The Veil

Whispers hang aloft the mist, murmuring between silhouettes and the faces in the haze. Their shallow eyes wander with despondent stares, watching as though longing, standing as though waiting, withering as though dead. You can’t recall their names, yet you feel you’ve known them as long as you can remember… eerily, perhaps even longer than that. Engulfing the North-Western regions of the Western continent, the Veil’s mist inhabits the treacherous cliffs and storm harried craigs of northern Raitera and west MicFortress, stretching beyond into the shallow waters of the Phantom Strait.

Legends say that the mists were created when the two elder races of Cier wiped each other from existence; and still others claim it was a curse brought upon the land by vengeful gods. But one thing is clear: those who find themselves within the mist rarely return. Those that do, however, tell of a purgatory like no other; a vast expanse of shallow water, stretching endlessly into the fog in every direction.

Officially, exploration of the Veil is banned by the Alliance, but that does little to sway the desperate adventurers drawn to the mists by tales of riches beyond measure. Caches of RICE larger than anyone has ever seen, ancient technology on par with the magic of MicFortress; all could be yours if only you could brave the endless fog. Safe to say, however, it is best to stay clear; death grants an end, but get lost in the fog and only the gods know what happens to you.

Geography[]

Surrounded by a dense fog that reaches up to 10 kilometers into the air, the Veil remains one of the least explored regions in Cier. The land, from what little information has been obtained, is mostly flat with hills and rocky outcrops that lead to the ocean’s expanse of the Phantom Straight. Travelers who are foolish enough to walk out the Phantom Straight will find themselves walking through endless knee deep water over flat stone.

The stone in question is smooth, almost as if it was unnaturally cut and fabricated from one singular flat piece. Sounds and senses in the area seem muted, where the only sensation besides the water is the slight chill that fills the area; not enough to be cold, but just enough to put a traveler on edge.

While the main mass of the Veil neither grows nor shrinks, the border between the Veil and the rest of Cier is as nebulous as the mists themselves, and many often wander into the Veil without realizing. From a distance, however, the mass of the Veil becomes clear, and the slow shifting of the mist gives the appearance of a churning storm.

Architecture[]

While not much is known about the Veil, travelers claim that ancient Somnian ruins lay scattered within the Veil. Some say the technology inside these ruins are still functional despite their decay, and many collectors pay large sums to send teams into the Veil only to never be seen again. These structures are as irregular as the Veil itself, rarely having any semblance of consistency or correlation, yet still retain the distinctive markings of other Somnian ruins found throughout Cier.

Technology / Wealth / RICE[]

Some say the Veil is the byproduct of cataclysmic magic and technology gone horribly wrong during the ancient war, resulting in a mysterious, gaseous mist that swirls around the North West. Illusions and hallucinations of loved ones and desires seep into the mind of those who enter, and draw them deeper and deeper into the mist. Most never return, and it is believed entering the mist almost always leads to certain death. The few who do manage to return, however, speak of their visions of loved ones and desires twisting into their darkest nightmares and deepest fears. Additionally, any technology brought into the Veil, both conventional and magic-based, ceases to function. Not even a compass will work within the mist.

Although the mist itself only stretches 10 kilometers into the atmosphere, the effects of the Veil seem to extend even farther. Pilots attempting to fly over the Veil will find their engines fail, and are lost forever, causing a ban to be placed on travel over the Veil. Reports of cargo-laden planes becoming lost to Veil have inspired some more entrepreneurial travelers to trek into the fog in hopes to find RICE or unravel its secrets, if one can find them. Perhaps the Veil was formed to protect these ancient mysteries.

People and Culture[]

While no one lives within the Veil itself, its presence has affected the people of the regions around it. The council of MicFortess, along with the Alliance as a whole, has placed a unilateral ban on exploration in the region, considering it too dangerous for even the most experienced mages, and warns against settling too close. The people of Raitera Valley also view the Veil with wariness, but care little for those who might be foolhardy enough to venture close. Those that venture too close may become Veil Walkers: those cursed to wander the Veil, their minds trapped by the visions shown to them by the mist. Some are able to break their minds free and escape, but are forever changed. Most, however, simply fall back into the clutches of the Veil and are slowly driven into madness. Encountering another wandering the mists will break a Veil Walker free, but the Veil Walkers will believe them to be just another trick of the mist, and will attack without mercy.

Despite this, there are still a few small villages near the Veil’s edge. It is from these villages that most of what is known about the Veil originates. These villages also tell of a unique weather phenomenon they call Veil Storms. Occasionally, on days where the wind is right, banks of fog will break away from the Veil and drift across these villages, inducing headaches, nausea, irritability, and paranoia, for upwards of several hours until the fog dissipates or drifts away. In Raitera Valley in particular, Veil Storms can either cancel out the constant lighting, or intensify it. There is typically no predicting which will occur.

Government/Religion[]

The region contains no people, and as such, no government. Remnants of the precursor races litter the landscape, but no clues of how ruling may have been conducted remain. Sometimes murals might be found in a language unknownable to all. An ever changing runic alphabet that resists all conventional code breaking techniques. Some say it is a root dialect, the first written language to exist. Others say that it is a coded message never to be broken. As of now, the academic consensus remains divided.

History[]

Long ago the Somnians held a stronghold on the west coast of Cier named Somnus, sharing their influence and technology to the people, but more importantly preparing for a massive war after their first confrontation with the Seraphs on the Eternum Coast. Since then, the ancient war ravaged the lands of Cier for many years to come.

As their war reached a tipping point, a catastrophic spell was unleashed and both the Seraphs and Somnians were wiped from existence, leaving Somnus in ruins and a swirling mist at the center of the devastation now known as the Veil. Records of what may have been contained in the area today are sparse at best, and the fog’s origins are just as mysterious to modern day Cierians. Theories suggest the mist may be what destroyed both precursor races, but its history is now lost to time and the truth behind the Veil remains to be uncovered. All that is known for sure is that those who venture into the Veil rarely return.