Verdant Waste
The Verdant Waste is an overgrown wasteland of greenery and worn-down hills located along the southern shore of the Pomarj. At its center is the Emerald Way, an ancient portal that leads to the Feywild and stranger places. It is tainted by the power of the Unseelie Court, who enjoys manipulating the Waste for its own entertainment.
Defending the Green Way is the Viridescent Keep, an ancient and towering tree who's lower boughs almost, but don't quite, touch the ground. To pass beneath the tree is to leave the Prime Material Plane for the Realm of the Fey. It is watched over by Prince Selanar, a minor noble of the Unseelie Court.
In CY 515 (as mortals reckon things) a young green dragon known as the Green Blight assaulted the Viridescent Keep with his kobold minions. The dragon was able to drive Prince Selanar and his court from the interdimensional citadel, forcing them into the surrounding waste.
Once in control, the Green Blight caused a surge in magical power to erupt from the Emerald Way and flowdown its convergent ley lines. That surge, which began on the first day of Growfest, CY 515, manifested as a strange green, purple, and blue aurora that played over the eastern Pomarj at night. The manipulations of the Green Way caused a radical transformation of the surrounding countryside, greatly expanding the borders of the Verdant Waste.
Adventurers from the Griffins Guild in Obsidian Bay investigated the threat, slew the dragon, and returned Prince Selanar to his rightful place in the Viridescent Keep.
The Geography of the Waste
The Verdant Waste can be divided into two sections: the Outer Band and the Inner Band. The Inner Band is far more likely to be populated with creatures who have crossed over from the Fey, while the Outer Band features monsters who have thrived on the region's unexpected surge in life energy.
The Outer Band
The Outer Band stretches from west to east, following a ley line. There is a subtle strangeness to these lands -- while the hills are surprisingly green (even in winter, when the Pomarj is much more likely to see dormant, subdued vegetation), the sun shines less brightly. Even young trees are 15-25 feet tall, and their combined canopies drink in the light. The copses of trees -- such as those that form in the gullies and ravines between hills -- are overgrown with shrubs, vines, and thorn bushes. Creatures here are more likely to be larger and more fertile than in other areas of the Pomarj, and there are some that have been unseen for centuries, if not millennia.
- Difficult Travel: The terrain here is heavily forested, making difficult movement. The party's pace is 1 mile per hour -- the land itself works against them at every turn, and even the rangers have difficulty maneuvering here. They must make a Wisdom (Survival) DC 20 check to be able to move at normal speed (3 miles per hour); otherwise the best they can manage is 2 miles an hour.
- Lost and Found: There is considerable danger of becoming physically lost in the Outer Band. Every hour the heroes spend traveling through the Outer Band they must make a Wisdom (Survival) DC 20 check. On a failure, they make no progress and have a 1-in-6 chance of a random encounter. Such encounters are in overgrown portions of the outer bands and the following modifiers apply:
- Lightly obscured: Anyone more than 20 feet away is considered to be lightly obscured. Creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. Note that because they are above the ground cover, flying creatures do not have this penalty.
- Half Cover: Anyone more than 20 feet away is assumed to have half-cover
The Inner Band: The Twilight Cincture
The Inner Band of the Verdant Waste is something all together stranger, darker, and more wondrous than the Outer Band. Here the Waste is an iridescent cocoon wrapped tightly around the evolving form that is the Emerald Way. The world is more vibrant than the one outside -- darkness isn't simply dark; it is abysmal. Green is not just green, it is viridescent. The sunlight isn't dim, it's dismal. Those who dwell within it might refer to it as the Twilight Cincture, if they refer to it at all.
The trees within the Inner Band are immense, not with age, but with rampant growth. This is not an ancient forest, looming with the majesty of centuries. It is a new forest overcome by its own fey-infused abundance. The leafy canopy overhead feels oppressive, and seems to shift and crawl when out of sight. The trees supporting it are easily three feet around, but their spacing is uneven. In some areas forest is surprisingly open, with almost no ground cover. In others the trees come together to form convoluted cathedrals and twisting bridges.
As the Outer Band gives way to the Inner, the choking ground cover abates. As a result physical travel through the Twilight Cincture is much easier, but the mental toll is far higher
Day and night have little meeting in this place, where time seems to wind around itself in ever-tighter knots. It is all too easy for heroes to become lost in this place, and not just in space, but time as well. Those few who have survived an encounter with the Twilight Cincture find that months, even years, have passed in the outside world.