Vallorn

The Vallorn... nothing less than the vile offspring spewed out from the mating of a Great White Shark and a rampant fungal infection.

Zietel van Temeschwar, Mountebank

The Vallorn appeared as part of the disaster that overthrew the cities of a nation named as 'Teruniel' in Navarri legends, which may have covered much of the land which is now Empire. From the hearts of those cities, abundant greenery spread, a sick, infectious wave of life that cracked and crumbled stone, shot great trees up through streets and buildings, and warped, twisted and destroyed most of the inhabitants of those cities, scattering the others to the wind.

As the refugees attempted to claim back their lands, they discovered that around the core of each city, areas of superabundant, warped life had appeared, resistant to all efforts to destroy them. These were named Vallorn.

A Vallorn seems to be a malignant hostile magical ecosystem -- an area deep in the heart of a forest where even the Navarri fear to tread. Inside them are monstrous plants, the spores of which mutate living creatures that are exposed over many months. Even the air is different within the Vallorn, weakening those who enter as if they were breathing mild poison.

There is no clear guiding intelligence behind the Vallorn - they are not believed to be self-aware. However, they will strike back if damaged or hurt, much as a beehive or ant's nest will use its footsoldiers to drive off the invader.

It is believed that there is one Vallorn around each of the fallen cities of Teruniel. Although physically separate, it's believed that each Vallorn is in some way connected to every other. Certainly if one is roused to anger, the others appear be similarly disturbed.

We welcomed the night; in the darkness we could not bear witness to the Vallorn’s appetite. By day… by day all Its wants, Its passions, Its yearnings were laid out in their visceral horrors. Synod forgive me for I know the Law cannot; but when darling Arturo came back to me – mud in his veins and thorns in his mouth – and he gestured me to embrace him… I ran, and I ran, and I ran.

Cai, Thorn of the Conclave, after the reconquest of Miaren prior to his execution for desertion

As far as it is know, the Vallorn have not spread far after the initial rush of growth in the fall of the ancient cities. This is at least in part due to the watchfulness of the folk of the Steadings, who take great pains to ensure Vallorn areas are not disturbed and the Vallorn roused. The forests of the Vallorn are sick with life, greenery regenerating so fast that axe or fire only serves to enrage them. Attempts to cull these areas have been made time and time again, using both magical and mundane means, and have always met with failure.

No complete catalogue has ever been made of the strange monstrosities within the Vallorn's domain - whether they are simply diseased, misshapen forest creatures, mutated humans or orcs, or whether they are something else entirely. Some have claws and talons. Some seem as plants, sporting a mass of tangled thorns. And, from time to time, monstrous insect horrors swarm from the Vallorn and voraciously destroy crops and communities that lie in their path.

The Navarr have long believed that the Empire is still weak, and any attacks on the Vallorn would be disastrous. So they build their strength, and the strength of Empire, and learn what they can of the foe.