The Ash
"I survived dozens of battles. I've seen men blasted apart with magic I will never be able to understand, and I have walked through a battlefield littered with the bodies of my soldiers, my kinsmen, my friends. They were brave men and women, who would do anything to protect their loved ones. I fought on. But as long as I can still hold a sword, I will fight to my dying breath to never set foot on that ashen soil again."The Ash was once home to the vibrant and powerful country of Sokol. On the 15th of Bal, 3828 EC, this proud country fell without a sound and was replaced with a barren wasteland of undeath. Grass crumbled to dust, the sky was blotted with clouds that rained ash, and the people who once lived there roamed the wastelands as undead. This event came to be known as the Sokolan Cataclysm. Two major efforts were made to reclaim the kingdom - the 1st Sokol Crusade and 2nd Sokol Crusade. Each failed, and for many hope was lost that these lands would ever be reclaimed. Even now, one hundred and forty years later, the brightest arcane researchers do not know what caused that cataclysm, and only storytellers and historians remember the people who once lived there. Most can only hope that it stays contained by forests and mountains, and the nightmare does not spread.
Ecosystem
The Ash is covered in dead plantlife, slowly crumbling under the stress of years of acidic rain and wind. As it was before the cataclysm, The Ash is covered in low elevation plains, swamps, and marshes, and the husks of old forests.
The paved roads and cities of old Sokol remain in relatively pristine condition thanks to the lack of plant growth and relative warmth of the region.
The land is still, save for the hordes of undead that wander aimlessly across the horizon. Animals tend to stay far from its borders.
History
The fall of the Sokol has had lasting effects on the rest of the continent. It was formerly a center of stability in the continent, and nearly every nation sent traders to the empire or its colonies. Without access to the once safe paths it provided, the Southern Corridor has been far more isolated - trapped by the brutal deserts of Holter, and the blockades of the Spellscar.
Alternative Name(s)
Ruins of Sokol
Type
Badlands
Location under
Included Locations
Included Organizations
Related Tradition (Primary)
Related Reports (Secondary)
