The Ashen Barrens

The Ashen Barrens is a region in Landorya. The Ashen Barrens is a vast and desolate expanse of hardened lava flows, towering ash dunes, and sulfurous geyser fields stretching across the eastern reaches of Drakon beyond the… It is commonly linked to Dragons. Geography: The Barrens span several thousand square kilometers of post-eruptive terrain, its surface sculpted by centuries of overlapping lava flows t… Climate: The Ashen Barrens produces its own weather systems independent of the surrounding volcanic highlands. Sulfuric gas vent…

The Barrens span several thousand square kilometers of post-eruptive terrain, its surface sculpted by centuries of overlapping lava flows that have created a landscape of jagged ridges, smooth glassy plains, and sudden sinkholes that open without warning above collapsed magma tubes. The most notable surface feature is the Obsidian Mirror Lake at the region's heart. The geological richness of the Barrens arises from the extraordinary mineral concentration in the lava flows, which have brought rare ores to the surface that would otherwise be inaccessible at the depths where they form.

The Ashen Barrens produces its own weather systems independent of the surrounding volcanic highlands. Sulfuric gas venting from thousands of small fissures creates a persistent low-lying haze that reduces visibility and poses serious respiratory hazards. Temperature swings between day and night are extreme, as the dark glassy surface absorbs heat intensely by day and radiates it completely by night. During the volcanic active seasons, ash falls here are heavy enough to bury landmarks within hours.

The Ashen Barrens was created over a series of catastrophic eruptions predating Drakonian civilization, when a sequence of connected volcanic chambers collapsed simultaneously and flooded the eastern lowlands with lava on a scale not seen in subsequent eras. The Drakonians avoided the region for centuries, considering it sacred to the dead and off-limits by both religious convention and simple survival instinct. The Ministry of the Forge's eventual decision to commission mining expeditions was controversial and remains so; the Seat of Scales and the Dragon Wardens argued strenuously against it on the grounds that disturbing the cursed ground would anger the dragon spirits said to reside there.

The predominant legend of the Ashen Barrens holds that after the great eruptions, the dragons who were bonded to Drakonians who died in the disaster refused to accept new bonds or return to the nesting grounds, wandering instead into the devastated landscape and eventually dissolving into the ash itself, becoming something between ghost and geological feature. Dragon Wardens who meditate at the Bone Shelf report empathic impressions of vast, ancient grief that they attribute to these spirits, and several have emerged from extended stays speaking fragments of Draconic they did not know before entering.

The Barrens supports no permanent habitation. Ashveil Outpost is the only structure within its periphery, and expedition parties enter and exit on strict time constraints. The only living things that thrive here unaided are Sulfur Beetles, certain hardy varieties of Embermoss adapted to the gas-rich atmosphere, and occasional Lava Worms whose tunneling makes the already treacherous surface even more unpredictable. The Dragon Wardens maintain the Bone Shelf as an annual pilgrimage site, and a small ceremonial delegation visits each autumn to honor the spirits of the Barrens with offerings of Ashbloom flowers.