Amidst dead trees and towering mushrooms, the dormant form of the Wither marks the center of the Reach’s corruption of the Moche. After the failure of the Duelists to stop the Wither, a mysterious military-based metahuman containment team, known as the MRCI, established a tenuous Quarantine Zone to contain the spread of its spores and study the strange corruption in hopes to reverse its effects on the people and the land.
While no one knows who set the Wither in motion or why, it is clear that those that have been infected are drawn to it. With the horror of its first assault still fresh in the minds of the people of the Moche, many fear it may one day reach sufficient power to reawaken, and unleash its hordes upon all of Cier. Whatever the case, the MRCI continues to work tirelessly to push back the infection - and if all else fails, make sure that the Wither remains dormant, forever.
Geography[]
Gnawing on the life that once filled the forest, fungal trees and spore bushes cover the landscape. Amidst viney roots and choking spires lies a massive black tree at the center: the now dormant Wither.
As its corrupted roots grew, they pulled the land upward, creating caverns and cliffs filled with thousands of mushrooms. Go deep enough, and you may find where the infected army sleeps, awaiting the day when the Wither awakens, quietly sapping the land and the creatures within it, leaving the dead forest more lifeless than ever before.
Architecture[]
Small houses can sometimes be found in groups around the landscape. Void of anything but the shambling infected, the echoes of towns and life that once was still remain. Small hovels often used by scouting parties and mysteriously well maintained wooden houses scatter the landscape. Should one find one of these shelters, and seek what lies within: they may find allies, or foes.
Most structures still standing have now become more mushroom than wood or stone, some shelters having been carved out of the larger mushrooms. Some of these behemoth fungi stand towering up to three stories tall. With most pre-Wither structures all but having been destroyed, the towns now resemble jungle more than ever before.
Technology / Wealth / RICE[]
With the collective support of Cier, the MRCI has developed grand technological marvels. Bristling with military grade weapons, Aethertech hazmat suits, and Blackwatch gas masks, the containment barrier is armed to the teeth. The walls are of shining steel and pocked concrete, newly built as the Wither’s corrupting influence continues to degrade any structure built over time.
Inside the walls, one may find small stations and camps. However, most are abandoned and forgotten, due to them often being completely dilapidated by the time the MRCI return to a zone. Expeditions and trips are a costly safety measure, and often cause the loss of life. The loss of equipment is a small price to pay in comparison.
Many doctors have theorized that exposure to Rice may reawaken the Wither Tree, and return Cier to the brink of crisis. As such, the MRCI has decreed Rice is forbidden in the area, and any found is immediately transported out, with the perpetrator shot. For the MRCI, priority one is always: prevent the Wither’s Awakening, no matter the cost.
People and Culture[]
Gripped with fear of the influence of the Wither, the first responders of the MRCI forced the locals into the quarantine zone. With the knowledge of the infection spreading, camps were established to control the spread, with infected being unceremoniously disposed of inside the mushroom forest. Eventually realizing the true scope of the threat, barriers were erected, sealing the zone to prevent further spread of the infection.
Right on the borders of the quarantine zone, small makeshift villages of people have been erected, avoiding both the MRCI and the infected as they make new norms out of their upturned lives. Even with their lack of symptoms: the MRCI refuses to let any leave, for fear of spreading the infection.
Despite every precaution, the looming threat haunts every soldier’s dream, and if order is not carefully maintained, paranoia may devolve into panic, and the true monsters let free.
The Infected[]
Spawned from the effects of the Wither Trees spores, the Infected are a mass of undead; mindless, but somehow connected through their purpose. Within their ranks are many, from those slain in the fall of the Moche, to soldiers who entered seeking answers only to never return, all have joined the hive mind of the Wither’s ranks.
Deep within the forest, at the heart of the quarantine zone, are the Infected Cultists, the few Infected who have been strong enough to reach the Wither Tree before their demise, and be reborn as its practitioners of dark magics. Joining the ranks of the corrupted forms of the original Shadow Cult, initiates rest in the shadow of their master as its guardians.
Despite their difference in power and ability, the shadow mages are just as mindless and empty as their hordelike brethren. Driven by instincts, they act with all the zeal of religious zealots, without any intelligence to back their blind devotion.
History[]
Once the forest had a Keeper, a great being of power that protected the land. Then came the Shadowhold, and from it, the Shadow, bringing about death to the forest. And as the forest died, its Keeper entered a long and dormant slumber. Then came the cultists, who worship the Shadow, and used their powers to funnel corrupting energy from Shadowhold to the slumbering form of the Keeper. And thus, the Wither Tree was born, a corrupted being devoted to the destruction of Cier.
And so it marched on the Moche, with unknown purpose, bringing with it it’s minions and monsters. And the Duelists rose to stop it, to save their lands.
Only, they failed.
When the Wither Tree reached Moche, it detonated into a spore cloud, and contaminated a massive area. The spread of fungi and sores in the region has drastically changed the landscape and wildlife. Before the barrier was set up, the spread was rapid, like a forest fire. Rice rapidly dwindled from the region as it was brought to empower the Wither tree.
With the barrier in place, and the majority of rice removed from the area, the spread has slowed dramatically. Some reports say it has reached a standstill. But with the cultists still seeking to awaken the tree, it only takes a single grain to expand the region. For now, the Wither slumbers, but each RICE stirs it more and more from its rest.
Misc./Trivia[]
Cier Lands:
• The Era of Conflict • The New Alliance • The New Dojo • Present Day •
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