The Deverkel Wastes
The wasteland of Deverkel was struck long ago by the Ederstone deposit in the world, sent as punishment by The Chimera to the mysterious inhabitants who once lived there. No one knows what evils must have angered the Gods so, as the entire landscape is so heavily mutated that no evidence of pre-Scouring civilization remains.
It is a land of constant danger and wildly diverse magical wildlife. Bandits and Kivishta cults wander the wasteland, and mysterious Starspawn communities mutated beyond all sanity and consistency of form seem more manifestations of the wasteland than residents of it.
And yet, communities persist and have always persisted here. Some are semi-nomadic monster hunting tribes, others are little fortress-villages clinging to the safest places in the wasteland. Eccentric mages hide in the fringes, seeking peace and quiet in a land no one will bother them in. Spring knights of The Kingdom of Hain train here, riding to the aid of the various non-murderous residents and building both prestige and skill.
Geography
Deverkel is 400 miles wide West-East and 190 miles North-South. To the West lies the Haunted Coast of Raynok, the only coastal region struck directly with Ederstone during the Divine Scouring. The beaches are covered in crystalline mangrove trees with burning leaves some say are descended from a mutated Solar, and the waters seethe with strange creatures. Only the most militaristic of Squiddle tribes dare hunt in these waters, and only recent innovations in shipbuilding have allowed for reliable safe trade.
In the Southwest lie the haunted forest. The shimmering mists beautifully drape the subtropical forest and swamp, hiding the horrors lurking within. While not as alien as an Ederstone impact zone and generally normal in appearance, the resident creatures and cultists make travel dangerous. In the Northwest are the barren crags of Deverkel, mountains that turn into rocky arid shrubland the further North you go. The mountains are a labyrinth of bandits, hermits, and small communities hidden away; the shrublands are an arms race of mutating predator and prey that attracts only the bravest and most ambitious hunters.
In the center-North is also Lake Gutrahd, the safest place in Deverkel. 31 by 24 miles across, Lake Gutrahd is ringed with heavily fortified fishing and farming villages. It is theoretically Hainish territory, with a small fortified settlement on the Eastern coast manned by Hainish soldiers to prevent monsters from the Eastern wilds entering the lake. While small mutant creatures still enter and the wildlife within the lake is lightly mutated, the garrison there prevents most village-destroying monstrosities from disrupting lake traffic.
Past Gutrahd, the landscape grows more and more alien and the wildlife becomes so magical and dangerous that only expert warriors can hope to survive. The Eastern wilds are a good half of Deverkel and represent truly dangerous territory. What settlements inhabit the Eastern wilds are either cults or so alien as to be unrecognizable as such. Spring Knights seeking glory periodically launch expeditions into the wastes to slay the most powerful and dangerous magical creatures there. The carcasses of these creatures often contain valuable magical components, but only the most seasoned monster hunters dare attempt the hunt.
At the core of the Eastern wilds is the Boiling Sea of Devernar. Dozens and dozens of miles across, the sea is the massive crater of that original enormous Ederstone meteor. It is now filled with irradiated water that churns endlessly as it mutates, giving it the appearance of boiling. The changing state of the water greatly slows its evaporation rate, so that the crater remains semi-full even during intense droughts. Devernar's rim is covered in wildly mutated Starspawn communities that are often hostile to outsiders and seem to speak no discernible language. Only fools dare press into the water itself. The fumes alone can make a mortal mind break, but no one knows what lurks within the boiling sea. None who attempt the journey return.
Far to the East are the Rurateg mountains. These mountains are less thoroughly irradiated but are largely unmapped and dangerous to outsiders. Local peoples, bandits, cults, and monsters all intermix here, and the mountains go on to the Northeast for hundreds of miles.
Alternative Name(s)
The Boiling Lands of Deverkel, the Wastes of Deverstol
Type
Wasteland
Location under
Included Locations
Contested By
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