CREATIVE EXERCISE: Tainted Lands

The Creative Exercises that have taken place thus far have been inspiring. It certainly allows for a wonderous "animal" to grow unrestrained and fuelled by the collective creativity of those who congregate on this site. I am going to take a stab at this and regardless of how it may turn out, I hope it allows for the same enjoyment that I have experienced in participating in some of the others:

There is a vast region on a certain continent that lies beyond a great range of towering volcanic peaks that serves as a natural wall between this region and the rest of the continent. This region for reasons unknown is tainted by a perpetual undercurrent of evil and negativity, and this undercurrent manifests in a multitude of ways and it varies greatly in strength and intensity.

(that is all i will define...leaving the rest of you to shape, mould and define this vast region further)

I will adopt the same Rule as the others: After your last contribution, you will need to wait for 3 fresh contributions before you can make your next one.

SAL.

By necessity, with all the random spawning of evil forces and affliction of random folk with madness, people in this land all live in fortified homes of stone or metal, or fortified caves. This is no land for fragile peasants without protection. Everyone lives in such homes, though peasants are generally forced to live together in small stone shacks, leaving them more vulnerable if one of their number is afflicted with the taint.

...And they called this land Athas, world of the Dark Sun.

(OK, OK, I'll be quiet now. I just couldn't resist. I'll contribute later, once the thread has gained some momentum.)

Many people of this land have also succumbed to the taint, and worship alien overlords in debauched cults. Meanwhile, only few beacons of hope for the good and just remain.

this region is largely mountainous and generally cold, experiencing long frigid winters and short intense summers, with occasional pockets of hilly grasslands and temperate forests...evidence of human civilisation is found in a few prominent and established town-ships and small walled cities...

I hope this isn't too long for a first contribution. It's a little wordy, but you'll see it's all basically a single idea.

Aberrations (the monster type) are not true races in this world. Rather, they are the results of the vile emanations of this particular area. The region is occasionally swept by "storms" of taint, even darker energies than normal. People caught outside without shelter in these so-called "Blightstorms" are often twisted and warped beyond all recognition. Every aberration is either the result of one of these Blightstorms, or is descended from someone who was caught in one. People exposed together often mutate in similar fashion, and may breed true; their families are the source of the aberration "races." For some reason, the presence of simple shelter--stone or wood walls, or even a thick tent--is usually enough to protect someone from the worst effects of a Blightstorm.

Because of the taint and other severe dangers of this land, racial prejudices or feuds are all but nonexistent, as everyone who cares to survive must band together with their neighbors against the chill, the tainted monstrosities, the blightstorms, and tainted madmen. Human, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, orc, half-elf, half-orc, planetouched, and others must all cooperate to ward off destruction, for they could not survive if they were to all fight eachother heedless of the aberrations and storms. Of course, the taint has more than its share of minions and beasts as well.......

The rise and the fall of this strange country is closely tied to the Andrith dynasty, and some turn to it also as their saviours. Rumors say the current heiress of this ancient family was seen close to storm wracked ruins recently.

This is the first time I've come across a thread like this so forigive me if I'm totally off with the following.

The demon stood on the precipice and looked down upon the brilliance of this mortal city in the distance. To think it had caused him so much trouble. He could only smile. He took a deep breath. He could smell the food, the stench of the pure, the steelworks.

His smile faded.

He looked to his left. A small boy was playing in the blackened sand. Building crude structures and then tearing them down again as young boys are wont to do. The boy looked up at the approaching demon and smiled for in his eyes he did not see the plated skin and menacing demeanor. No, to the little boy his village was never raised to the ground. To the little boy he was never left in the middle of the street, crying, as the buildings around him burned and as his father lay torn apart in the mud.

No, the demon made sure that the little boy would never think of those things again.
The boy giggled and stretched out his arms so his mother could hold him and he would feel safe and warm. The demon’s clawed hands picked the boy up, held him against his chest and whispered soothing lullabies of destruction. Slowly the child closed his eyes, falling asleep on his mother’s chest.

The demon laid the sleeping child on the ground and walked back to where he stood earlier. He took out a small blade and slit his wrist open. Blood slowly oozed out of the wound. He let it drop in a large circle around him. The blood merged with the sand and out of the ground walls arose. He looked onto the city again. The next drop he let loose from high up. It fell, leaving behind a trail of smoke, until it reached a height of the demon’s knees. The blood spread and formed into a tower, slowly slithering down into the ground.

Hours past when the boy woke from his dreams. He looked at his mother as she was building a city in the sand. The demon stood up and spoke the infernal incantations.

The demon looked at his creation and smiled. He then looked to the boy and motioned for him to come to his side. The boy stood against his mother’s leg and looked in silent wonder at the giant sand sculpture. His mother then motioned for him to play and he did.

The demon closed his eyes and let the young boy do what young boys are wont to do. And in the distance, a faint but terrible rumble could be heard which filled the demons dark heart with blasphemous satisfaction.

SALADIN said:

evidence of human civilisation is found in a few prominent and established town-ships and small walled cities...

Click to expand...

The town-ships are wonderous creations armoured and fortified juggernauts with untold activity within. With a hundred wheels and huge sails they can move at incredible speeds across the roughest ground, thus allowing the town-ships to ride out the most terrible of storms and seek out the most fertile lands.

The largest of these town-ships is simply called 'Juggernaut' and its Master the Ras Benar is investigating the dwarfen use of steam turbines to power the town-ships wheels