Vacant Breach

Vacant Breach is a fissure in northern Greatwyrm's Breach and the sole access to the Vacant Cavern cave system. It should not be entered.
== History ==
Information on Vacant Breach is scattered, and any account should be assumed incomplete or suspect due to the nature of its formative event. Corroborating details from Earth Flight tablets indicate that it was created in the early Fourth Age during a period of high Light activity.
The origin point of the Vacant Breach Emperor is unknown but presumed to be south of Dragonhome, as it was discovered moving north towards the Pillar of the World. The elements of the Vacant Breach Emperor are known. Size is known. Death toll is approximately known. Number of heads is approximately known.
The only surviving detail of the Vacant Breach's formation is the involvement of a two-part enchantment attributed to the Earthshaker. The first part created the breach, the second partially destroyed the Emperor.
While Vacant Breach was originally kept guarded, its outpost was destroyed and the fallback system (if any) was never activated. Due to the nature of the enchantment's latter half, Vacant Breach is little-known, and it's believed to have taken several months before a scribe identified the Breach and the destruction of its outpost. A replacement outpost is under construction.
== Hidden Jewels ==
This information is for secure release only. If you've managed to access this entry and are not a topaz-class scribe or above, report this incident and read no further.
By the time the Emperor was discovered in Dragonhome, it had consumed too much magic to be killed without risking an elemental cascade. While the potential scale is unknown, the danger posed was described as "sufficient to rouse a god". To avoid catastrophe, Earth magic was used first to split the ground beneath the Emperor, causing it to fall into a cave system below, then to extrude and fuse its absorbed energies, crystallizing them around the Emperor as a mass of elemental gemstones. While not true death, this drained torpor-state was sufficient for containment. It was believed the gemstones would channel and safely release the energies over time. Carving and transporting the stones would risk chain-activation and detonation, and sealing had similar risks due to magical buildup; accumulation of energies might cause a destabilizing feedback loop and dissolve the gemstones, re-awakening the Emperor. As the best of bad options, it was left in the Breach's caverns to be guarded until either the energies decayed or a better method of disposal was discovered. 
Exploration of Vacant Breach after the outpost's destruction uncovered an abandoned mining camp next to the Emperor, as well as several crates of gemstones. While the Emperor's remaining mass seems structurally sound, the rate of discharge has increased well beyond the rate at which airflow can clear it, causing gemstones to redeposit within the cavern at an alarming rate. Redeposition is thickest beneath the Emperor, with gemstones accumulating within cracks in the rocks.
Though chemically and structurally identical to their mundane counterparts, the gems of Vacant Breach store far more elemental energy, albeit imperfectly. Energy leaks out over time and may act as a "wild" enchantment. The long-term effects of exposure, if any, are unknown, though potential effects on Imperials are of special concern.
== Known Heads and Gems ==
=== Wind ===
Apparently mindless. Spent the majority of the battle lunging at flying dragons, unaware of or lacking a breath weapon, as well as banging its head and teeth against rocks. Lacks a lower jaw. Gemstone is jadeite, which covers most of the head and forms additional curved outcrops on the neck. Occasionally twitches.
=== Light ===
Hyper-destructive, with a beam-like breath weapon capable of splitting rock. Appeared to have limited control over beam. When not firing, mouth moved as if speaking, though no lip-read record is available. Responsible for destruction of Ice head, presumably by accident. Gemstone is topaz, which encrusts mouth and forms speleothem-forms along body. Given the width of the topaz region, it's possible there were additional heads. Appears dormant.
=== Ice ===
Destroyed by Light head en route to the Pillar of the World, resulting in a mass release of Ice energy that fatally froze several beast clans and took three weeks to thaw. No gemstone formation. Stump is withered but crusted with ice.
=== Plague ===
Could be heard singing hymns to the Plaguebringer during the battle. Its head is fleshless, but the skin of its neck is intact and bloated by accumulation of plague fluids. It regurgitated these fluids as a form of breath weapon. Though vocalized as a "blessing", exposure was largely fatal due to uncontrolled mutation and suffocation. Gemstone is ruby, which sprouts from its skull and in various places throughout the skin. Appears to be sleeping. Fluid occasionally drips from jaws.
=== Arcane ===
Gemstone is pink sapphire and encases head and neck completely. Snout is elongated and narrows to a rounded point. No evidence of eyes or eyesockets. No evidence of mouth. Antlers elongated and narrow to points. Appears dormant.
== Current Status ==
The mining camp shows no signs of struggle or sudden abandonment, nor has it yielded much to identify the miners. Local clans have been interviewed in hopes of locating them. There were reports of courier-shipments of gemstones that didn't match prospecting reports, but these had been dismissed as belonging to one-off seams given their small size. Additionally, these shipments had dried up in the past month, as had the courier's purchases of food and supplies.
The mining camp has been placed under observation until further notice. The current hypothesis is that the miners were away when the Breach was rediscovered and elected not to return. They may have bypassed local clans to avoid being tracked, perhaps favouring their odds of surviving the wastes over evading alerted Snapper tribes. The competing hypothesis is that the miners retreated into the caverns, though this seems unlikely; the caves beneath the Emperor have no other exit. Exploration suspended pending full investigation of the increased rate of elemental release.
You know what this is, right? Like, you know what we're doing?
What, y'think I'm blind? Course I do. Thing's right there, can't exactly ignore it.
Yeah, that's what I mean. Like...look, hitting tombs, that's fine and all, but this is...I mean, what, they just left it here?
Would you relax? Yeah, they left it here to die, and now it's dead. Bet you've walked on loads of dead emperors.
Could you not say that word?
What, emperor? Emperor, emperor, how are you not used to this?
Ugh. Gods. Sorry. Just...I dunno, thought I saw it twitch. Guess it's starting to get to me. Look, what about the other veins? The ones in the floor and stuff? Why not mine those?"
I mean, they're smaller and prolly weaker, don't come crying if you don't get the full payout.
There'd be bigger ones deeper down. "As above, so below", y'know?
Not what that means, but knock yourself out. Hell, actually, if there's some bigger stuff lying around, I wouldn't say no to not mining out a corpse...
Jroll said they get pretty big down there. Almost block the tunnel in places. I mean, it's a narrow tunnel, but--
And I'm just now hearing this? You two braindead? Yeah, damn, let's get down there then. "As above, so below", hah.
(Hidden Jewels contest entry, Oranitha)
Category:Communal Locations
Category:Earth
Category:Hidden Jewels (Contest)