Mortuus Arvum

The Arvum on a map of Archaeus

The **Mortuus Arvum**, often referred to simply as the **Arvum**, is an unexplored area in the centre of the largest continent in Archaeus. Present since the appearance of the first four major races, the Arvum is linked with Archaeus's magic and has been the subject of intense speculation and research, especially since the emergence of an undead army serving the Arvum, the discovery of the larger galaxy, and the reappearance of the Journal of Jack Ketch describing the interior of the Arvum.

## Description

The exterior of the Arvum is bounded by towering, thick clouds of black dust and smoke; nearby clouds crackle with bright blue and red flashes of light, followed by thunderous roars of powerful energy. A foul magical presence furthermore surrounds the Arvum, not allowing life of any kind to exist within a small radius. This anomalous weather and dangerous magic, as well as expansions of the Arvum itself, have consumed several nearby settlements and their inhabitants.

Records of the interior are practically nonexistent, the Arvum seemingly resistant to scrying magic, with one exception: The Journal of Jack Ketch. Having escaped the Arvum through unknown means without its owner, the journal catalogues the doomed trip of Jack Ketch's ship, the *Nag,* and its crew, who sailed into the Arvum by accident; It describes his crew being picked off one by one in battles with Pale Elves, corrupted members of a tribe absorbed into the Arvum centuries ago. Ketch and the few survivors eventually discovered a statue of an individual known as the Death King, 'worshipped with blood and skulls'.

Inside the Arvum, time appears to pass differently from outside, though in varying ways; a week inside could be an hour or a year outside. The reason for this is not yet known.

## History

The Arvum has been present in Archaeus for at least as long as the four major races have, and has changed little during that time except expanding. Throughout history, various civilisations surrounding the Arvum have used banishment into it as a punishment for serious crimes, often an alternative to execution.

In Å-620, an undead army led by a necromancer emerged near the Arvum, both of them affected by Arvum energy. This army invaded Etelaan and nearby regions before the Necromancer was finally slain at the Siege of Adalhard Manor. As well as the Necromancer, other objects including a cursed book containing the souls of the undead and the Journal of Jack Ketch have recently left the Arvum, though no other change has been detected that would explain why.

In Å-622, Pale Elves began emerging from the Arvum, initially attacking trade caravans before launching a full-scale invasion, defeating the same mercenary caravan that slew the Necromancer.

## Inhabitants

The Arvum is inhabited by Pale Elves, primarily members of the Silverhead Elven tribe who were subsumed into the Arvum centuries ago and corrupted by Arvum magic, their souls becoming trapped in a cursed book. Individuals who were sent or strayed into the Arvum are usually hunted down by the Pale Elves and made into slaves, but some eventually leave; the Necromancer, who was also corrupted by Arvum energy, is one such individual.

Pale Elf slaves are starved to near-death, and forced to fight in gladiatorial battles or serve the Pale Elves as guards or cannon fodder. If a slave proves themselves, they can undergo an unknown process to become a Pale Elf themselves.

The Pale Elves are known collectively as the Throng, and serve and worship an individual known as the Death King or The One. Though a statue of him exists within the Arvum, the only thing that those outside have seen of him is a pair of eyes and a symbol. During the Siege of Adalhard Manor, a number of documents in cipher were discovered, seemingly written by the Death King and containing ominous but vague prophecies.

Divinations during the Invasion of the Pale Elves indicated that a being or beings referred to as Ethereal, linked with the Elven species and the element of air, also inhabit the Arvum, unable to leave but uncorrupted by it.

## Arvum Energy

Arvum Energy is a mysterious force emanating from the Arvum, linked in several ways with magic; it can be channelled in rituals to empower them, though at great risk to the participants, and can be used by multiple realms of magic to achieve prodigious feats such as healing an entire battlefield of warriors at once. The newly discovered Dread realm of magic makes extensive use of Arvum energy, at great cost to the wielder.

Excess Arvum energy in an individual can make them violent or amoral until removed, and can also be used to resurrect corpses. Notably, the undead of the Necromancer's army and the Fext differ in longevity, personality, and biology despite both being related to the Arvum. Arvum energy can also appear in solid form, which is difficult to destroy except through artefacts such as Sorrowfall, and be imbued into objects; one individual, Granny Pants, was capable of detecting Arvum energy through smell.

Several sources, including the Cults of the Arvum Dawn and Dusk and the sword Sorrowfall, claim that the Arvum is in some way related to the cycle of life and death, which has been damaged or broken. The exact nature of this link has yet to be confirmed. Extensive speculation has raged among historians regarding links between the Arvum, gods, magic, and the Kenku and Naga, but there is little consensus or concrete information. A ritual attempting to communicate with the gods apparently revealed that the Arvum was 'corruption itself', and had been 'contained for millennia'; however, a later divination seemed to imply that the Three had been corrupted by the Arvum as well.