Old Bedlam

**Old Bedlam** is a region of land that once was where New Bedlam resides, and to the east of New Bedlam. Much of the history of Old Bedlam has been lost over the millennia, but careful and fortunate expeditions have provided insight into the region. Presently, much of Old Bedlam remains uninhabited by any known civilization.

## Pre-Adventurer Age (Old Bedlam Era)

Some of the oldest relics and locations discovered deep into Old Bedlam territory have described a point in time, roughly 650 years before the first adventurers were brought to Dreamer's Respite , a group of mages specializing in dark magic banded together and formed a small town, presumed to be intentionally distant from Charon. It is not entirely certain the true reasoning behind the mages' formation of Old Bedlam, but current evidence suggests because these mages believed in a prophecy, translated to "World's Flesh" in common. This prophecy has the end goal of consuming the world in a carnivorous mass of flesh, supposedly 'returning the world to it's original state.'

More is known of the World's Flesh prophecy than the city of Old Bedlam, mostly due to the physical evidence of strange, tumorous growths of seemingly organic flesh that spreads across most, if not all, of where Old Bedlam resided. These growths were connected to the prophecy researched by the first mages of Old Bedlam by a magically-sealed tome, discovered in one of the underground temples in the region. The tome, written as if it were a holy text, goes into detail of the process that was first attempted by the original mages of Old Bedlam, who failed and a large majority of whom were killed in the process. Roughly 50 years after this initial failed attempt, a relic was discovered; a large, glowing crystal, deep in the world. Research was performed on this crystal, and a temple was built around the location. Much of the research performed connected to the World's Flesh prophecy that had become a feared and worshipped event, thus the growing city's focus shifted entirely to the crystal.

Around 400 years before the First Age, the first clear goal of Old Bedlam is clear through ancient tablets and scraps of magic tomes found in old temples. After supposed years of attempts to interact with the relic, the crystal first cracked around this time. Written is tales of similar flesh-like growths spreading through the temple antechamber, and the focus of Old Bedlam's greatest mages became clear: destroy the crystal to bring about the World's Flesh prophecy.

Apparently, no known method of further breaking the crystal was immediately apparent, as the chronologically pieced together evidence shows that the most impactful research was a 'prophetization' of using a world tree to break the crystal. Ironically enough, the long, arduous ritual actually healed the crystal to it's previous state. This accidental healing and reversal of the World's Flesh, there was supposedly a splinter group that intended to return the crystal relic to the earth. This sort of rebellious group was ultimately destroyed, but the resulting fight surrounding the crystal cracked it once again, and subsequent decades of sacrifices and specialized magic (Comparable to present-day necromancy magic) was enough to break the crystal, 227 years before the first age.

The destruction of the crystal within Old Bedlam's main temple, as written in recovered texts, the temple was entirely consumed in fleshy growths, but fell short of the World's Flesh prophecy. Doubts once again rose among the people of Old Bedlam, until more relics, similar to the original crystal, were discovered. However, there were texts and other evidence discovered that describe a portion of the population had seen the prophecy, and either lost faith or had other reasons to no longer pursue World's Flesh. This group of people actively protested against the destruction of further relics, before being exiled by the strongest mage at the time, who took control in an act of dictatorship. It is unknown for certain, but speculation suggests that these exiled people of Old Bedlam joined the Jade Wood.

Across the years leading up to the First Age, more relics were destroyed and further anticipation of the prophecy becoming fulfilled stirred the region into an organized effort. Magic at the time became far more refined and specialized, resembling present-day necromancy more and more. Dictatorship became the prominent political practice, mostly due to the large concentration of mages looking up to the one who best manipulated necromancy magic.