The Gardens of Collapse

The Gardens of Collapse were once a series of lush and verdant areas, teeming with life sustained by the Andron Aetheliths. After The Great Flare fried these devices, they were no longer able to bolster life in the region, and the gardens rapidly deteriorated into a barren wasteland plagued by frequent natural disasters. The once incredibly fertile soil, called "black gold", transformed into a desolate stretch of sand and filled with petrified trees and fossils of people and animals caught in the wake of destruction.
The tragic shift of the Gardens is a large contributer to the conflicts within the Time of Strife. Many Andron city-states that made their home in the region were swallowed up by the ruination, vanishing into miles-wide chasms in the blink of an eye. Those that survived were subjected to storms, earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the baking sun. Civilization in the region quickly mutated into barbaric warfare and tyranny, where only the strongest survived. But after depleting any stored resources they had left, the Andron barbarians turned their gaze to their more fortunate peers. One of these conflicts is The Occupation of Velarris.

The Stone Sentries

Many humans were petrified during the numerous catastrophes that destroyed city-states in the area. After a particularly powerful earthquake reshaped the land, digging up remnants of the buried ruins, the fossilized humans were uncovered. They stood in positions of fear, cowering in the face of their demise.
But the Sentries were not just grisly reminders of the damage the Great Flare wrought. They were not just statues, for the Flare destabilized an Aethelith in the center of a city. As it collapsed, its magic went haywire, and a powerful surge trapped the souls of the Androns in the area within their bodies, preventing them from passing on in the event of their death. Now, they can only twist their heads to follow the paths of vagabonds and explorers.
Tied to the land, the tortured humans trapped within their petrified bodies watch the land and its travelers, warning of oncoming disasters. When the ground begins to rumble, or the wind picks up in a dangerous way, the Sentries scream.
The catastrophic creation of the Stone Sentries was later deeply researched during the Soul Wars, resulting the creation of the first Soul Cage.

Destruction

The Gardens were destroyed during The Shattering of Andromeda, the terrain scattered across other parts of Teralt, primarily forming into The Dustpeaks.

Localized Phenomena

• Earthquakes: Frequent and violent earthquakes cause the ground to crack and open into deep chasms, stretching for miles.
• Ravines and Collapses: The earth regularly collapses into ravines, with new rock and magma pushing up from the planet’s interior, constantly reshaping the landscape.
• Storms: Due to the flat landscape and lack of buffering flora, powerful storms regularly brew in the region, bringing heavy rains, lightning, and fierce winds.
• Volcanic Activity: Volcanic eruptions turn the sky black with ash.
• Magma Rivers: Magma rivers form suddenly and are gone just a quick.
• Tornadoes: Tornadoes sweep across the region, rending any attempts to rebuild fruitless.
• Dust Storms: With little vegetation to root the soil, dust storms frequently crash across the landscape, choking those caught within.
• Natural Gas Geysers: Natural gas geysers litter the land, sporadically erupting. They spew toxic gases which can occasionally catch fire and explode when in an area of high heat, such as near a magma river.

Type

Badlands

Related Ethnicities

• The Dustborn