Hel's Acre

Hel’s Acre (or just the Acre, as it’s sometimes called) is the site of the main Huun encampment and siege lines during their investment of Westden several years ago. The area covers much more than an actual acre in a crescent a quarter mile wide that runs along the northeastern flank of the city.
The entire expanse of Hel’s Acre lies beneath a constant dusty cloud of haze that limits vision to 60ft even in broad daylight. Beyond that creatures are lightly obscured, and at 90ft they are heavily obscured. Attempts to clear this haze with magical winds have failed as even the slightest breeze kicks up even more dust, and any time the wind blows those within the Acre begin to suffer the effects of slow suffocation until the dust settles.
Those who have explored the Acre report only featureless dusty ash broken here and there by small totem markers made of stones stacked 2–3ft high and topped by a human skull. Some say that the eye sockets of the skulls glow in darkness. Nobody has managed to thoroughly explore the full extent of the grounds as there is a chance of encountering an undead beast wandering through the haze.
The source of these creatures has not been determined, and they seem to stay within the confines of the Acre itself unless they are pursuing intruders that they have discovered; the Wall Watchers have watched horrified as more than one foolhardy soul has been messily devoured within a stone’s throw of the city walls. When such a drama plays out near one of the gates, the Gatesmen used to rush out to assist the hapless victim, but they are under standing orders to not do so unless a Lyreguard knight is present because of one unfortunate intervention that not only failed to save the creature’s quarry but also cost the lives of 7 Gatesmen in the process.
At present the city is content to simply watch the Acre and ensure that no threats emerge. To date nothing has attempted to gain entry into the city itself, but the city’s military and church leaders (especially High Guardian Perinor of Muir), the Wizards Guild, and the Greycloaks continue to keep a close eye on developments and are always interested in finding brave adventurers willing to be hired to plumb the Acre’s unknown depths. So far there have been few takers.

History

After a year of camping and fighting on this ground, when their siege was finally broken the Huun held a massive night ritual before they broke camp and retreated to the north. During this ritual they offered up hundreds of captives in blood sacrifice to their dark god Chernobog. In the morning the river chain blocking entry into the city had clogged with exsanguinated corpses and great smoky pyres marked where many innocent folk had been burned alive.
The ash of countless cremated dead (both their own and those of defenders whose bodies they had recovered) had been spread over the grounds of their entire encampment along with vast quantities of salt leaving the site a dusty, gray wasteland incapable of growing even the hardiest of weeds and stirring up a gritty, eye-stinging and choking cloud with even the slightest of breezes. The first of the city defenders to attempt to explore this hellish landscape named it as Hel’s Acre as they retreated from what they found within its hazy embrace, and refused to go back.

RUINED STRUCTURE
-20004

Alternative Names

The Acre

Type

Barrow / Burial ground

Parent Location

Westden