_Cleft of Shadows and Planar Wounds_ --- ## Overview The **Rift Scar** is a jagged canyon southwest of the [[Deadwood Glades]], where the land itself appears torn open by a violent force. For centuries it was thought to be a natural geological scar, avoided by travelers due to unsettling whispers and strange lights. Only in recent decades have scholars and wanderers begun to suspect its true nature: the Rift Scar is a **thin place between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell**, a planar wound where shadows leak through and sometimes swallow the unwary. Though not considered an imminent apocalyptic threat, its mystery and danger make it one of the most feared landmarks in the Coalviel grasslands. Few who descend into its depths ever return. --- ## Geography & Features - **The Jagged Maw:** A canyon stretching for miles, lined with black stone that fractures like broken glass. It plunges deep into shadowed mist. - **Whispering Depths:** Echoes within the Rift sound distorted, often resembling voices of loved ones or half-remembered dreams. - **Faint Glimmers:** Pale, phosphorescent lights flicker in the mist, vanishing when approached. - **Shadow Pools:** At the lowest descents lie still, dark pools said to draw one’s reflection inward. --- ## Nature of the Rift - **Planar Leak:** The Rift is believed to be a scar between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell. It seems to "breathe," sometimes dormant, sometimes active. - **Shadow Entrapment:** Many claim that those who wander too deep are pulled into overlapping folds of the Shadowfell, never to be seen again. - **Living Shadows:** Travelers speak of shadowy figures that follow them, sometimes mimicking their movements, sometimes vanishing when confronted. --- ## Historical Rumors - **Ancient Battle:** Some say the Rift was torn open during the First Battle of Deadwood, when ley lines were sundered by necromantic magic. - **Prison of Something Older:** Others whisper it is a prison, sealing away something too dangerous to release. - **Forgotten Crossroads:** A few scholars suggest it was once a leyline crossing, sacred to druids, broken in some ancient calamity. --- ## Adventure Hooks 1. **Whispers of the Lost:** Locals claim missing villagers were taken by their own shadows into the Rift. 2. **The Rift Hunt:** A bounty circulates for proof of the strange manifestations seen near the Scar. 3. **Shadowfell Gateway:** The Rift has been pulsing wider. Some fear it may stabilize into a permanent gateway. 4. **Relics of Power:** Tales claim a cursed relic once passed through here, leaving behind lingering energies that still twist the Rift. --- ## Player Knowledge - The Rift Scar is a mysterious canyon and a dangerous place where shadows move unnaturally. - Few who enter its depths return, and those who do often speak of voices, reflections that move on their own, and fleeting lights in the mist.