History
I told them to be careful. What were they thinking? We had no idea what was in that pile! We don't know whose artifacts those were!
For my later study - big pile of discarded metal at the forest's heart, all strange shapes. Unusual metals. Idiot #3 found one of them was glowing blue inside. Three days later, he's...— cleric's log
In the first years of its discovery, the Haze was indeed presumed to be nothing more than a mirage - an illusion conjured by desperate minds. That the forest was only reported by the dying and dead only fed into this assumption. It was from these early accounts that the name stuck, for it was considered to be dreamlike in nature - an unreal mist of green lingering on the horizon, just out of reach.
After many years of speculation on the true nature of the Haze, a group of officials from
Tsukirai commissioned the
Kartovian Exploration Society to investigate the strange rumours. The quest stood unclaimed for months, as many quests to the Sunari did. All knew that the chance of returning was miniscule. Eventually, the Chernastic Order - a small group of determined adventurers sworn to a deity of understanding - accepted the quest. Though it was accepted for money instead of in the pure pursuit of knowledge, they were nonetheless well-informed about the area and its potential dangers.
Against the odds, they found the Haze. Despite that luck, they were dead within the week.
Fortunately, their loss was not without meaning. Well-worded contracts saw their bodies recovered, still carrying the journals each member of the exhibition had maintained. The journals began with full detail, meticulously describing the way the green paradise crept over rough sand-swept hills in full vibrant colour.
Vexuan Presence by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
They spoke of strangely-coloured rivers and glittering dust scattered from a bordering mountain of blue crystal-powder. They praised the beautiful green forests and the bounty of food within, noting down the odd lack of creatures in the strange rivers and the presence of strange wildlife when creatures did appear.
Over the course of a few weeks, the journals shifted in tone. Calm, scholarly words and light jibes collapsed under pressure, revealing symptoms of strange illnesses that their cleric had never before heard of. Stranger still were the mentions of wildlife and even metals that resembled no known species or materials understood by those analysing the documents.
The situation began to grow worrying when mere contact with the journals and bodies retrieved began to impart symptoms of grave sickness on those who studied them. Initially ignored, it soon became apparent that the symptoms were identical, if lessened, to those observed in the journals - and seen on the bodies.
As these afflictions began to be treated, all worry of contagion in the air, a particularly concerning page was uncovered in the fighter's journal: a description of round metal pipes inscribed with a symbol of three fan-shaped blades around a circle, and writing in a strange, curved script that he did not recognise. The scholars, however, saw this for what it was: a rare trace of
Vexuan presence.
Signs of Vexuan Devastation / Pollution most Strange by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
Now panicking, missives were sent to the closest Vexuan embassy to apologise for trespass on land potentially considered
theirs, and to beg for a cure for the afflictions that began to spread.
Androids dressed in odd suits of armour responded to the call the following day - an absolutely unprecedented response time for anything to do with the odd island nation - with magic to aid the hapless society and words of warning on their lips. The Haze, they explained, was the result of a great mistake in their nation's history, stored offshore in the most isolated place they could locate within reason to prevent contamination. They shared pages of information on the deadly poisons running through that land, and advised word to be shared throughout the nations of the danger.
The polluted forest, the Dumping Ground, was a result of their mad dash for progress - and a horrific sign of the toll that progress could impart. It stood as a sign of their brilliance but also their arrogance, and would serve the other nations well as a reminder of the risks inherent to attempting their ascent to power. The chief cause of this destruction, the
radiation, was not a
technology or
magic - though it certainly seemed to be at first. Instead, it was nature's own way of punishing those who go too far. Combined with the mining pollution and the choking power of
iktanite, and of course, their special brand of magics, and the Haze had been unfortunately formed.
A metal fence now marks the rough border of the Haze, though the dangers it presents may be present even beyond its borders. Signs stand at varying points along its path, repeating the same adage in
Common and a number of other languages to ensure it is not forgotten:
This place is not a place of honour. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This is a warning of danger present here. The danger increases towards the the centre of this area.
The danger is still present in your time, as it was in ours. It is an emanation of energy, and it will kill.
Do not cross this border. Do not disturb this place. This place is best shunned.
Do not enter the Verdant Haze.
Do not drink the water! :O :O I like that the Vexua were like of like 'oh poop' and immediately came to their aid and explained what happened.
Yeeep. Vexua maintains a very strict "do not interact with the lesser beings" thing for the most part, so this was an entirely unprecedented reaction - and it's why most places are now taking the stance of "look if they're willing to drop everything and run to help then it's *BAD*, don't touch it". ...The Haze being in one of Istralar's most deadly locales also helps keep people away, too.
welcome to my signature! check out istralar!