Rise of the Brotherhood
The Chaos Scar is a long, wide valley carved long ago by the fall of a massive meteor. As the giant rock passed overhead, milk curdled, livestock fell over dead, and ill fortune befell all. The meteor crashed into the earth with deafening force, and red radiance lit the sky for a week. Then it vanished.
Over a mile long and several hundred feet deep, the Chaos Scar is a testament to the vast power of the meteor’s impact. As it carved its path through the earth, shards and fragments of the meteor tore away until only its heart remained, embedded in an escarpment at the far end of its new home. There, it sent out its call. Over the centuries, creatures of evil spirit have been drawn to this beacon. The meteor's dark sentience spurred competition among them so that they fought with one another. The weak were killed or pushed to the edges of the meteor’s influence, while the strong and cruel rose to the top of the pecking order.
The civilisation of Nerath tried to hem in the threat of the Chaos Scar, with little to no success. A long-forgotten ruler who fancied himself a king erected a wall across the valley’s mouth long ago. It still stands, partly in ruins, its gates open and unguarded. Towers that once ringed the valley have fallen to ruin as well. Some are inhabited by monsters; others are simply empty.
The Chaos Scar itself is death to most who wander in. It is filled with evil and riddled with caves both natural and tunnelled by generations of monstrous denizens. Strange features have been raised, or have simply appeared, within the Scar—circles of standing stones, bizarre towers, grotesque cottages, and other more otherworldly features.
Rumours of a darker force, unifying the miscreants, have reached the nearby town of Fallcrest. Known as the Brotherhood of the Scar, their presence has not been confirmed nor their purpose or constituency identified. The only certain sign of any organisation in the Chaos Scar is the keep that has sprung up deep in the valley
Many adventurers have entered the Chaos Scar. Few have returned. Those that do weave dark stories of monsters working in concert as never before. Others tell of monstrous creatures working against one another.
