Well, after a long delay, here it is; my first draft of a regional writeup for the Malebolge. Opinions, critique and feedback dearly sought - any details that you feel I missed? Ways I could have cleaned this up? Things that warranted more clarity? I've never done something like this before, so the more feedback I can get, the better I can hopefully make it.
Region #1: The Cradlelands
For many reasons, this document will begin by examining the Cradlelands. The center of the Known World, these were once the center of the great human empires of the past, and have most visibly suffered from the effects of the Black Dawn.
As a result, although lore about what the Cradlelands once were is still scattered and sporadic, in many ways, it has some of the best libraries that remain, and it is certainly among the better-mapped regions so far.
At A Glance
Climate- Temperate, Extreme, Unpredictable
Terrain- Urban Ruins (Ubiquitous), Wasteland (Ubiquitous), Mountains (North), Swamps (South), Forests (Sporadic)
Races- Humans, Calibans, Rodushi, Warforged, Shadar-Kai, Gnomes, Dwarves (Forgeborn), Kobolds, Draakothi
Monsters - Aberrations, Constructs, Elementals, Fiends (Very Rare), Monstrosities, Oozes, Plants (Rare), Undead
Although the original name of the Cradlelands is lost - titles such as Nerath, Arkhosia, Neifon, Zebechial, Morissa, Zefir, Zutwa, Amaan, Kaestelaria and more surface, but with little context as to whether these referred to continents, cities or even individuals - it is well known what kind of land it once was.
Before the Black Dawn, the Cradlelands were a rich and wholesome land. Temperate in climate, it experienced long, tranquil springs and mild autumns, interspersed with short but intense summers and winters, although this changed somewhat as one moved further north (towards Nidaveliir - or, as it is now called, the Slagheap) or south (to what are now the Jaderealms).
The sundering of what is natural has changed that. Although the Cradlelands cling to their old rhythms as best they can, the environmental disruption makes for a very different environment. Springs and summers are less distinguished now, melding into a long expanse of hot, muggy, oft-rainy days, with a comparatively short and gentle autumn that gives way to a bitter, bleak winter. Snow is not necessarily common, and mostly winters consist of cold, dry winds and overcast skies.
Fueled by the Sea of Souls - see that Territory elsewhere in this book - the Cradlelands are particularly prone to wide-scale weather anomalies. These can range from the comparatively mild, such as unseasonal heat-waves and blizzards, to more extreme outbursts. Fluxstorms, where reality itself quakes and spontaneous portals can scatter the unfortunate across the multiverse. Downpours of acid, venom, boiling blood or molten metal. Titanic wind-based elementals such as Diamondstorms - elementals comprised of gale-force winds saturated with jagged shards of crystal - have been known to sweep out of the Sea of Souls and rampage for miles. Changestorms, cyclone-like amalgamations of unstable transmutation magic, can spontaneously form and mutate whatever they pass over. These represent just some of the danger that can come from the skies here.
Needless to say, such forms of weather more than add their own impact to the already anomalous and unstable landscape and its array of creatures. The Cradlelands have perhaps the greatest reported number of bizarrely magical landmarks and terrain features of any region, including floating mountains, forests of talking trees, rivers that rain upside down, lakes of fire, roaming hills, and a plethora of portals and gates, reputed to be the remnants of an ancient network of teleportation circles.
Life here can be tough and hardscrabble. For races not inherently hardened against the abundance of toxins and diseases, the importance of protective devices such as survival mantles and vitae-pura talismans (which allow the user to detect contaminants in food or water) cannot be understated. Indeed, it is near-universally considered a high crime to sabotage such items, and the punishment for such is bloody and brutal. But, even we rodushi consider such rough justice to be warranted in this case, for a soul willing to condemn another to the cruel deaths of the wasteland - to drowning in their own blood, to having their brain eaten from the inside out by worms, to catching the molten hunger or whatever else might befall them - is clearly a spawn of the darkness and deserving nought but a swift dispatching.
Before the Black Dawn, a vast amount of the Cradlelands were urbanized - literally mile after mile of streets and buildings, in great city-states that were the size of small kingdoms. As such, these ruins make up a significant percentage of the landscape of the modern Cradlelands, in states ranging from eerily pristine to the utterly desecrated. Exploring ruins is a difficult matter anywhere; unstable terrain, ancient traps, and issues with providing a supply of food and drinkable water ensure these skeletal cities remain mostly abandoned. Those who do live here tend to be loners or small groups; large colonies inhabiting ruins is a distinct rarity and normally indicates many long generations of hard work and bitter fighting to defend what is theirs.
The other prominent feature of Cradlelands terrain are the iconic wastelands; unlike a desert or savannah, these rarely consist either of great stony fields or vast patches of sand dunes, although both have been documented. Rather, the wasteland looks like the old country before the Black Dawn - rolling hills, sweeping plains and grassland - but scorched and shriveled, burned by fire and choked by venom. Which is, after all, much the case. The soil in such regions is often quite denuded; it may not necessarily run freely with the rains (though it does in many locales), but it holds little goodness, forcing life to grow hard and twisted (and often quite mutated!) in order to eke out some form of survival here. These are harsh, bitter lands, claimed only by the strongest.
However, not all of the Cradlelands are dead or inhospitable. Although nowhere near as prevalent as in the Jaderealm, many forests are scattered across the land, a legacy of the woodlands that were so carefully nurtured by the human empire. As years go past and they adapt better and better to their environment, it's noted that the forests are actually growing in strength, slowly and steadily spreading over the empty lands around them. Still, the densest forests are in the southern region, as one gets closer to the Jaderealm, and in the west, as one approaches the comparatively verdant land of the Scarred Coast.
In the days of old, many rivers and streams ran in a mad spider's web across the Cradlelands. The Black Dawn has changed that - not so much by destroying them as by befouling them. Predominantly in the southern and eastern sectors of the region, many bodies of water in the Cradlelands are fouled by contamination, especially those that feed into or flow from the Sea of Souls. This territory is covered in more detail later on, but in summary, this is a massive inland sea created by the Black Dawn and flooded with all manner of arcane pollutants and toxins, such that drinking or immersion in its water guarantees a hideous death or horrific mutation. Few of the rivers are this toxic, but they are still rarely pleasant to drink from without proper safeguards.
As a side-effect of this, there are large swathes of swamps and moors, predominantly in the southern sector, and these are known to be home to particularly advanced and horrendous mutations due to concentrated contaminants.
As you might expect, in a region this unnatural, there are few dangerous creatures that can be considered "natural".
Aberrations are perhaps more common here than anywhere else, slipping through the metaphysical cracks created by ancient gates, modern rifts, fluxstorms, and the like. They gravitate to the most inhospitable regions, finding a twisted sense of beauty in these bleak and warped landscapes. Beholders tend to favor ruins and wastelands, whilst aboleths are universally found in swamps or near rivers, with other aberrations being found where their natures incline them. A strange reaction between whatever unearthly energies sustain them and the scarred magics emanating from the earth means that these monsters can literally befoul the land to make it more appealing to them. For this reason, the rodushi have long made use of the Rite of Cleansing; a mystical ritual that can use the life's blood of a slain aberration to undo the damage of the Black Dawn, purifying water and restoring vitality to the land itself. With this rite in hand, rodushi palatines have long sought out and slain the mightiest aberrations they could, seeking to create green spots and slowly heal the wounds of this mangled and scarred land.
Next to aberrations, the most hideous of the Cradlelands' native threats are oozes. Born from the contamination of ancient spells or mystical pollution, many forms of slime, goo, mold and jelly proliferate in the darker and moister regions of the Cradlelands. The most infamous and horrific of these creatures are the molten ones; former humanoids who caught the dreading "molten hunger", a mystical disease brought on by exposure to certain arcane toxins - most notably the water of the Sea of Souls. This hideous disease slowly liquefies its victims, with flesh running like wax under a hot sun and bones turning to jelly until the doomed soul finally loses all cohesion and disintegrates into a now-harmless, lifeless puddle of melted meat and gelatinous bones. Until that happens, however, the molten ones are driven mad with pain and desperately seek to cannibalize any living creature they can come across, desperately trying to stave off their disintegration through the consumption of fresh meat and blood. However, as their living decay accelerates, it becomes impossible for them to stave off their end, and ultimately they die. It is little wonder that this is considered one of the most terrifying diseases in all of the Known World.
The same phenomena that results in the presence of aberrations also results in a much higher population of elementals. Fiends have also been spotted in the region, although rarely so; some are actually victims of conjurers who have been trapped in this plane for the generations since the Black Dawn, but most are exiles, scouts, adventurers or tourists from their own dark world. Elementals, meanwhile, are simply victims of the many fluxstorms, or even kindled to life by the raw arcane energy that continues to gust over the shattered landscape. The Sea of Souls and other such "primordial" zones are known hotspots for elementals, which only adds to their danger.
However, this is not to say that the Cradlelands are not home to mundane, or formerly mundane, creatures. But generations of mutation and adapting to the harsh environment have made even the most mundane of such creatures quite strange and deformed-looking. The line between beast and monstrosity, therefor, is quite blurred and oft-crossed. Abominations such as a ursawryms - gargantuan, incessantly hungry hybrids of bear and snake, giant bugs, the amphibious predators known as chirplicks, tentacled gators, tesseract spiders and leucrottas all make life difficult for those seeking to survive in this place. But, they have made a place for themselves in this world, unlike their extraplanar counterparts, and not all such creatures are hostile. Some are even helpful, like the chowpuff; small, egg-shaped furry creatures whose ability to consume almost anything even vaguely and turn it into more very edible chowpuffs has been the salvation of more than one settlement.
Strangely, this diversity in mutation has not replicated itself in the plant kingdom. That is not to say that the Cradlelands lacks mutated flora, simply that its mutations are not as... extreme... as encountered in other regions. The vast majority of Cradlelands flora that is inconvenient in some way tends to be either inedible, covered in spikes, poisonous, or simply prone to irritating quirks - witness the deathshower tree, whose seedpods grow for a ten year period and then explode with such force as to propel the hundreds of interior seeds deep into the soil (or the flesh of anyone unfortunate to be in their way), or the pineto, a bizarre ambulant plant that grows into a quadrupedal structure crudely reminiscent of a horse. That isn't to say the Cradlelands lacks the conventional "killer plants" entirely, just that they are quite rare; stories of individuals blundering face-first into the corrosive tendrils of burnmoss or being attacked by strangleshrooms in the swamps make that clear.
The final breeds of monsters worth noting are literally remnants of the Doomwars. Constructs, ranging from the mindless golem ancestors of the warforged to animated objects to spells granted perpetual animation by the Black Dawn, are especially common in this region. Some have been captured and tamed by individuals or settlements, whilst others are still clinging to ancient pre-Dawn instructions. In addition, the Undead are a common threat here, mostly ancient battalions of skeletons and zombies still roaming after the deaths of their necromancer commanders during the Doomwars. Almost any form of corporeal undead can be found here, although their numbers are kept in check by the abundance of natural hazards; in a land where fire and acid can rain from the sky on a weekly basis, mindlessly shuffling armies of zombies tend to be winnowed away fairly quickly.
It goes without saying that life in the Cradlelands is tough, and breeds equivalent toughness in its residents. The weak do not survive for long here, not without the strength of others to aid them.
As the original homelands of humanity, it is arguable whether the Cradlelands or the Scarred Coast houses the greatest population of these ancient survivors in the modern era. What is undeniable is that humans can be found everywhere here. The most iconic human populations, in the eyes of those outside of the region anyway, are the vault-dwellers; those who rode out the Black Dawn in massive fortified cities intended to preserve humanity through the worst disasters, and so still preserve as much of the ancient lore and power of humanity as possible. However, these humans are not the majority of their kind; many vaults failed outright during the Black Dawn, and others descended into barbarism for various reasons.
So, truthfully, most human settlements here are little better than those found elsewhere. And, as with the case with humans everywhere, it is impossible to provide more than the broadest generalizations about what human culture is like, because every community has its own standards and quirks. Some are cosmopolitan, others are xenophobic. Most tend towards either a strongly authoritative (if not tyrannical) or else a democratic government system. Many retain the ancient magocractic systems of their ancestors, whilst a few are arcanophobes.
It should be noted that there are tales of "oldworlder" humans roaming this land. Undead revenants, individuals hurled forth through time by the whimsy of the Black Dawn, wizards who preserved themselves through magical stasis, and so forth. Such tales are completely unverified, and have never been proven, but they show no sign of abating.
Of course, the one thing that cannot be argued is that the Cradlelands house the world's largest population of calibans. Descendants of corrupted humans, these magical mutants tend towards fairly simplistic, oft tribal cultures, although cases of highly advanced caliban clans have been reported. In contrast to their human kin, calibans are often nomadic in nature, as they have less to worry bout from environmental pollution than humans do.
Though they can be xenophobic and brutal, it is not true that calibans are universally evil. The vast majority of them seek only to live in peace, and can be quite helpful to those who display honest assistance to them. That said, caliban raiders are a common threat as well, so a certain amount of caution is healthy.
We Rodushi make up the third of the "great races" of the Cradlelands. This region is our birthplace, and from our ancestral home of Candleforge, we seek to push back the darkness and rekindle the flames of civilzation. Wandering palatines trek far and wide across the treacherous landscape, whilst our villages work the soil and call others of like mind to join us. Hand in hand, we seek to bring a new order upon this chaotic world.
The last of the major races to be found in the Cradlelands are the Warforged. This was their ancestral birthplace, and they are driven to tend to it still. Although centered in the territory known as the Ironfields, everything from lone individuals to whole armies of these sentient constructs roam the Cradlelands, seeking to find new forge-creches in hopes of assuring the continuance of their species even after their old purpose being no more.That is not to say that other races are absent from the Cradlelands, merely that the four I have named are most prominent in numbers and influence. A number of other races may potentially be encountered by a traveler in these wastes.
For starters, the Cradlelands house the largest population of gnomoi outside of the Slagheap. These inventive, ever-curious tinkers seem to regard the chaotic conditions of the Cradlelands as a challenge and the perfect environment to wrestle with their own demons, meaning they are second only to humans in numbers of migrants from other lands. Gnomes are particularly common in the Ironfields, both as residents of Greasegear and having their own city of Tinkerville.
In comparison, the dwarven population is far smaller. Only clans of forgeborn dwarves are known to inhabit these lands, descendants of dwarves who chose to forsake their homeland generations ago and side with humanity. Staunchly loyal to those human communities whom they grew up alongside, that is not necessarily a good thing.
It is well documentated that many clans of shadar-kai roam the Cradlelands, testing their mettle against the harsh environments. They are noted to be particularly common in areas where shadowbleed occurs, and are the closest thing to living inhabitants of the dread Moil.
Finally, numerous warrens of kobolds can be found, often competing for choice territory with calibans or we rodushi. The Cradlelands warrens seem to be particularly fruitful in their breeding experiments, and so a correspondingly high number of draakothi are also known to inhabit these lands.
With these details out of the way, it is now time to begin discussing some of the areas of note within the Cradlelands themselves.
