The Blacklands can be divided into a few distinct regions: The swamps of Abhainne Reuth, the storm-wracked mountains and hills of the Beyn Durun, the dusty wastelands covering most of the rest of the north-eastern portion of Landreth, and the rank ocean surrounding the continent. Smaller microcosms and ecologies dot the Blacklands, but little is known about these sites. Finally, there is Eilan Gethu.
The Blacklands were formed by the Sea of Chaos. The Sea came into being in 1369 DR, when a huge asteroid of pure shadowstone slammed into a region near the Northeast tip of the Beyn Durun. The tinker gnomes of Greygnomehome are thought to be involved with this event. The asteroid's impact created a massive explosion of both pysical and dimensional energy, which ruptured the fabric of reality and created an energy vortex gateway between Seeliespace IV and the Astral Plane. The Dark God, Entropy, seized control of the vortex, which manifested as the Sea of Chaos in Seeliespace IV and as a terrible Astral maelstrom on the Astral Plane. How Entropy managed to accomplish this is unknown, but it is suspected that the Queen of Air and Darkness, the unseelie ally of the Dark God, aided Entropy. Entropy's speed at taking advantage of the situation before any other forces could react has also implied to some observers that the Dark God knew of the asteroid's fall in advance and may even have somehow engineered the cataclysm. It is hoped that this was not the case, as it implies a level of awareness and power in Seeliespace IV on the part of the Dark God that Entropy is not supposed to possess.
The Sea of Chaos was a malignant manifestation of primal disorder that consumed all it touched. Unlike the soup of Limbo, the Sea never created, it only warped and destroyed. Over the next years, Entropy extended his reach while the inhabitants of Eldreth sought in vain as to the underlying cause of this catastrophe. All attempts to halt to advance of the Sea failed, and the Northmen natives of the lands that the Sea consumed were driven as scattered refugees into Aelfir, their old enemy and rival.
After two years, the Sea reached a critical size, and its slow expansion turned into a steady flow that would have consumed the entire planet, and then presumably the entire sphere, in a matter of weeks. At this time, various forces at last acted to halt the Sea of Chaos. While unknown struggles alluded to by the eladrin took place on the planes, for some unknown reason, two modron armies (led by a secundus) arrived on Landreth to hold the Sea of Chaos at bay. Again, the tinkers of Greygnomehome are believed to be involved in this event. The modrons, with the aid of the fey, elves, eladrin, and others (including possibly the rilmani), defeated an abyssal horde and halted the advance of the Sea. The Sea of Chaos was then finally destroyed when the Knight of the Sword Coast Serathin penetrated the core of the Astral maelstrom on the other side of the Sea, and detonated a specially designed modron device powered by shadowstone in the Astral vortex, closing the rift by reversing the circumstances of its creation. The modrons then affected repairs to the fabric of Seeliespace IV's reality, and departed. However, the modrons failed to understand the chaotic nature of the sphere, and where unable to effect complete repairs. After the Entropy War, however, the fabric of Seeliespace IV began to unravel and the sphere was in danger of imploding out of existence.
At this time, the Abyssal Lord Graz'zt began plans to draw the sphere into the Abyss as a layer under his rule. For unknown reasons, the Lord of the Second, Archduke Dispater of Baator, opposed Graz'zt and threatened to destroy the sphere rather than permit Graz'zt to acquire it. During this time, Larloch the Shadow King played his game with the Knights of the Sword Coast, demanding that they steal the royal crown of Aelfir, an artifact of ancient Netheril, and that they oppose the Talonmist family of Toril, who were somehow involved. The Knights were witness to Titania's fulfillment of part of her great prophecy of Seeliespace IV. By setting a cambion king upon the throne of Aelfir and consuming the power of the Netherese crown, the Queen of the Fey was able to safely reach into Seeliespace IV without destroying it, and repair the remainder of the damage done by the shadowstone explosion and the Sea of Chaos, thus stabilizing the Prime Material world. The Talonmists were revealed to be allies of Titania in this regard. However, much of the truth surrounding these events, and the remainder of Titania's prophesy, still remains unclear.
Since the disappearance of the Sea of Chaos in 1371 DR, the lands that were covered by it became known as the Blacklands. Twisted and ravaged by the dark energies of Entropy, this territory was infected by the disease of the Dark God's power, a pollution which ran through the water and seeped through the earth. The very weave of magic was stained, creating an area a hundred times more malignant than Toril's Helmlands. This darkness reached even into the Fey Realm, producing magical landscapes there uninhabitable even for many of the unseelie. These areas bred the spawn of insanity itself. The life which survived in the Blacklands was warped into abominations which serve the purposes of the Dark God. Entropy's bid to consume Seeliespace IV with the Sea of Chaos failed, but in the Blacklands, the Dark God's abominations purposes remained the expansion of their master's corruption.
In 1372 DR, an Army of Darkness marched forth from the Blacklands, under the banner of the Black Prophet, the disguised Black Angel, the solar corrupted by the Queen of Air and Darkness' Black Gem. At the Battle of Blue Snows, the Black Angel was permanently destroyed by simultaneous disruption of his form by DawnBringer, artifact of Lathander the Morninglord, and the destruction of his True Facet of the Black Gem by the sacrifice of the ghaele eladrin Lady Aenwyn. The Black Angel's horde was totally vanquished.
No further hordes materialized as different forces within the Blacklands vied for power and dominion and the ecology itself settled into a semblance of continuity. But the danger of the Blacklands, though more subtle and slow than that of the Sea of Chaos, was no less real. The forces of the Dark God raided into the uncorrupted territories on their border, seeking to extend their influence. The land in contact with the Blacklands sickened and its corruption spread.
Meanwhile, all the settlements on the border of the Blacklands, that of the humans, fey, druids and forest folk, a handful of elves, giants, crystal children and others, fought hard to hold the dark land itself and the creatures within it at bay, some even hoping to push back the devastation. The greatest weapons these stalwart souls wield appeared later in 1372 DR. The Seeds of Persephone, magical plants and the seeds that spawn them, resistant to the effects of the Blacklands, and even capable of healing Entropy-corrupted lands. In time and in sufficient numbers, these trees and vines could leach the darkness out of the Blacklands and purify it.
However, the greatest blow against the Blacklands was struck in the very beginning of 1373 DR. The very center of the Blacklands, including most of the Landreth continental area corrupted by the Blacklands, was healed of the Dark God's evil by the Korren-Badir, the Gift of Badir. One day the land was suddenly enveloped by an incredible surge of life energy which utterly transformed it, from a land of darkness to a territory of lush, life-giving terrain. This healing coincided exactly with the first appearance of the dwarven god of rain, rivers and compassion, Badir Twice-Born, the son of Moradin. It is said that Badir was born on that day of healing, and that his birth-gift to Eldreth was the lands of the Korren-Badir. His worship immediately grew popular with all who oppose the Blacklands. The Korren-Badir convinced many that the Blacklands can be defeated, and inevitably will be, perhaps even in the near future.
In reaction to the use of the First Word, however, strange forces set to work within the Blacklands. Three centers of power began to form, where the energies of the Dark God gathered - an obelisk within the Conclave's Pit in the southwest, a tower of evil on Eilan Gethu in the northeast, and an unknown object beneath an under-sea maelstrom in the southeast. In late 1373 DR, the yugoloths apparently triggered Sigil's Faction War as part of a larger plot to turn the Great Ring of the Outer Planes towards evil. The yugoloth plotted to activate the Sigil Rune, and then to channel the energies of the Blacklands to the Outer Planes, and into the Sigil Rune, through the three focal points. The resulting drain on the Blacklands may very well have destroyed their taint, by sucking the corruption of the Dark God out of Eldreth and projecting it into the planes.
Unfortunately for Eldreth, but luckily for the rest of the Multiverse, the yugoloth agents seeking control of the Sigil Rune failed to gain any mastery of it, and the yugoloths chose not to project the Blacklands' power. The three sites of gathered power dissolved, releasing the Blacklands' dark energies back into the land.
While the Blacklands were weak, however, the lord of Caer Trildane and his allies launched a major offensive into the southwestern Blacklands, cutting a swath twenty miles wide and twenty miles deep between the edge of Blacklands and the Silver Isle of the elves. Quickly planting the Seeds of Persephone to secure the area, the armies managed to fortify it before the condensed energies of the Blacklands returned to re-invigorate the forces of darkness.
The Blacklands, once ascendant, were clearly in retreat. The power of the Dark God on Landreth, while not broken, was waning. Thus, the next blow struck by the Blacklands did not originate from and was not aimed at Landreth.
In early 1374 DR, the Dark God-corrupted waters bordering the land-bound Blacklands spewed forth a huge undersea Army of Darkness which attacked the shores of Veldreth. The undersea Army of Darkness was led by the White Trio. Each of the Trio had commanded one of the yugoloth's three centers of Blacklands power, and each was corrupted by both yugoloth and Dark God-spawned evil. Upon the failure of the yugoloth's plan, the White Trio was left to the Dark God to command. Their mission became the capture of the Stone of Corbineigh, the sphere focus of Seeliespace IV and the key to either finally complete or finally unmake Titania's unfinished crafting of the sphere.
The Stone was held in Veldreth, and totally inaccessible until 1372 DR, when that continent's protective Mistwall was brought down by the Knights. Without the Mistwall, Veldreth was forced to defend itself against the greatest remaining manifestations of the Dark God's power on Eldreth, the White Trio and their undersea Army of Darkness.
An alliance of Veldreth's defenders, including the Knights and their forces, broke the undersea Army of Darkness and obliterated each of the White Trio. However, the Army was barely defeated, and not decisively destroyed as the land-bound Army of Darkness had been.
However, with the White Trio's defeat came the death-knell of the Dark God's power in Seeliespace IV. The Stone of Corbineigh was unbound to complete Titania's unfinished crafting of the sphere and to permanently and finally stabilize Seeliespace IV's dimensional fabric. In doing so, the nature of Seeliespace IV was subtly altered to begin the slow expulsion of the Dark God's influence.
The battle against the Blacklands is one which began in despair
but continues in hope. The forces of good must be ever vigilant to
prevent the Dark God from turning the tide back to the Blacklands'
favor. But should they remain strong and guarded, the peoples of Eldreth
can see victory over the Blacklands within the reach of their immediate
descendants.
The Island of Ghosts was a cursed place even before the coming of the Dark God. Most knew of it only through legends and hearsay. It was spoken of fearfully by sailors, and only a few old, hardy salts had even seen it. Tales spoke of undead, restless spirits, and wicked unseelie stealing men from ships. Those ships which passed near it by accident spoke of storms wracking its peaks and the howling of tortured prisoners carried upon the wind.
Legends speak of some terrible crime committed upon the isle eons ago, and a punishment meted out by Titania. Yet when the goddess is asked of such stories by her priests, she offers no replies or answers. Since the Sea of Chaos swamped the island and the surrounding sea, the place has become even more fearsome. Some even hint that the isle itself is alive and moves upon the ocean currents, though more reliable accounts speak of tremendous gales and funnels that prevent any ship getting close, not that any would want to. Lastly, the strange magics of the island prevent scrying from functioning anywhere near it, and observation from space is blocked by a near perpetual thunderstorm.
The Abhainne Therenn had always been a dark and dim place, beset by will- o-wisps and evil faerie. When the Sea of Chaos swallowed it, however, the darkness grew worse and the swamp extended its boundaries like a living thing. It now covers several thousand square miles of terrain, from the Spider Fens to the Hungry Moors. The entire expanse is a wretched, reeking place where huge biting flies and choking vines are mere nuisances next to the greater dangers. All the good folk that dared dwell within the swamp before the coming of Entropy were quickly driven out or killed, and the deep swamps were made to breed horrid things. The most savage and perverted creations of Entropy were spawned from these swamps, and then journeyed to the Ebony Inferno or the Spiral of Chaos where they were further warped and twisted by the Dark God's energies, in the days before those two areas disappeared into the Korren-Badir. The swamp still births dark creatures however, and is the site where the darkest of unseelie rituals are performed with blood and souls in honor of the Queen of Air and Darkness.
It was here that the great juggernauts of Entropy spawned from the swamp's vicious insects, and though the creation of these horrific beasts drained much of the dark energies imbued into this region by the Sea of Chaos, there is still great power here. Some say that the Queen of Air and Darkness and the Dark God seem to have retrenched, and now spend their power less frivolously, looking forward to a long war of decay and attrition. It is said that deep within the endless darkness and impenetrable fogs of the swamps, the Queen of Air and Darkness has built a most terrible fortress for herself, called the Castle of Liquid Night. From this stronghold her priestesses and faerie minions spread their influence to the surrounding region. From the Castle of Liquid Night, the Dark God's Lady summons great, howling storms to rage forth against the uncorrupted lands to the south, and hatches her plots against those same territories.
The River of Reeds itself is strange and treacherous, its waters usually dark and brackish. Like the River of Ravens, it is rumored that some of its tributaries lead to the Fey Realm, or even to the Outer Planes. Indeed, some suggest that an unlucky traveler might find himself somewhere in the caves of Pandemonium, or perhaps floating upon the River of Styx. As with all rumors, no one knows for certain, nor can anyone pinpoint how the rumors were begun in the first place.
The further one journeys away from the River of Reeds and the northern delta which empties into the Sea of Stars, the drier and more arid the land becomes. Near Eilan Nam Ailur, for instance, the Blacklands are nothing more than a great wasteland of choking dust, where demon-like creatures hunt anything living and where undead roam freely. This pattern continues right up to the edge of the Korren- Badir, where a large wall of mountains marks the edge of the Blacklands and the beginning of those lands blessed by Badir. In the mountainous southeastern regions of the Blacklands and in the tundra to the northeast, beyond the Korren-Badir, the earth and stone freeze over with layers of black ice that rip through leather footwear in a matter of days. Only the most vicious and hideously adapted beasts dwell in these areas. A human without proper protection would die of frostbite within an hour.
Although the residents of Landreth frequently worry about the land-bound areas of the Blacklands, most of the Sea of Chaos actually extended over water. Little is currently known about the state of the ocean in this area. None have truly ventured deep within the churning waters to investigate whether the forces of nature yet remain strong, or whether the energies of the Dark God have worked their thorough corruption. Not even the sea devils venture near this area of ocean. In the past few years, however, an alarming number of reports have been filtering north about attacks on Southern Empire ships on the eastern coast of Landreth. These reports speak of ships being dragged under by massive tentacles, of ships disappearing into black fogs and never emerging, of entire crews being lured overboard by the hideous songs of malevolent sirens, and of even stranger things. Few have ventured beneath the waves. Those that do report that the undersea creatures fight their own war against the darkness, struggling to purify their watery realm.
Late in 1372 DR, Eobryn discovered a gathering of dark prophets only a few dozen miles within the border of the Blacklands. The gathering, which has since been named the Conclave, apparently built an altar and conducted sacrifices at a crater where one of the smaller fragments of the shadowstone asteroid impacted. Although later investigated by a team of Vigilar in the first month of 1373 DR, before the coming of the Korren-Badir, the mission ended in a catastrophe which left a hundred foot tall pillar of obsidian rising from the center of the crater. The Conclave was thought to be led by a dark prophet of exception skill and power. It was later discovered that the Conclave was manipulated by a creature called the White Elf, who served the ultraloth White Madness. The obsidian tower served briefly as a focus for gathered Blacklands energies, but later dissipated and melted back into the land with said energies, leaving the crater a smoothly polished bowl of obsidian glass. The altar has vanished, and the area appears abandoned, but the Conclave's Pit continues to serve as a node of the Dark God's power and contains a field of malign wild magic.
Once counted among the greatest heroes of the Northmen, the Lord Vargrym rules here, after proving more loyal to his own glory than to any higher ideal. Rather than dying against the hordes of evil, Vargrym became a follower of the Dark God. When the Sea of Chaos threatened to swallow his lands, Vargrym slaughtered every last inhabitant of his keep to prevent them from fleeing to safety, thereby both demonstrating his loyalty to Entropy and insuring himself a loyal horde of undead servitors. Already a large man - some whispered of Jotun blood in his ancestry - Vargrym was transformed by his patron, and now numbers among the deadliest evils known in the Blacklands. He stands over eight feet tall and wields a black axe etched with glowing red runes. His skin is black as night and his eyes are said to glow fiendishly.
Vargrym's knights ride blackspawn and darkenbeast steeds when they sally forth from his high-walled, basalt castle. Fortunately, Krygnacht is located deep within the Blacklands, and his troops do not ride so far south as to pose a problem for the living. They primarily concern themselves with strengthening the already formidable defenses of the near impregnable fortress, and guarding the mountain passes which lead up to it. Some suspect that he is looting the castles of other fallen thanes, or enslaving the earth fey beneath his castle to compel them to craft weapons of power for him and his men. But in truth, this is all conjecture. No one truly knows.
Very little is known of the this place. It was built on the meeting point of many great ley lines, and some believe that it has stood at its current location for hundreds of years, hidden from Titania's eyes. These sages claim that the Queen of Air and Darkness revealed her fortress only when the Dark God had seized power, and that she let the illusions guarding her sable palace fall away in order to taunt her sister.
The Castle of Liquid Night is a beautifully spired faerie palace,
whose walls are constructed of shining deep purple gemstone. The
castle is thought to be suspended upside down in the middle of a
night-black tarn, called Eilan Narhehu, or the Island of Liquid Night.
Why the lake is called an "island" is one of the Queen's perverse
mysteries. The lake water of Eilan Narhehu is said to have the
ability to drive those who drink it insane. Some believe that a shard
of the Black Gem is hidden within the Castle, while others suggest
that the Castle is in fact a place where the Fey Realm meets the
mortal realm, and perhaps even the Lower Planes themselves.
Not all humans and humanoids escaped the Sea of Chaos when it swept across the landscape. Many were caught up in the rain of decay and madness, and found themselves horribly altered in mind and body. Those few cursed and warped beings that survived the process, and who were not eaten by the power of the Sea, became the Twisted Ones.
The Twisted Ones wander all over the Blacklands, from the deserts in the South to the Swamps of Abhainne Reuth, to the Black Ice Glaciers in the far North which shred boots and feet alike in hours. It is not known if they eat, or if they simply feed on the chaos and destruction which surrounds them. It is known that they consume living flesh when they get the chance, but whether they do this out of preference or necessity is anyone's guess.
While most of the Twisted Ones are gaunt, raving madmen, some have developed magical powers and fearsome abilities. These are greatly feared. Fortunately, while most Twisted Ones gather into packs like ghouls, these 'gifted' few usually wander the Blacklands alone. When they are found in groups, it is always leading a pack of lesser Twisted Ones. The power-gifted among the Twisted Ones tend to fight among themselves for dominance, and thus it is rare indeed for more than one to be found in a pack. None know what purpose Entropy has for these creatures, but they are justly to be feared.
The greatest of the Twisted Ones are the men and elves who were lords during their lives, and ruled small tracts of land or keeps in the Beyn Durun. These have become lordlings, who still rule over the ruins of their castles, sometimes commanding small armies of demon-like warriors and undead. However, their savage wills and deep jealousy of each other keeps their forces fragmented, so much so that they held back their own personal forces from the Army of the Blacklands, hoping to expand their influence after the war.
Among the power-gifted Twisted Ones, a select few have actually managed to retain their sanity and deliberately choose to serve the Dark God. These have become priests and prophets of Entropy, horrific madmen gifted with corrupting powers and spells. The most fearsome of their abilities, however, is to command the blackspawn and darkenbeasts which otherwise wander the Blacklands killing each other and anything else they come across. The guiding wills of these prophets serve as foci for the Dark God to project his power into the mortal world, and gather and guide his minions toward focused goals.
Fortunately, the Dark Prophets can only command a limited number of blackspawn. Even those of greater power can command only small hordes of a few hundred. Commanding the Army of the Blacklands required no less a presence than the Black Angel for the Dark God to channel his will.
The least of the perversions which rampage across the Blacklands, and into the perimeter surrounding it are the blackspawn, warped animals and plants which hunt and spawn and kill depending on their current drives and conditions. They prefer to hunt and corrupt clean animals to their own kind, but will kill and eat each other if hungry enough.
Typically, blackspawn range from 3 to 7 hit dice, boast one or two partial immunities to an attack form, and frequently possess a special attack or defense such as poison, leaping, disease, tunneling, chameleon powers, flight, a tail attack, ect... Their normal attacks and strength vary, with deadlier blackspawn boasting a bite, poison tail, and two claws. Though generally not very intelligent, they are very cunning and much to be feared.
Recently, a number of blackspawn mutations have been stabilizing into specific forms of horrid beasts. These include: The Sandslayer, a giant beetle which hunts in the Blacklands by sucking prey into its sandpits, the Mindstalker, a disembodied wolf spirit which hunts prey and drives it mad by its incessant howling (rumored to be led by a Great Mindstalker which spawned the lesser ones), the CarrionWing, a large bat which latches onto prey with its four numbing tentacles, the Hollow Ones, former humans that now feed off of the warmth of living things and leave footprints of black ice, and more strange beasts that have not yet been catalogued.
Much rarer than blackspawn, darkenbeasts are greater perversions, frequently spawned from a larger or more ferocious animal. They typically range from 7 to 9 hit dice, and sometimes as high as 13 hit dice. They often display above animal intelligence or cunning (low 5-7), tough hides and scales, multiple special attack forms and defenses (two heads, breath weapon, poison, magic resistance, full or partial immunity to one or more attack forms, innate magical abilities, fear, and even a rare few who have the ability to drain life energy). Darkenbeasts are very territorial, usually claiming large areas as their own hunting ground, and defending them against others of their ilk. They sometimes kill blackspawn, but view these smaller perversions as less of a threat. Mating rituals are violent and sometimes deadly, but darkenbeasts are sometimes known to develop strong bonds with others of their kindred, and these pairs are very dangerous indeed.
Bred in the swamps of the River of Reads from swamp insects, these huge battle platforms formed the core of the Black Angel's Army of the Blacklands. Many were living engines of war, including huge worms hundreds of yards long with callused heads like battering rams, and hundred yard long beetles with carapaces five feet thick. A small portion of the juggernauts somehow developed a mutation which allowed them to fly magically, though they proved very slow and clumsy in the air. Others demonstrated other mutations, like sticky coatings on their flesh that suffocated humans who attacked them with hand weapons, putrid clouds of decay, and acid vomit. During the Battle of Blue Snows, most of the juggernauts were slain by aerial bombardment, lightning arrows, and the heroic efforts of Alkyrie's roc-riding storm giants and the Flaming Fist mercenary company. Nonetheless, some escaped.
Since the war, sages have speculated that the Dark God can no
longer spare the tremendous energies required in the creation of the
juggernauts, especially after the disappearance of the Spiral of Chaos
and the coming of the Korren-Badir. This is the preferred reason for
why so very few of the beasts have been seen outside of the Blacklands
since the destruction of the Black Angel's horde. Other sages suggest
this may be because few of the Dark Prophets have the power to bind a
juggernaut to his will. Nonetheless, the vast might of the juggernauts
is rightly feared by all the inhabitants of Landreth, even the distant
Southern Empire, which expressed much concern after hearing of them.