Dread Mists
The Sundering of the World was the event that shook the planes of existence down to their bedrock. The fabric of the Veil that protects the material planes from the vastness of the Aetherium was ripped apart. The Land of Nod was cracked open, the elemental and adjacent planes were blasted and the world of Ransera was forever changed. The raw power of the Aetherium slammed into all that the Dragon Gods and the Endir had built. The ensuing chaos to save mortals and the world saw even some of the Mistlords moved to act. While the Veil was repaired, it is clear that it will never be the same. This has lead to the phenomenon known as the Dread Mists.
One thing that should be clear, the concept of the Mists is not new. It is something that the arcane circles of the world have been acquainted with for millennia. The distinction is in the fact that prior to the Sundering, they were something encountered only in the Land of Nod or in those places exceptionally close to the border between the material planes and the Aetherium. After the Sundering, the Mists became a possibility anywhere and everywhere. This is a fact that fills those who understand it with utter dread, hence the terminology in referencing them.
What exactly are the Mists? They are the Aetherium. The raw essence of everything and anything without form, function, purpose or intent but with the possibility to become any of those. Their danger rests in the fact that because of the damage to the Veil provided by the Land of Nod, this aether is not subject to the protections put in place by the Dragon Gods and the Endir. Thus, all that it comes into contact with becomes subject to its incredible and horrifying power.
The Dread Mists are utterly unpredictable. They are perfect order or raw chaos. They are wonder or they are terror. While scholars do not even attempt to predict what the Mists will do, they have managed to encapsulate the magnitude at which one can expect the change they bring about.
Category One
Common. Minor Changes. Generally harmless or of very minor ill effect that is easily mended. Long lasting. Tend to linger in areas for days.
Category Two
Uncommon. Moderate Changes. Can be harmful with effects having consequences lasting for a season or more. Tend not to pass through solid objects but can still affect said objects. Journeyman level Negation magic can mitigate. Can linger in an area for several hours.
Category Three
Rare. Major Changes. This can range from changing a mortal’s entire species, to simply changing their hair color or turning everything it touches to stone. Can be held at bay by Master level Negation magic. Can last any length of time depending on the scope and severity of the storms chaotic energies.
Category Four
Exceedingly Rare. Often referred to as Chaos Storms, the fourth category of Dread Miststorms is utterly terrifying to behold. They visit untold change and destruction upon everything in their path and can reduce entire cities to mere dust in moments. Mages are at the most risk for being altered by a miststorm of this category as the aether within their bodies rages out of control turning them into monsters, awakening them to untold heights of power, or simply driving them insane. There is no telling. Master level Negation magic can offer protection. Abjinurium can reinforce that protection. These storms can last for minutes, they can last for hours, they may even last for days. There is no predicting them.
The Maelstrom
Singular. The Eye of Chaos. The Storm Neverending. The Masked Queen's Paradise. Many are the names for the Maelstrom but it is a place that is feared no matter what culture one comes from. Some speak of it in terrified reverence. Some speak of it in outright horror. Most who have seen it prefer not to speak of it at all. The Maelstrom is Ground Zero of the Sundering. It is the site where the Godspire once stood and it was, at its peak, the center of the Clockwork Empire. It is now nothing more than a perpetual storm where magic, aether and the Mists rage forever. If one sails far enough to the east in the Razorwave Ocean, they will eventually encounter the Maelstrom as it serves as the geographic center of the ocean. Legends say that beyond the Maelstrom there sits another continent...few can confirm the truth of this myth. Fewer still are brave enough to even try to.
Where do the Dread Mists occur?
The Dread Mists tend to appear where the Veil is thinnest. This can be in places where immense pain, suffering, and death has happened. Places where powerful magic happens regularly can invite the mists into the world. Mortals who wield magic must be careful as the powers they possess are made possible by rewriting the way the world is supposed to naturally occur. Stretch too far, too often, and the mists will come.
The mists are very common in those places where dragonshards grow. This is due to the fact that dragonshards themselves are crystallized aether. Scholars believe that the prevalence of the mists in these places is linked to how dragonshards appear in the first place.
