The Great Scar ¶
Summary ¶
The Great Scar is a colossal rupture of energy that cleaves Thalureth in two, dividing the Mortal Grove into north and south. Stretching beyond sight into both sky and depth, it is not a wall of stone, but a living barrier of unstable power where radiant and shadow forces collide.
Details ¶
The Scar appears as a towering vertical expanse of turbulent energy, rising from the ground into the heavens and descending beyond perception. Its surface churns with dark greens, greys, and shadowed currents, cut through by pulses of luminous energy that surge like veins of light through a storm.
To stand before it is to feel its weight.
The air thickens. Pressure builds. Not a pull, but a suffocating presence that presses against the body and mind alike. Time itself begins to feel unreliable, as if moments stretch or collapse without warning.
Many who linger too long describe a loss of sensation, as though the world dulls around them. Others simply lose themselves, driven into madness by prolonged exposure or by staring too deeply into its shifting depths.
Regional Effects ¶
The Scar is continuous across the world, yet its influence fractures outward in unstable manifestations:
- Oceans churn with volatile energy, birthing elemental disturbances
- Swamps like Brackenwater become saturated with its bleed
- Rivers such as those flowing from Leth’anora Quay through the Driftway carry its influence across distant lands
- Creatures near it are said to change, warped by prolonged exposure
Despite this, some settlements still exist in its shadow, though most civilisation has retreated. Travel routes once vital have withered, leaving places like the Whispering Oak abandoned to silence.
Magical Instability ¶
Magic behaves unpredictably near the Scar:
- Radiant energy provokes a violent reaction, as if the Scar itself recoils in pain
- Shadow-aligned magic intensifies, feeding into its presence
- Spellcasting in general becomes unstable and dangerous
Though the Scar never physically shifts, its energy breathes—pulsing, reacting, alive in ways no natural phenomenon should be.
Cosmological Significance ¶
It is believed to pierce all layers of existence, forming a vertical conduit between planes—a waterfall of energy cascading from the Empyrean Bulwark to the Great Dark.
Some theorise that energy can travel along it, even against its flow, as though swimming through a current of shadow and light.
The only other structure known to pierce the planes in such a way is the Spire of Thal’axon.
At its origin lies the Precipice of Malice, the final site where the guilds of the world failed to prevent the catastrophe that birthed it.
No confirmed account exists of anyone crossing the Scar.
Hooks & Notes ¶
- Those who remain too long near the Scar begin to suffer escalating psychological and physical effects
- Certain spells or magical surges can cause the Scar to react violently in the immediate area
- Waters touched by the Scar carry unknown properties and should not be trusted
- A hidden group of warlocks is rumoured to be siphoning its energy for an unknown purpose
- Some believe the Scar is not a wound… but a constructed channel
- It is said that if you stare into it long enough, something may begin to stare back