The Scarring

The Scarring is an event that occurred some 800 years ago. A magical cataclysm that shook the foundations of Aldmeer and spread destruction throughout the planet. The main event happened in the continents of Ule and Rythalion.

## Main Event and Cause

In what is now Eolda, Arvald Lerican who was the ruling archmage of Ansos, wanted to usurp the government and depose the rest of the ruling archmages. For years, he was trying to find power sources to make him all-powerful for his plan to succeed. He had already succeeded on becoming a lich, unknowingly to the other archmages of the other capitals of the realm. However, he still craved more, as even if he would bring the fight to them with his organization and an undead army at his command, the others outnumbered him with their combined armies. So he kept looking for solutions, and in no way was he limited into looking just in his realm or even his home continent.

After a time, he and a cabal of powerful mages from his organization located an artifact of immense power hidden deep within the underground of a region of central Ule and went to acquire it. The artifact was called the Crimson Star and legend said that it is a remnant of the primal forces and elements from the time of the planet’s birth. It was shaped like an orb that could fit in the palm of one's hand; crimson energy writhing inside and around it. Unknowingly to Arvald though, the Crimson Star was also used as a conductor and amplifier for magical leylines that connected around the entirety of Ule. Placed there millennia ago by Primordials, the Star kept feeding the continent pure magical energy, the reason being why Ule had the most advanced and powerful arcane spellcasters in the world.

Arvald Lerican went there with a plan. He had found a way to cast a mythal, an immensely complex, reality-defying and potentially unstable spell, that would free the Star. Along with his cabal, he used the awesome and unreal power of the mythal to break its barriers. After great sacrifice casting the almighty mythal, the barrier broke. Once they did break it though, the unstable magic of the mythal interacted with the primal Crimson Star and unleashed chaos. The Star channeled the mythal's magic towards the leylines of Ule; overpowering them and, after that, reality could not keep itself together and instead started destroying itself. This resulted in tremendous catastrophes in Ule. Within a week, the continent was destroyed and submerged. As for Arvald Lerican, he managed to grab the Crimson Star as this catastrophe was happening, and the Star started destroying his body almost instantly.

Before that could be over though, he tried teleporting back to Ansos along with the Star. His teleportation went awry by the unstable magic he created and he ended up not in Ansos but in the mountains of the Scindo Range; his chaotic spell drawn like a magnet by the immense magic force that kept the sleeping Primordials dormant inside the mountains. Once out of its underground containment and having interacted with the mythal, the Crimson Star went critically unstable and released an immense explosion that leveled the central mountainside, unleashing its energies that spread across the whole countryside and kept spreading, day by day. Ule was also being destroyed by the same energies only on maximum capacity, and as it was submerging, it spread the crimson magical energy around the world too, marking the start of a global magical cataclysm. Most places in the world were affected by this, like the entirety of Ule, Rythalion, and Edevair, most of Kertov’atola and some parts of Aseldis and Yetaza.

No one besides the culprits really knew why all this happened but the general concensus was that wizards had something to do with it, and after it became clear that the sinking of Ule and the explosion in Scindo Range were of the same origin, people started blaming the Archmages of old Eolda and Ule.

This whole event has passed down in history as ''the Scarring'', as the lands of Aldmeer as well as its people, were indefinitely scarred and forever changed. The Scarring marked the start of a new era as it was this event that kicked off the use of the today's worldwide calendar. The cataclysm endured for almost 6 years; remnants of it still exist even now. The world was tried and put to its limits during these times, and many people and creatures lost their lives in the process.

## Landscars

In some places of the world even after all this time, some pockets of this chaotic and destructive magic remains dormant, a reminder of this terrible time. Also called Landscars, these areas are very dangerous and are generally avoided by living creatures. Near these areas, the energies of the Scaring have spawned anomalies that were once all over the place during the magical cataclysm of the Scarring. Some of these anomalies include unraveling magic zones, inside which magic has gone wild, corrupt and spontaneous. Another notable anomaly that has spawned is the so-called ''Living Magic''. The raw and chaotic magical energy unleashed then had caused spell effects to take on a kind of sentience. A living spell appears much like a normal spell effect, except that its magical energy endures without end. Living spells can be found near remaining pockets of the Scarring and are very fickle, sometimes razing things near them out of the blue and sometimes just hanging around without provoking anything. This chaotic behavior has made them even more dangerous though, as some would-be magic researchers go to study them thinking it is mostly safe. They manage to do so for a bit only to be killed by a sudden burst from a deadly effect of the Living Magic they study.

Landscars appear like fissures in the earth from where crimson/reddish fog emanates from and shrouds the immediate area around the scar. The fog has particles of crimson lightning that writhe and jolt inside it. If the Landscar is too big, then the fog will cover much more territory and can be visible from miles away, depending on its size. Nothing seems to phase this corrupting fog, including antimagic fields. Another anomaly brought by the Scarring is its corrupting nature. It's not exactly known why it is so but nations leave Landscars alone and contain them if possible. But these measures are not foolproof and if the scars grow too big the fog escapes containment. If a creature comes into contact with the fog, it's skin starts getting dissolved as if it was burned by acid and its quite possible it'll be corrupted by it. Once its corrupted, something in its appearance and biology will change marking it as corrupted. A corrupted creature is not only dangerous but it can also spread its corruption to other creatures as well. The worst part though, is that a corrupted creature can transform into a monstrous abomination, under certain circumstances, that is beyond any control as when that happens, the transformed creature will have lost its psyche and senses and will be nothing but a rabid, infected and dangerous monster.

### Places with Landscars

There are some places in Aldmeer where the pockets of the Scarring still linger. If a creature enters these corrupting fogs that plague a place it can become corrupted fast. When a creature enters the fog or starts its turn inside it, it takes 1d10 acid damage. Then, no matter if it's immune to acid damage or not, it must make a DC 17 Constitution Saving throw at the start of each of its next three turns. The creature makes the saving throws with disadvantage while it's inside the fog. If it failed two out of three times, the creature is corrupted for life. There is also a 50% chance that a creature inside the fog is hit by the crimson lightning that is jolting inside the fog, taking 1d10 lightning damage as a result.

### Creatures immune to Corruption

Aberrations, Celestials, Constructs, Elementals, Fey, Fiends and Undead are immune to Corruption and its effects. However, only creatures of a pure type of the above are immune. If a creature that has dual nature, aka two creature types, comes into contact with a corrupted source, it is subject to corruption even if it has one of said types. For example, centaurs and snailtaurs are both fey and humanoid, but they are not immune to corruption as their humanoid nature makes them vulnerable to it. The same goes for alkatars; they are both monstrosities and undead and are therefore subject to corruption.

### Curing Corruption from a creature

Since Corruption is no mere disease, it can only be cured by the Wish spell. Any other spell that can cure a disease fails to cure a creature with Corruption. A creature brought back by True Resurrection is also cured from Corruption. Divine Intervention can also cure a creature.

## Corruption Effects

When a creature is inflicted with the corruption of a Landscar, it is marked by it. The affected creature gains the ''Menacing Scars'' and one other of the following abilities at random. Roll a d4 to determine the effects from the following numbered list:

**Menacing Scars.**  1d8 + 2 glowing crimson scars appear on your body and face where your skin got burned. You can use your glowing scars that manifested on your face and body to make a point in conversations and otherwise impose yourself by making their light glow intensely. You have proficiency on the Intimidation skill. If you already have proficiency in the skill you gain Expertise with it instead. However, you have disadvantage on Persuasion checks thanks to the scars. If another creature touches the scars it suffers 1d6 acid damage and, no matter if it's immune to acid damage or not, must succeed on a Constitution Saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be inflicted with Corruption.

***1.***            **Mumbling Mouth.** A second mouth appears somewhere in your face. It is almost always mumbling in gibberish and you have no control over it. It never yells, but it keeps you awake at night and ruins your concentration. While you are trying to sleep you must succeed at a Constitution Saving Throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier). On a failure you are unable to sleep due to the mouth's mumbling and movements. You can repeat this saving throw once again during each hour you are trying to sleep. If you manage to fall asleep, the mouth stops. Also, while you are making a Constitution Saving Throw to maintain your concentration for a spell, you roll with disadvantage. If someone else approaches the mouth within 10 centimeters (4 inches), the mouth burps a tiny cloud of crimson corrupting fog to that creature potentially corrupting it. That creature must succeed on a Constitution Saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be inflicted with Corruption.

***2.***            **Corrupted Eyes.** Your eyes are glowing purple with the energies of the Scarring, giving you greater vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 30 ft. of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. The glow of your eyes is visible from 100 feet away.

***3.***            **Third Eye.** A third eye appears somewhere on your face. You have advantage on Perception checks that rely on sight. Your Passive Perception is also increased by 5. The eye also causes you to sometimes see silhouettes lurking in the edge of your vision or behind objects. You can never tell if they are real or not, giving you disadvantage to Intelligence (Investigation) checks and a -5 to your Passive Investigation as they ruin your focus and make you paranoid.

**4.             Flaming Hair.** Your hair is always wholly covered by purplish/reddish flames that have particles of lightning jolting around them. If you don’t have hair, the flames burn in the top of your head. The flames shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. These flames cannot be extinguished by any means, and will escape a hat or helmet if covered by one by engulfing it in flames albeit without destroying it. If another creature touches the flames it suffers 1d6 fire damage and, no matter if it's immune to fire damage or not, must succeed on a Constitution Saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be inflicted with Corruption.

While corrupted, there is a 10% chance that the creature bursts crimson lightning bolts from its body whenever it takes more than 15 damage from a single source. The lightning bolts spread to 10 ft around the creature. Any creature within range takes 1d10 lightning damage. Then, the corrupted creature is endowed in crimson lightning that sparks and jolts around its body for 3 turns, affecting creatures 5 feet near it. Any creature 5 feet near it takes 1d6 lightning damage or half as much if a creature succeeds in a Dexterity Saving throw (DC 15). Whether a creature took damage from the effects of the lightning or not, it must succeed on a Constitution Saving throw (DC 15) or be inflicted with Corruption. After the 3 turns have passed, crimson fog manifests in a 10-foot cube around the corrupted creature and disperses after 1d6 + 1 turns have passed. The crimson fog does not move with the corrupted creature, but rather stays fixed in the spot until it disperses. Any creature that stands inside it must save against corruption.

At the end of each long rest, there is a chance that the corruption affect's an affected creature's mind. On a 10% chance after each long rest, a corrupted creature must make a Constitution Saving Throw (DC 8 + its proficiency bonus + its Constitution modifier). On a failure, it goes on a rampage for 1 minute, attacking the creature that is nearest to it. While rampaging, it doesn’t fall unconscious when falling below 0 hp, but dies immediately if it accumulates negative damage equal to its maximum HP. At the end of each of its turns while rampaging, it must make a Constitution Saving Throw (DC 8 + its proficiency bonus + its Constitution modifier). On a success, the rampage ends as the creature managed to fight off the corruption for now. On a failure, the creature is incapacitated for one hour as its body painfully starts turning into a Landscar Horror. If it is a Player Character, the player loses control of that character if the transformation runs its course for the whole hour. The incapacitated effect ends with a Greater Restoration spell or similar magic and reverts the transformation process.