Arak (Domain)
| Arak (Domain) | |
|---|---|
| File:Arak.png | |
| Culture Level | Medieval (7) |
| Ecology | Full |
| Climate & Terrain | Mountains, Hills |
| Year Formed | 575 BC[1][2] |
| Population | 24,000 |
| Races (%) | Arak 40% (teg 7%, powrie 7%, brag 7%, muryan 6%, shee 4%, sith 4%, alven 2%, fir 2%, portune 1%), changelings 25%, other 35%. |
| Languages | Arak, Sylvan, Balok, Darkonese, Mordentish, Tepestani, Vaasi. |
| Religions | Church of the Spider Queen (extinguished in 588 BC) |
| Government | Hereditary aristocracy |
| Ruler(s) | Maeve the Faerie Queen and Loht the Prince of Shadows |
| Darklord(s) | Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend |
| Nationality | Arakian |
| Analog | |
| Related Categories | |
| Locations in Arak (Domain) | |
| Transportation in Arak (Domain) | |
| Inhabitants of Arak (Domain) | |
| Former Inhabitants of Arak (Domain) | |
| Flora of Arak (Domain) | |
| Fauna of Arak (Domain) | |
| Native Monsters of Arak (Domain) | |
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Arak was a domain in the northeast of the Core that formed in 575 BC and ceased to exist in 740 BC. A pair of immense but extinct volcanoes dominated its landscape, with Mount Nyid standing at the heart of the land and Mount Nirka guarding its northern frontier with Darkon. Mount Nirka soared to a height of 7960 ft, easily surpassing Barovia's Mount Baratak. Mount Nyid soared to 9530 ft, only Bluetspur's Mount Grysl and Mount Makab rivalling it for the title of the highest peak in the Land of Mists. The Mountains of Misery, both the lesser peaks and the foothills, radiated out from this sprawling pair of mountains. When Arak formed northern Barovia stood on its southern frontier. Darkon formed on its northern frontier a year later. A road ran between them, terminating in the south at the eastern end of the Old Svalich Road and terminating in the north at the Tempe Road just west of Tempe Falls. A road also ran to Sidnar. By 682 BC, if not earlier, contact with Barovia was lost, for Nova Vaasa formed on the southern frontier of Arak. The Nightmare Lands became Arak's eastern neighbour in 683 BC. And finally in 691 BC, Tepest became its western neighbour.
Dwarves from Tempe Falls and gnomes from Mayvin came to work the stone of the land. Miners returning to Darkon brought stories of strange temporal fugues. One might spend a week underground and return to the surface to discover that only a day had passed. Stories were also told of the native inhabitants of Arak. The Arakians were humans who herded sheep and goats, but were also themselves miners. They warned the dwarves and gnomes not to dig too deep. Equally, they tried to impress upon their northern guests their abject fear of the hours of the night when the Sneeuane Feallagh ("Gossamer folk") would swarm up from the kingdom of Niurin Scaa ("Shadow Nether") to devour the souls of men. The dwarves began to believe in the existence of these beings whom they took to be a race of dark elves.
All life across the face of Arak was eradicated in 588 BC by a sandstorm of unprecedented ferocity that scoured the land clean in an event recorded as the Scourge of Arak. Dwarves familiar with the region maintain that an entire mountain was carried off and deposited in the newly formed domain of Keening. The Scourge of Arak did not harm life far beneath the surface of the land. Yet when the shadow fey emerged from their hidden kingdom of Niurin Scaa, it was to survey their loss. The surface dwelling Arakians, who had been an excellent diversion from the ennui of eternity, were no more. Fortunately, others came to the land of the Arak. There were dwarves and gnomes seeking lost kin. There were looters and treasure seekers too. Those who failed to quit the land before dark risked being carried off as the new playthings of the Arak. As the flow of visitors to Arak shrank, one's risk of being buried alive under miles of rock grew. Until it became accepted wisdom in Darkon and later in Nova Vaasa and Tepest that anyone who dared the hours of the night in their unwanted neighbour would end up entombed without a trace far beneath its stone.
In 740 BC as part of the Great Upheaval, Niurin Scaa and the shadow fey were dragged away to the southwest by Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend. The land of Arak ceased to be and the Land of the Mists tore open beyond Tepest. The Shadow Rift, sealed by roiling black mist, was the new land of the Arak. The old land of the Arak was annexed to Darkon, a fact of which perhaps only its darklord was initially aware. But the consequences could not go unnoticed for long. Desperate men discovered that to spend the night in the Mountains of Misery was dangerous but no longer tantamount to suicide. Individuals who returned told tales of having been beset by things other than fey. Shadow fey incursions into the countryside beyond the frontiers of their former homeland all but ceased, which did the Tepestani no good at all for the most trustworthy fracture from the Shadow Rift proved to be in Tepest. The reputation of the Mountains of Misery for being haunted by the fey was gradually eclipsed by a reputation for being haunted by the dead. The bravest, or most foolhardy, of dwarven and gnomish miners return to the heart of the mountains. Darkon could begin work on the Strigos Road which, when completed, will join the East Timori Road at Liara in Nova Vaasa to the Argenteus and Tempe roads just east of Tempe Falls. The new road will largely follow the course of the old. And the Forgotten Hills, in particular, became a hideout for intrepid or desperate bandits, arguably making the northern frontier of Nova Vaasa a more dangerous place, especially along the East Timori Road and the Vaughn Dnar River from the Tepestani frontier to the Trished River.
Even a century and a half after the Scourge of Arak, the interior of the former domain remained a blasted, rocky wasteland, essentially devoid of trees. At lower elevations tenacious grasses, spike plants, and low shrubs had made headway however. The frontiers of the former domain were far greener and included stands of young trees. As for fauna mundane and monstrous, it consisted chiefly of vast swarms of bats, spiders of all sizes, and ettercaps. In the years since the annexation by Darkon, the flora will not have improved much. And the fauna, particularly monstrous fauna, has probably grown worse.
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp33-34 | |
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Realm of Terror - poster map |
- ↑ Ravenloft Third Edition p.18
- ↑ Ravenloft Player's Handbook p.20
