The Stowndowns
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Avoided by the Arak for good reason, the Stowndowns (also spelled Stonedowns is a region of desolate and rocky land taking up most of the southern Shadow Rift. It is filled with dangerous or hostile, rocky terrain such as plummeting crevasses and uneven craggy ground[1][2] broken up with a few noxious swamps for bad measure.[2] Like any part of the Shadow Rift, the geography of the Stowndowns can warp and reshape itself from time to time.
The Stowndowns is called Blamaug in the language of the Arak.[3]
Geographical Features
The primary body of water in the Stowndowns is the Biting Tarn, a tiny lake that is fed by the Falling River running over the cliffs of the Greenlands (the Precipice) above.[1][2] Tainted by the various unwholesome minerals brought by the River, the Biting Tarn's waters are unsuitable for consumption, whereas the churning currents dislodge disgusting mud from the lake's bottom.[1] The lake's animals and other inhabitants present their own perils.[1] The Biting Tarn feeds two rivers, neither less noxious than the lake, the Grimfey Flow and the Nightrush[1]. The Grimfey Flow turns east before south and then flowing into another cascade[1], ultimately ending in the Black Marsh. The Nightrush goes only for a tiny amount before entering said swamp to the north.[1]
Although it may be possible to find a large tree or two at the bottom of the Precipice[4], very little plant-life exists in the Stowndowns.[2] Stowndowns moss is a noted exception.[5] Spiders and spider-like beings (such as aranea are some of the primary living fauna and monstrous inhabitants of the Stowndowns, having been hunted or run out of other places in the Shadow Rift. Corporeal saugh also congregate here.[6]
The Black Marsh winds around the northern, eastern, and southern sides of drier areas of the Stonedowns.[7] Though areas of this salt-laden swamp bear more plant life (even all but suffocated by with) than the rest of the Stowndowns[2], all of the Black Marsh is dangerous thanks to the dangerous denizens, uncertain mires, and other terrors of the Marsh.[8] The incorporeal undead of the saugh are a particular danger here, for it is their favored haunting ground.[2][9]
The easternmost side of the southern rift[10] near the Nova Vaasan border[2] is home to the Darkenheights, a steep and dangerous incline of jagged rock leading up to a plateau, upon which sits the Obsidian Gate.[10][2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 The Shadow Rift (Module) p. 119
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 101
- ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 98
- ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 98
- ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 103
- ↑ Ravenloft Gazetteer V p. 103-104
- ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 57
- ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 103-104
- ↑ The Shadow Rift p. 100, 103
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Shadow Rift p. 120
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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The Shadow Rift - pp98-101 | |
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The Shadow Rift - p57 | |
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Stowndowns, The Stowndowns |
