D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Scourging Glass

# Wilderness# Arcane# Intrigue

A catastrophic arcane experiment shattered a desert region into a wasteland of razor-sharp glass and unleashed crystalline scorpions that feed on raw magical energy. Two desperate factions now vie for control of a damaged teleportation circle, each convinced their way is the only path to salvation—or domination. The desert itself is a weapon, and every step is a choice between terrible options.

Chronicle Prelude

The Shattered Threshold: A fortified caravanserai built in the skeletal hull of a colossal crashed airship on the edge of the Glass Desert. It serves as a desperate hub for survivors, traders, and opportunists, all trading salvage and rumors under the constant, singing wind that carries shards of glass.

Environmental Traits

The Haywire Nexus: A malfunctioning, pre-Cataclysm teleportation circle at the desert's heart pulses with unstable energy. Its random discharges create pockets of wild magic and have given birth to the crystalline scorpion swarms. Reaching and controlling the Nexus is the only way to either stabilize the region's magic or siphon its power to escape elsewhere, but every faction has a different, brutal idea of what 'control' means.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Warden Captain Valeria
A tall, grim woman with a face a map of scars and eyes like chips of flint. She wears battered, but meticulously maintained, armor bearing the soot-stained emblem of the Ashen Wardens. Her posture is ramrod straight, exuding an aura of absolute, uncompromising authority.
Ley-Walker Kaelen
A gaunt figure in flowing, patchwork robes that seem to absorb the light. His skin is mottled with iridescent, crystal-like growths, and his eyes glow with a soft, unstable purple light. He moves with a fluid, almost unsettling grace, a living testament to the mutation he champions.
Medic Aris
A weary-looking man in a stained Warden uniform, his hands perpetually stained with alchemical reagents and herbal pastes. His eyes hold a deep-seated conflict, and he often glances towards the Siphon territory when he thinks no one is watching.
Scout Ryn
A wiry, nervous figure with goggle-eyes and skin that seems to shimmer faintly, as if coated in a fine layer of glass dust. They wear scavenged gear and are constantly looking over their shoulder, distrusted even by their own Collective for their abrasive personality and deals with outsiders.
Mystic Olorun
An ancient desert mystic wrapped in layers of sun-bleached cloth, their face a web of deep wrinkles and their eyes clouded with a milky film. They move with a slow, deliberate grace, and small, polished crystals hang from their staff, tinkling softly.
Cartographer Elara
A woman consumed by her work, with ink-stained fingers and a pair of intricate, multi-lensed goggles permanently pushed up on her forehead. She is surrounded by scrolls and half-fetched maps, muttering about harmonic interference and spatial distortion.
Ley-Queen Scourge
A colossal crystalline scorpion, easily twenty feet long, its carapace a pulsating lattice of raw, unstable magic. The air around it hums with power, and its multiple eyes glow with a mindless, ancient fury. It is the apex predator and living embodiment of the Nexus's chaotic power.
Spirit-Speaker Nahima
A weathered elder of the pre-cataclysm desert tribe, adorned with intricate tattoos of swirling sand and star patterns. They speak in a low, rhythmic cadence, their eyes holding the deep, patient knowledge of a people who lived in harmony with the land before the outsiders came.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Stormspire Schism

The Brimstone Furnace