July 2017 Entry: The Long Night of Dolorond

[Diamond]

...Once there was a world, not so different from ours, called Dolorond. Dolorond had seen many ages come and go, and magic was waning, flickering, dying. The new sciences of electricity and steam and biology were ascendant. But there were still those who hungered for the power that sorcery could bring. The last mage was long dead, but in remote corners of the world, strange cults still worshiped artifacts from the long, dim ages of antiquity.

It was one of these cults who killed the world.

Oh, they probably didn't mean to; all they probably wanted were the same things everyone wants: power, respect, love, life. But this particular cult had the misfortune to discover a way to use the artifact they scraped and bowed over to communicate with entities from another dimension. These beings had, in far distant epochs, been prayed to as gods. Now, this cult believed it had a way to talk to a god who would listen and elevate them, and bring a new era of peace and plenty to all mankind.

It might have been a god. And it certainly listened. But it did not bring peace.

Instead it opened a breach between its plane and Dolorond. It infected its worshipers, transforming them, mutating them, making them something more... and less... than human. Over the next decade, its influence spread across the entire planet, and beyond. Eldritch abominations out of legend walked the earth. The very planet began to slow and die, until a single night lasted months. The days were no better. A species of thin, weak sunlight managed to filter through the near-permanent cloud cover, but it did little to prevent nearly all life on the planet from dying.

Mankind's nations descended into chaos. After the plagues, after the great famines, after the seas had turned to churning, poisoned morasses, many of the survivors willingly gave themselves over to the Great Abominations that now walked freely. Empires of evil arose, where no obscene act was forbidden and every horror imaginable was practiced. But there were those who would not submit...

Now, a century after the Horror, all that remains of free humanity are a few scattered city-states, redoubts, and outposts, eking out any kind of survival they can amidst the wasteland that was once their planet. Science, not magic, has allowed them to survive. Ultraviolet lights nourish the vast underground plantations that grow the cities' food; steam engines power the pumps that draw water from deep within the earth and purify it; other engines power the massive armored caravans that travel between the city-states, bringing news, travelers, and trade. Magic is feared and those who practice it are shunned, if not killed outright, but there are some whose skills are needed in the cities. Needed, but never trusted. These pariahs are the Warlocks, men and women who walk a fine line between using the Enemy's sorcery against It, and losing their minds, bodies, and souls to it.

This is... The Long Night of Dolorond.
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Whew! That's a big old wall of text, eh? tl;dr: This is a world where vampires, liches, zombies, and Lovecraftian abominations rule, and the last of mankind holds out in massive city-fortresses. Basic shapes are done, and rough ideas for mountain range placement.

### Latest WIP ###

[Mouse]

Yikes! Glad I don't live there!

Mind you - a mouse can fairly much get on with whatever she likes when the action is all miles overhead and she's too small to be noticed

[Chashio]

Awesome wall of text and nice wip so far.

[Weery]

Very cool and original idea you've taken from the random location generator Diamond.

Love Lovecraft so will be looking forward to seeing this progress

[Diamond]

I need to clean up the mountains a little bit (and I'm sure Eilathen will hate them ) and maybe try to put some more texture oomph in there, but the bulk of the terrain is done. There are going to be rivers, but very few, keeping with the whole poisoned wasteland theme.

### Latest WIP ###

[Wired]

You've got more backstory than half of the stuff that's on TV right now!

Already looking great, though I'll have to wait before I give out my judgement on those mountains.

[kacey]

This looks great Diamond! and I really like the mountains, they're definitely unique and are looking really good.

[Diamond]

A pretty big update to close out the weekend.

And some credits:

Background illustrations are from Russell's Guide to Interdimensional Entities, which if you have even a passing interest in all things Lovecraft, you cannot be without!

Fonts are Six Feet Under for the sea names, Kallamar (thanks Daelin!) for everything else.

### Latest WIP ###

[Mouse]

Beautiful work

You have a 'Capapcities' in the Shrine of the Butterflies paragraph

[Diamond]

Grrrrr... damn typos...