The Desolation was the end of Scremoor as a nation, and nearly the end of the Scremooren peoples. The Desolation coincided with, and was directly caused by, the Arrival of humanity on Eoas.
A brilliant flash of light from the north, far brighter than the sun, that blinded anyone who looked directly at it. That first flash was followed by tremors and quakes that shattered buildings as far inland as central Sholdezar, and left not a single one standing within Scremoor itself. The very bedrock was torn open and the northern sea flooded inland to drown many of those who had survived the quakes. Survivors of the event described it as sudden, without warning.
It would take days before word reached survivors of the new landmass that had appeared in the northern sea. And longer still for the survivors to realize that the Vindish had brought more than simply themselves when they Arrived.
Not only did their Arrival crack upon the lands and flood what remained, but something of the horrors they were fleeing came through with them. Though the refugees of Vindirholm protest that they never sought to bring such destruction to Eoas, and the disastrous loss of life amongst their own people supports their words, there is no denying the curse they visited upon Scremoor.
The Gods of the Divine Hearth, the Gods of Scremoor, were known as the most benevolent and beneficent of Naramun until the Desolation twisted and tore them apart. Never before had Eoas felt its Gods die, and such a thing was not possible, for the Hearth Tenders found that they could not truly die. The Desolation cast them down into the mass graves of their people, but their bodies would not lie still.
Their bloated and corrupted corpses rose up as mockeries of what they had been. The undead Hearth Tenders were trapped in imitations of their old behaviours, attempting to rescue their doomed peoples. And just as their Gods had risen, so did the unburied masses of Scremoor. But not just as individual corpses. No, the Hearth Tenders raised the mass graves, the rotted and soaked corpse piles, and the Desolation Beasts were given unlife.
Desolation Beasts became the horror of ruined Scremoor. Amalgamations of gnome and animal and plant, they stalked the Desolation searching for others. Those unfortunate enough to stumble into their untender mercies were consumed and brought into the corruption of divine community that they represented, adding to the shambling mass of meat and misery.
To this day the Northern Desolation remains one of the greatest and most dangerous locations in Naramun. Its ruined waterways are stalked by Desolation Beasts, eager to embrace any wanderers they can. The twin cities of Wyliddnir and Knanzir cling to the edges of their brutalized homeland, desperately trying to survive and rebuild.
