Murkcrest Isles

Lush Plains
 **Economic Status:**
 **Languages**
Thalassian (Secondary)

Off the coast of the Emberlight, where the waters turn frigid and deep, the sea breaks haphazardly against the fragmented islands beneath House Dor’wynn’s control. Often nestled in a deep mist, navigating to and from the darkened isle is a perilous and often fruitless trip, as the ancient druidic family has little interest in correspondence with the outside world. For innumerable centuries the Dor’wynn’s have remained cloistered behind the high walls of grey stone that encompass their verdant valley, strengthening their ties to the natural world and the Ancients that they revere, and only recently have the Warden-Sisters who rule the isles begun to make their appearance once more.

Though the smaller isles boast stony beaches and chilly ports, the treasures of the major isle lay nestled behind jagged faces of harsh grey stone. Thick roots and vines spill over the edges of the high peaks and into the sea, delving far beyond sight in the cold abyss. A single strand of beach acts as a port of entry, pointing all potential visitors towards the Rune Gate - the sole way in and out of the valley. The twin stones are monumental, their surface black as night and thrumming with arcane energy. Passing through the gates uninvited results in a massive surge of arcane energy being pumped through the unwelcome guests, an uncomfortable experience with lingering side effects of exhaustion, illness, and withdrawal.

It's highly suggested that all visitors to Murkcrest come by invitation only, and enlist the assistance of Squallshapers from Dawnbreaker Anchorage to assure safe passage over the treacherous sea. If rumors are born of truth, fouler things than jagged rocks lurk between the Anchorage and the Isles.

## Overroot

Tel'drassil may be the crown jewel of World Trees, but Overroot outshines many of the lesser trees that dot Azeroth. In it's infancy long before the Murkcrest Isles were broken from the mainland, after the Sundering separated the druids that would become the noble house of Dor'wynn, the elves of the newly formed isles turned towards the Dryads and Keepers than were isolated with them to continue to growth of their great tree.

As the tree grew to staggering heights, the elves of Murkcrest began to burrow into its body, carving out a home for themselves inside the massive tree. Excavating tunnels and chambers and swirling passageways that run deep into the earth below, Overroot became the High Seat of the Isle's power, and home to the noble family of Dor'wynn.

## Sheepsheer

Though the Murkcrest Isles are hardly known, what little lasting renown they hold for export lies wholly on the shoulders of the wooly sheep that roam the grasslands. Nestled on the northern half of the main isle, Sheepsheer is the second largest city on Murkcrest, and home to farmers, shepards, and folk and family who make their living with the wares yielded from Dorwynnian sheep. Though the town flourishes mostly around a central hub, the outlying homes, farms and houses - often speckled in groups of two to six - are considered part of Sheepsheer.

## The Embervoid

The Embervoid is a swath of charred land along the northwestern corner of Murkcrest. Perpetually caught in a state of smoldering, the Embervoid grows larger by the year, gnawing at the verdant valley. The speckles citizenry of Murkcrest avoid it at all costs, and only speak of it in breathless whispers.

## Outlying Isles

While the isles that surround Murkcrest are mostly desolate and rocky, home only to tiny ports and fishing villages, there are several notable locations found off the main isle.

## Beastiary

The Dor'wynn's connection with the Ancients has yielded a myriad of strange results on their island home; it seems the magic they command has not only altered themselves, but the creatures of Murkcrest in ways that are at time unfathomable. The beasts of Murkcrest, as much an oddity and inherent part of the landscape as the rocks and trees themselves, are of great import to not only Dor'wynian culture but the safety and well being of all visitors to the Isles.

### *Mana Ravens*

Foul spirits that feast on all things arcane, they take the form of black birds who speak with borrowed voices. Though they are most dangerous en masse, even a single mana raven can, and will, feed on a single victim until they are drained. They roost in the hollows of the rocky shores of the Murkcrest Isles and often swarm ships that pass in the deep fog. There are tales that claim a flock can steal the voice of a victim entirely, and use it for both idle mischief and utter calamity.

Eyeless, their faces are adorned with a single rune - each one unique - that pulses in varied colors when in proximity to arcane magics. The pulsations seem to be a sort of ‘arcane homing device’, and is not abated by any object known to elven kind.

Folk tales often claim the ravens are a curse put upon the Isles by the Netherstar family, after a brokered deal fell sour in ages past - however, no known records of any broken accord between the Dor’wynn family and the Netherstar family exists.

### *Mire Worgs*

Neither beast nor man, these horrid amalgamations haunt the spires of the Mists Drifts in the heart of the Dor’wynn’s lands. Covered in dark, dank fur, their coats leave slogging trails of water through the spires, and up the spiraling surfaces of the stone pinnacles themselves.

Mire Worgs will stop at nothing to kill and consume that which falls into their traps - nothing save pass the edge of fog between the Drifts and the rest of the valley. Gifted with remarkable physical strength and speed, they have been known to leap from spire to spire while chasing their prey, where they can fall upon those unlucky enough to be within their range.

Accompanied by the overwhelming scent of swamp land and stagnant water, their scent can be used to identify them long before eyes or ears can located them.

All sources suggest that Mire Wolves were once adherents of the Ancient Goldrinn, who sought to uproot House Dor’wynn from their seat of power in a century past. Few in number to begin with, those that survived the bloodbath were cast out into the Mist Drifts. There, the maddening fog blurred the line between their identity and the beast whose power they called on.