The World Pillars: Ravenreach

The Pillar Scribe's Prologue

The day is Wun, the 14th day of Erith in year 203 of the 4th Era

I, Marcus of Thavuno, a scribe of the World Pillars, do state that the following account is wholly true according to my knowledge of the facts as they were presented to me.

This is an account of the events that transpired from the month of Seya in the year 202 4E and unto the month of Ahmon of 203 4E, concerning the academic investigation into and exploration of one of the World Pillars known as "Ravenreach".

     As I write this account, I will be referring to various places and such by their name in the commonly understood academic language of the old Avvi so that all learned peoples may read this and understand its contents. For I have met few, even in academic fields, who could say the what the Faai call the land of Farrohs in their own tongue ("Ollmaór" for those interested.). I'd be willing to bet that most common folk wouldn't even be able to point it out on a map. So, in further interest of readability, I will briefly explain the basic nature of Farrohs and its people.

     No matter where in the world you are, Farrohs lies to the east, most of the time, far to the east. There is no other landmass that extends beyond it. In practical terms it lies directly east of Wulhn, and therein lies the main reason for its obscurity. The Wulhn are a generally closed off people and they rarely allow outsiders past their borders, so if few can get into Wulhn fewer still arrive in Farrohs. The only way into Farrohs is along the great river "Ta Riiv" that crosses directly through the heart of Wulhn, no ships may dock at any ports along the river either, if their destination is Farrohs, that must be their only destination. At the end of the river those ships will see a city, a grand city with tall walls and a large port, all that have long fallen into disrepair. This is Farrohs' largest city "Ta Graahs". The city is made almost entirely of stone, with wood and other materials used sparingly as there is an abundance of stone in Farrohs, but very little of anything else. Don't expect to find the same hurried busyness here as one would see in other cities of this size, the streets remain sparse during the day and throughout the night, hardly anything seems to happen within the walls of Ta Graahs.

     Another contributor to the relative obscurity of Farrohs is certainly it's poverty. Mainly due to its geography, as the land is made up of mostly rocky hills and steep mountains with few wooded areas or fertile soils. The people of the region heard cattle for both meat and milk as their main source of food, but it is also supplemented by a few basic grains and the game of the forests. Though the hills are many and with mines aplenty, this land is sparse on almost all precious metals except for iron, a resource that is certainly not uncommon for the rest of the world. I have heard tell that the mountains were once rich in gold and silver, and I'm inclined to believe it with the many old stone castles and ruined walls scattered about. One could say that a powerful nation once stood in these lands, but it would've been a mighty long time ago, for there is no living memory of such a place in the east.

     All of that to say, there isn't a lot that Farrohs can offer the world. They have no riches, no unique cuisine, no exotic game, no luxury resource, one could call it plain, but to me the land looks dead. Walking through the bare hills and bones of a once great civilization, I can say with little doubt that Farrohs' best years are behind it.

     Now, although I was not present for some of the events presented in this account, I can say without doubt that they are honest and accurate, for I can vouch for the integrity of the men that witnessed them. I was sent to be part of an expedition to study and document a tower of old in the southernmost part of Farrohs, one of the many World Pillars. This one known to those in the region as "Ravenreach" was rumored to be the home of the Daas, the Lord of Death. One hunter named Saigeh, sent word to the sorcerer's academy in Ta Graahs that his friend somehow stumbled inside of the tower. Now, this was big news for anyone in the academic fields, such as myself, or those who study the maajiks, for a majority of the World Pillars remain unexplored. In all of recorded history, only two have been opened, and each time they have affected the world in very dramatic ways.

     The first of the Pillars to be discovered late in the 1st Era by the Avvi in Cennas, simply known today as "The First Tower", at its top they discovered the power to control the elements and influence the world around them, a power they dubbed "Maajiks". This power raised the Avvi to become a great empire, their reach was so great to have left a mark on every known continent, the Avvian Empire they ruled over all the races of the world, menfolk and beastfolk paid them respect for their power. The second World Pillar to be discovered was The Tower of Haasuun, home to the Fallen Lord of the same name. At the very peak of the Avvian Empire's reign, the Emperor was seduced by Lord Haasuun, an offer for even greater power, he sold his entire race into the service of the Fallen Lord. The Emperor was betrayed by Haasuun and all of the Avvi left their great castles and cities and went north to find their new master. What kind of tidings do the other towers bring, we do not know, even with this, Ravenreach, its impossible to know the full effects of it's opening.

I feel I have written a satisfactory introduction for those uninitiated, some of the things I have briefly gone over will be explained in much greater detail further on in this account. I will be writing these events as they happened and, in the order that they did. I hope that these writings will help our understanding of the World Pillars as a whole and, perhaps some bit of information will lead to further discoveries later on.