the newly formed cromlech. Of those that remained, the flattest stones were stacked into roughly shaped archways called dolmens. These dolmens were to become the doorways into the deep, secret paths beneath the earth.
With the cromlech crafted and the primordial magic of a dozen ley lines focused and harnessed, the archdruid laid one hand upon the nearest dolmen and drove the other elbow-deep into the ground as he thrust his will deep into the heart of Oerth. The ground trembled in furious rebuke, but Captain Spile was an archdruid of civilization, of the mastering of nature's promise, and he would not be denied. He anchored the unbreakable will of Oerth to the dolmen even as his mind raced along the striations of tectonic plates in the impossible depths. Hundreds of miles away, just outside Niole Dra, an echo of Spile clawed free from of the earth at the feet of another dolmen. This figure, clad in bedrock and mineral as a man might wear clothes, roared his gravelly triumph, and collapsed into a pile of rubble. The magic carried by Spile's mind and will then lashed itself to the dolmen and thus the first of the Dolmen Ways was forged.

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^{The Cromlech near Overwatch}

Alternative Name(s)

The Druidic Dolmens, The Ways, The Stone Ways, Spile's Stone Ways

Type

Rock Formation

Location under

Overwatch

Owner/Ruler

Captain Spile