Riftshard Reach
Geography
Riftshard Reach is a jagged, windswept nation shaped by ancient tectonic magic and the slow erosion of time. Cut from the mainland by shifting stone and old faultlines, it is a place where the arcane and the natural world weave together in quiet tension. Tall mountains, deep valleys, and coastal cliffs define the region’s wild terrain, creating a homeland both perilous and breathtaking.
The land’s heart is split by the Bloodhowl Mountains, a rugged range known for its jagged peaks and mournful winds. Travelers say the howls come from lycans that hunt during the full moons. To the west, the Embercrust Mountains smolder with thermal vents and fumaroles, ancient volcanic remnants now home to geothermal farms and elemental sanctuaries. Between them lies the open rise of the Pale Highlands, a stretch of sunlit, wind-carved hills cloaked in golden grasses, where ancient shrines overlook the valleys and pale-stone hamlets nestle among scattered ruins and flowering meadows.
At the center of a sunken basin rests Oblivion’s Eye Lake, an eerily still body of water rumored to have no bottom. It reflects light strangely and sometimes distorts the reflections of those who look too long. Some say it remembers. Nearby, warped flora bloom seasonally in hues unseen elsewhere, lavender flamegrass, midnight kelp, and glimmerfern.
The people of Riftshard Reach are a tight-knit blend of mages, artificers, and hardy frontier folk. They live with the constant presence of magic, yet treat it as both a gift and a burden.
The Strait of Veiled Waters to the south forms a natural border with the Sunscorched Badlands. Mist and sea-illusions drift between the cliffs, making it hard to judge distance or time. Smugglers and seers alike navigate the strait, some searching for ruins said to appear only under moonlight. When all three moons are full, a pale arch is said to rise from the mist, its origin unknown, its purpose forgotten, flickering like a memory that was never truly yours.
National Flag
National Flower
Shimmering Virelily
National Animal
Moonstrider Lynx
Capital: Duskwatch
Estimated Population: 442,800
Points of Interest for this nation:
The Embercrust Mountains
The Embercrust Mountains rise in jagged silhouette along the western edge of Riftshard Reach, a volcanic range shaped by ancient tectonic upheaval and magical instability. Crags of black and crimson stone slice into the sky, their flanks streaked with veins of molten glass and rivers of glowing magma that bleed down into lush valleys below. The air here hums with latent power, warm and thick with the scent of sulfur and pine. Thunderous rumbles echo often from deep within the range, and vents of steam or fire burst intermittently from fissures known as dragonmaws. Despite the danger, hardy settlements cling to the slopes, their homes fashioned from pale basalt and fire-hardened brick.
Legends speak of a sleeping wyrm beneath the central peak, Ignithar's Crown, said to stir whenever great acts of magic ripple through the land. Elementalists, fire-scribes, and geomancers travel from across Luminaria to study the range's volatile flows, often risking everything to commune with the mountain’s burning heart. The Embercrust is also a source of rare minerals and arcane materials, jealously guarded by local mage-clans and fiercely protected against poachers. Travelers who tread these paths are warned not to linger after dusk, when the light of the lava seems to twist and shimmer with otherworldly shapes watching from the rocks.
The Pale Highlands
The Pale Highlands stretch east of the Embercrust Mountains, nestled between the volcanic slopes and the tranquil shores of Oblivion’s Eye Lake. This region is a sun-drenched expanse of rolling hills blanketed in golden grasses, wind-swept wheat, and hardy hay fields that sway like waves beneath the open sky. The terrain is gentle and vast, dotted with ancient pale-stone shrines, scattered farmsteads, and sun-bleached ruins half-sunk into the soil. Wildflowers bloom in spring with vivid yellows and soft violets, and in summer, the hills glow like amber under the high sun.
Though less magically volatile than other parts of Riftshard Reach, the Pale Highlands are prized for their resilience and bounty. Small villages and harvestholds are spread throughout the region, their homes built low and wide to weather seasonal storms. Eldermage circles from Duskmire often retreat to the Highlands to meditate in solitude, drawn by its calming winds and the slow rhythm of life. It is said that whispers sometimes carry on the breeze here, soft voices from forgotten ages, especially near the oldest monoliths. While the rest of the nation guards the Rift, the Pale Highlands feed it, offering both grain and quiet wisdom.
Oblivion's Eye Lake
Oblivion’s Eye Lake lies at the heart of the southern valleys of Riftshard Reach, cradled between the Pale Highlands and the jagged ridges of the Bloodhowl Mountains. Its waters shimmer with an unnatural stillness, mirroring the sky with perfect clarity by day and swallowing starlight by night. From a distance, it appears almost black, earning its name from legends that claim it gazes into another world. Mists cling to its surface in the early morning, and strange echoes often ripple across its shores, as if the lake remembers sounds long forgotten.
The lake holds deep cultural and arcane significance for the people of Riftshard Reach. Mages and scholars regularly travel to its shores to meditate, study its odd magical resonance, and cast rituals that are said to draw power from the lake’s hidden depths. Though no one has ever reached its true bottom, old records speak of a time when a star fell into the water, transforming it forever. Pilgrims often leave offerings of silver or crystal along the rocky inlets, believing the lake grants visions to those who wait in silence under moonlight.
Bloodhowl Mountains
The Bloodhowl Mountains loom over the eastern edge of Riftshard Reach, their jagged peaks and shadowed passes shrouded in perpetual mist. These dark, brooding spires form a natural barrier between the fertile coastlands and the wilder inland regions. The mountains are carved with narrow, wind-scoured trails and deep ravines that echo with distant howls when the moons rise. Crimson-veined stone juts from the cliffs, earning the range its ominous name. Few dare venture deep into these mountains without an escort or arcane wards.
Locals speak in hushed tones of the lycans that are said to roam freely through the Bloodhowl range. These shapechangers, both feared and revered, are believed to be descendants of ancient tribes bound to the moon. According to folklore, they guard hidden shrines and primal paths known only to those who run with the pack. Though rarely seen, travelers sometimes wake to clawed footprints outside their camps or find offerings of wild herbs laid beside their path, signs, perhaps, of a wary truce between civilization and the old blood.
Moondrop Crater
Moondrop Crater lies along the southeastern edge of Duskmire, cradled between the jagged Bloodhowl Mountains and the shining waters of the Straight of Veiled Waters. Towering clusters of violet and azure crystal rise from the basin like shards of a shattered moon, casting prismatic light across the crater floor. Mist gathers in the low places, laced with soft luminescence, while mirror-clear pools reflect the sky in perfect clarity. The air thrums with quiet energy, and travelers often report heightened senses within the crater’s bounds, granting advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks during moonrise.
Though tranquil on the surface, the crater hides deeper mysteries. Subterranean passages wind beneath the crystal fields, and flickers of starlight sometimes move without a source. The site is sacred to Lunaria, and many believe it marks the place where something celestial once touched the earth. Scholars, moon-priests, and dreamweavers continue to visit in hopes of unlocking the secrets woven into crystal and stone.
The Witherwood
The Witherwood is a haunting expanse of forest nestled in the northeastern arm of Riftshard Reach, just above the Bloodhowl Mountains. Its trees are tall and gnarled, their bark the color of old bone and their leaves a deep, oily black that never quite seem to glisten, even in sunlight. The forest is shrouded in a perpetual silver mist that coils low to the ground, never lifting higher than the waist, making even the most familiar paths disorienting. Sound travels oddly here, too far, or not at all, and many travelers speak of hearing whispers that seem to come from beneath the earth.
Despite its eerie nature, the Witherwood holds deep magical resonance. Certain mage circles claim the trees are semi-sentient, their roots tracing back to pre-cataclysmic leylines that still pulse weakly in the soil. Strange fungi glow faintly at night, and some say the forest blooms in reverse, wilted flowers closing at sunrise only to open again under moonlight. Locals speak of a hidden grove at the forest’s heart where time slows and visions come unbidden, but few who seek it ever return the same. The Witherwood is not evil, the scholars say. Just old. And watching.
The Strait of Veiled Waters
The Strait of Veiled Waters forms the southern border of Riftshard Reach, a narrow but deep span of ocean that shimmers with perpetual mist. The air here is thick with salt and enchantment, and the currents beneath are known to twist without warning. Sailors speak of ghost tides that pull ships sideways, of fogbanks that echo with whispers, and of lights that flicker just out of reach. Though the route is dangerous, it remains a vital if illicit artery of travel and trade, especially for smugglers, hedge mages, and seekers of forgotten things.
Legends tell of a spectral archway that appears only when all three moons of Luminaria rise full above the strait. It shimmers faintly in the mist, untouched by wind or time, vanishing with the morning sun. Some believe it to be a natural illusion, others claim it’s a doorway to a place that no longer exists. Among the coastal folk of Duskmire, it is simply called “the Hollow Gate.” No one remembers why. Only that it watches. And waits.