Dreadlands

> "*What scared me most about being in that place was not the monstrous appearance or savage nature of its inhabitants. It was the sheer expanse of it. I have seen the infinite breadth of the Dreadlands with my own eyes, and it terrified me more than any other horror I have witnessed. We have filled entire libraries with books on their realm, and we know not even a hundredth of the truth. We may fight them back a hundred times, a thousand, even ten thousand, but they will never stop coming. We are few, and they are so, so many. Against the never-ending hosts of the numberless false gods, there can be no victory.*"
> ― Inquisitor Alven Kalematten
>
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The **Dreadlands** (Nesarian: *Morcaria* or *Morcariye*) is a separate dimension or universe connected to ours, known for being populated with extremely hostile creatures (often termed "demons", though most religions consider demonic supernatural entities to be entirely separate things), filled with abundant and unstable magic, and for being the last haven of living Titans. It remains hotly debated to this day as to whether the Dreadlands was constructed by the Titans to escape the Annihilation, whether the Dreadlands have always existed and the Titans simply fled there, or whether the Titans are actually native to this place.

Though the Dreadlands exists as a separate universe or dimension, it could be accessed through the use of tears in reality known as rifts. The mechanics of how rifts were created is largely unknown, but extremely powerful magic was necessary to open one. Closing a small rift could be achieved by powerful mortal mages, but larger rifts were substantially more difficult to close and usually had to be left to close on their own, which could take anywhere from several months to a decade. The process of closing a small rift usually involved pouring magical energy into the rift in order to overload it, causing it to implode and collapse in on itself with a violent explosion. This was a dangerous exercise, for the explosion could happen on either side of the rift (that is, either in the Dreadlands or in this world) and could cause serious injury, though deaths were rare. Attempting to perform this on larger rifts usually simply resulted in the rift growing larger rather than imploding.

By all accounts, the Dreadlands is practically infinite much like our universe, but the powerful magic within and the nature of its geography means that its inhabitants are not restricted to a singular planet, but can fill the entire expanse. Estimates of the population of the Dreadlands vary greatly, from the low hundreds of billions to the quadrillions, with others simply claiming the number is infinite, but one thing is certain - it is immeasurably greater than that of Earth, and the tide of demonic creatures that threatens this world is functionally endless.

Access to the Dreadlands was cut off when magic disappeared in the 12th-13th centuries. Access was only briefly restored during the magical revival of the Imperial Civil War before being cut off once again. Though many rumours and conspiracy theories persist, claiming the Imperial Inquisition keeps all matters of the Dreadlands silent in the interest of public order, there have been no confirmed sightings of rifts nor of demonic creatures since the Civil War.

The study of the Dreadlands is known as Morcology, and the study of its inhabitants is Morcanology. These terms derive from Nesarian *Morca* ("dread") and *Morcano* ("dread-person" or "dreadfolk"). Morcanologists tend to be highly particular about using the correct terminology, as their field of study is frequently confused with demonology, which is completely different.

## Geography

The geography of the Dreadlands is hard to discern, as there are few accounts of people who explored the Dreadlands and came out alive to tell the tale, and such accounts are typically vague and contradictory. However, there are some basic facets which all sources agree upon.

The Dreadlands is a highly three-dimensional place, comprised of floating islands and continents suspended in a great colourful cloud which resembles a nebula. The Dreadlands can be split up into regions based on the local characteristics of the nebula; for example, a region where the nebula is black in colour and offers little light is known as the Perpetual Night, and another region where the nebula is pale yellow and glows strongly is known as the Brightness.

The environment of the floating islands differs greatly between the regions, and can also differ substantially between islands within regions. Some of these environments are recognisable and similar to ones found on Earth, sporting grass and trees and rivers, whereas others are completely alien; some accounts describe bushes of living steel, and others talk of trees made of glass which sprout marble fruit. The creatures which dwell in these environments are similarly variable.

## Known Inhabitants

The inhabitants of the Dreadlands are collectively known as "demons", despite the protests of many major religious scholars from various faiths (but primarily Christianity and Islam) who say the use of such terminology creates confusion and leads to them being mistaken with *actual* demons. Indeed, Elvic Christians use different terms for the two, referring to the "demons" of the Dreadlands as *Morcano* (plural *Morcane*), meaning "dread-person", and calling Christian demons by their Greek name, *Daimon* (plural *Daimone*).

The inhabitants of the Dreadlands can be split into two distinct groups; the animalistic ones, who possess a basic level of intelligence and primitive emotion, and the intelligent ones whose minds are much like the intelligent creatures in this world. The former are typically referred to as the Bestial Demons and the latter are referred to as the Dreadfolk.

### Bestial Demons

* Bloodvermin
* Feasters
* Muiglens
* Ragehoofs
* Cosmovores (disputed)

### Dreadfolk

* Bonewolves
* Brightwings
* Dreadborn (indirectly)
* Ferigans (also known as Grey Demons)
* Festerkin
* Jesters
* Khaogans (also known as Black Demons)
* Labourers (disputed; some classify them as unintelligent)
* Mummers
* Putrid Ones
* Savuans (also known as Red Demons)
* Succubi
* Cavitor / Annihilator