Wrackstone Dungeons

The eruption of Mount Harbinger is arguably the largest natural disaster in living history, and its effects continue to exert a powerful influence on the daily life of those all across the planet.
One of the most dangerous forces on Lens is Wrath energy, a kind of living radiation that embodies chaos by warping surrounding reality. Though Wrathstorms sometimes spread this energy to other parts of the planet, most Wrath energy present on the mainland continent generally stayed confined to the Southern Wastes and the Eastern Badlands. That changed 60 years ago, when Mount Harbinger erupted. Near the farthest edges of the explored badlands, the explosive force of the mountain’s awakening spread wrath-corrupted earth and stone high into the atmosphere.
Even in the cases of ordinary eruptions, it can take years for all the particles ejected from a volcano to filter out of the atmosphere and return to the planet, and this was no ordinary eruption. Wrath energy had always displayed an uneasy and inconsistent relationship to the known laws of physics, and not merely particles but larger pieces of the volcanic rock anywhere from gravel to small islands have been observed floating in the sky.
There is no particular pattern to where they descend, but when they do they pose an enormous danger to the surrounding area. After landing, wrath-infused rock begins to “bind” with local soil and stonework, gradually leeching out its anomalous energy into the local landscape, flora and fauna. As the area is corrupted, the Wrath energy seems to instinctively seek out greater and greater sources of energy to keep expanding. Observed methods of expansion have included several methods of siphoning nearby energy or life force, but the best known and most common is the mass conversion of plants, animals and in some cases minerals into predatory beings that seek to “feed” the Wrathstone.
Harbinger caverns, as they are sometimes known, rapidly displace the local ecosystem. From the moment the primary Wrathstone lands, the energy begins carving channels out of once solid rock and giving rise to mutated wildlife, elemental monstrosities and bizarre weather and terrain conditions. Wrath Mephits are particularly common creations, leading most sets of Harbinger caverns to boast at least a few traps despite sometimes being only hours old. Wrathstone is not an unlimited danger, after expanding to a size that seems to be proportionally related to the size of the initial rock, Wrathstone dungeons eventually fade and collapse. Even moderate-sized pieces of such rocks, however, can easily menace an area several miles wide for over a year if not properly "defused."
Defusing the situation requires reaching the impact site of the stone, neutralizing any local threats that have been created or co-opted to defend the stone and reaching the primary piece of debris itself at the epicenter of its defenses. Simply destroying the stone is unwise, as it then seeps deeper into the surrounding soil. Special rituals have been devised and are widely shared among most clerics and druids (and some very powerful rangers and paladins) that "disarm" the stone sufficiently that it can be safely contained and its power will diffuse.
Because the spread of the Wrath is exponentially harder to contain as it gets larger, every modern nation maintains a robust bounty and mercenary compensation system for any group that can pacify a Wrathstone anywhere in its territory before it causes too much damage. Wrathstone dungeons are dangerous enough that even some members of the military hesitate to enter them, citing their training as oriented more towards the open battlefield. Some nations maintain small military divisions or agencies specifically to deal with Wrathstone dungeons, though even these are often forced to call on local aid, as Wrathstone corruption often spreads too quickly for a unit to be deployed to remote locations in time to be of help. The Evergrace Combat Geology Corp. for example, was created solely to contain the threat posed by Wrathstone.
The most famous example of a Wrathstone dungeon is probably the Underfleet of Devil's Cradle, a structure under the water of the harbor made from the fused remains of hundreds of ships destroyed during the impact of an enormous piece of detrius immediately after the eruption of the volcano. The city had to be evacuated for several years following this incident, until a famous party of adventurers managed to reach the stone and defuse it.
Many an adventuring party has gotten its start thrust into the depths of a Wrathstone dungeon by either dire necessity or terrible greed. For each group that rises to fame and fortune, however, many, many more die in the darkness, lost to time and memory.

Type

Metaphysical, Elemental