Shattered
Tornstark
Perilous,
Ruins, Enchanted (Planar
Portals),
Cursed
(Reality
Fractures),
Monsters (Horrors)
The
Giants of
the Nameless
Empire made
many mistakes over the course of their long reign,
and
while there are a few other contenders for the worst, Shattered
Tornstark is
certainly among their most regrettable. Originally envisioned by it's
designers as a means by which the Nameless
Empire could
extend it's ability to travel the planes without the need for
powerful spell-casters or mystics to be in attendance, what they ended
up creating a conduit to was a place beyond the realms of existence
and their understanding. The number of portals active at the same
time in such a small area caused a catastrophic weakening of the
fabric of reality, causing a resonance cascade and tearing the fabric
of existence in the local area to shreds. It shattered the Giants,
their servants and the zone around them into a confused haze of
untethered experiences, feelings and memories which are experienced
as bedeviling flights of fancy or bewildering hallucinations. The
series of teleportation gates which were to make up the project were
housed within a squat multi-roomed edifice, with low ceilings (in
Giant terms) and heavy, barred doors separating the various summoning
chambers from another and the central preparatory rooms which radiate
equidistant from the center of the building. The building itself was
made from whatever local stone which was easily acquirable and due to
the utilitarian purpose of the site it was left largely without
ornamentation or complicated artistry that the long-lived Giants were
known for. Unfortunately for those trying to find the place,
Shattered
Tornstark lives
up to it's name and it has been scattered across several square miles
underneath the ground, no piece of the structure is larger than a few
rooms. This doesn't complicate travel throughout the rest of the
building any more than if it were in one piece. If one steps onto
what was once a piece of Shattered
Tornstark, it
seems to outward perspectives that the individual has simply
vanished. From the inside it is as if one has simply stepped into a
still intact version of the structure, complete with what remains of
the residents and the intruders that they allowed in. Experiences
inside Shattered
Tornstark have
a disjointed and amnesic quality, like a vinyl record skipping.
Visitors find it easy to forget why they are here in this place,
walking down a hallway with a slowly burning torch in their hands and
not knowing why. People can't remember to eat or sleep, or find that
their eyes are drying out from being kept open, or they've been
holding their breath for so long that they have to gasp to get it
back. Sometimes it seems like the place is a dilapidated ruin,
abandoned to the elements, gaps in the roof showing an alien sky
filled with a swirling stew of colors and ominously drifting shapes,
but then it shifts as they take a dozen steps and seems to be as it
was right before the disaster which claimed it came to pass, filled
with Giant scholars, their goblinoid scribes scurrying about under
foot. The phantoms replay events which have transpired both before
and after the cascade consumed and demolished the area, but visitors
are unable to intercede or meaningfully interact with them. Outside
of the threats of accidental privation or being lost within an alien
memory, there are the actual intruders that were brought to the area
when the fabric of reality was destroyed locally. The Horrors
are inherently inimical to creatures native to the prime material
plane, their very presence causes violent physiological reactions
from natives; thought processes to become confused and scattered,
blood flows from the eyes, mouth, nose and ears, and violent muscle
tremors make combat or even simple movement difficult or even
impossible. Witnesses have trouble recalling or describing the
creatures that vex them, but what memories can be articulated are of
strange beings resembling animal or humanoid shapes crafted of
seemingly impossible materials; a gorilla-sized silhouette consisting
of microscopic chunks of beryl which flow and shift instead of move,
a snake made up of a length of flaming purple orbs which dance and
swirl around to the time of the nearest observer's heartbeat, a
humanoid made up of a silvery liquid which reflects alternate
realities and who speaks in a voice of twinkling lights and clanging
smells. The Horrors
are
not necessarily hostile, but they do not understand the world around
them or fathom that their actions could harm what they may not even
perceive as fellow living creatures. They will place themselves next
to an intruder simply to watch their form wither and burn from their
otherworldly aura, while moments later they will nuzzle against the
new corpse without grasping that they just caused it's demise.
Certain objects, sounds or even thoughts may attract, enrage or
repulse them, but they universally dislike anything that is crafted
as one thing but meant to ape the appearance of another, masks, art,
miniatures, and they will attempt to destroy the offending object and
it's bearer. There are only sixteen of the Horrors
in
the entirety of the structure, but even if one was somehow destroyed,
the strange nature of the place seems to protect them from permanent
discorporation and they can be observed wandering the halls again in
a few hours after their apparent demise. Thankfully for the
surrounding wildlife the nature of their existence seems to preclude
them from leaving Shattered
Tornstark's
confines.
Well-attested in Nameless
Empire sources,
Shattered
Tornstark became
something of an El Dorado or Atlantis to the Giants who came later,
often searched for but ultimately never found by any one who
successfully returned. Several expeditions managed to reach the
ruins, but they met their end through starvation, brushes with the
horrors or expiring through confused violence inflicted upon one
another. Evidence of the lost explorers can be seen in the ruins from
the remains of moldered packs, lost equipment and mummified corpses.
Given its purpose, Tornstark
was
located far away from the Giant roads and the heartland along
Maaglurtet's
Range.
It's former above-ground location was on a plateau on the eastern
side of Ingram's
Tangle,
past Mrytle's Hut,
south
and west of Twisted
Hill,
but now most of it lies in pieces scattered within a few hours of one
another about two or so days underground.
- Those that die within Shattered Tornstark become the phantoms that others experience or watch passively act out moments long past. It's possible that these beings aren't truly dead or alive but stuck in the same state as the Horrors that fill the ruins.
- One of the major indications that a piece of Shattered Tornstark is near are fluctuations in memory or intent similar to those within the area itself. They often are considered taboo or otherwise rightly cursed by the locals.
- While it may seem insane to try and use them, the teleportation circles which caused the calamity are still as perfectly functional as the day that they were first activated. There are sixteen in all, one for each of the outer planes excepting the Outlands.
Treasure
& More: Besides potentially being a huge source of research
material for any spell-caster or scholar hoping to broaden their
understanding of dimensional or planar travel, pebbles or stones from
Shattered Tornstark have
similar effects to that of the site, though on a much smaller scale.
If somehow a Horror
corpse -no one wants a
living Horror
- was removed from the ruin it would be absolutely priceless to any
serious student or seeker of the Far
Realm.
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