Nilm Sadun

Elven Enclave of the Eastern Forests

The road between Kalam and Majya goes directly through the ancient Elven conclave of Nilm Sadun, a heavily forested mountain corridor guarded by Thanar Nilm, the descendants of great heroes who once swore to entomb a dangerous but important artifact that can neither be tamed or destroyed, the Heart of Creation. The resulting structure, the Cenotaph, is hidden somewhere deep in Nilm Sadun. The Thanar Nilm are sworn to hold the land against foreign influence or invasion, and have done so since the Age of Aberrations.

Unfortunately, many of the elves that live within Nilm Sadun have the Dream Sickness, a powerful curse that causes them to slowly become insane as they age. Only a few seem to be naturally immune, but some have found a way to cheat the sickess: Undeath. The ruling elders of Nilm Sadun are almost all Liches or Undead of various kinds, tethered to the concerns of the mortal world through arcane rituals and ancient rites.

Those who reside here are secretive master of nature, preferring to live in the decaying ruins of the old world, tending to their ailing ancestors. Due to these social concerns, citizens of this land are xenophobic and tightly wound around ancient tradition. They write down little, keeping lore through rich oral histories. One of the most important traditions to the Nilm Sadun is that of the hunt, traditionally done at high tide when the Dream Sickness is at its least powerful. Even though the Cenotaph dampens the Heart of Creation's influence, the immediate area around it is still rife with interplanar magic. Strange things are constantly passing into this world, contained both by the natural terrain and the quick work of the Thanar Nilm.

As Majya grows into the first true empire of modern age, the Nilm Sadun have been pressured to allow limited travel through the unforgiving terrain of their kingdom. Despite that, travel through the area is very dangerous. The Thanar Nilm have allowed certain superpredators to carve out ecological niches around the Cenotaph, and rogue creatures and traps abound.

The Cenotaphic Miasma

Nilm Sadun's great Eastern and Western gates are designed to hold in the Miasma, a strange atmospheric phenomenon associated with the Heart of Creation. Once relatively rare, it is now The Miasma can be found all throughout the valley, giving everything a light green tinge that is clearly visible when looking up towards the sky. Somewhere between air and water in terms of thickness, the Miasma is tolerable to the denizens of Athwei but a bit uncomfortable to breath and move through. It supports the physiology of many of the strange creatures that lurk within the forests of Nilm Sadun, most of which die quickly once exposed to normal air.

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