The Scorn

''The Scorn is a massive desert that lies between the Great Gatespires and the Storm Ridge. Many tales have been fabricated, claiming to know what lies beyond the endless dunes, but the land is as impossible to enter as the Folkloss Jungles.''

The Scorn
The Emptiness Dead Ahead

The Scorn is a fascinating place. Unlike the Folkloss Jungles, which are blooming with life, these wastelands are completely devoid of life. The Great Gatespire mountain ranges run along the west, while Lighthaven’s Storm Ridge bars clouds entering from the east. A violent river enters the desert from the north and seems to exit it from the south, yet none of the water seems to be invigorating the sand around it.

Perhaps there are no dormant seeds among the grains of dust, but I believe there is a grander story to be told. There is a large opening between the Great Gatespires where the Scorn meets the sea, and with where the Arcane anchors within the mountains are assumed to be located, I can see why they call them Gatespires. Something is going on in the Scorn, but no one is able to tell what.

Another testament to its unnatural appearance is Death’s Grasp, its northern end that reaches into Dragonhearth. Petrified figures stand there, restlessly and with fear in their eyes. No one knows where the statues came from, and campfire stories claim those who entered the Grasp and didn’t make it out, turned to stone to warn others that dare approach.

Kaenen the Worldshaper was open enough to share his theory on the desert. The dual dragon is old, but the Scorn precedes even him. Yet, in his research he discovered some secrets. The first is that the river that splits the Scorn momentarily dissipates at its halfway point in the desert, only for it to reform a mile later. Any vehicles placed in the stream are quickly crushed due to its violent nature, making observing how the water conceals impossible. Kaenen is convinced an illusion is at play, but who why would anyone place it there, in the middle of nowhere?