Once upon an eon ago… magical beings reigned supreme over all Earth’s creatures.
These elders of Old, god-like non-humans known as the Archs, forged a hybrid society deemed paradise by its highest council.
Rebellion formed between those blessed by magic and those cast out or unharmed by its use. War followed. A dark-skied cataclysm raged across the planet, suffocating the survivors for decades.
The Archs were dead, along with all previous conduits of magic. Humans somehow survived the dreadful disaster to become the dominant species. Magic had vanished.
But the Root had been born from the ashes of the great disaster. This ever-present force of magic incarnate survived beneath the planet and emerged to give life to a new shape of being: the witch.
Born from the Muck and earthen clay of the Archs’ former stronghold, the witches called themselves MENDACS and consumed the Rootbase Mushroom that granted them abilities and perception beyond the wildest concepts of humans.
From their birth spot, the first Mendacs used their combined strength to create a magnificent sanctuary, protected from the aggression of humanity— and so began an immortal mission to reclaim the magic source wells that protect the planet’s balance.
This first sanctuary is known as
THE SACRED HOLLOW.
Don’t forget to ZOOM IN!
The central Hollow (as mapped here) is around 335 square miles in area. Divided in five main sections: West Moth, East End, the Wormhill Protectorate, the Healing Lands, and Loghesh.
The Hollow is a stronghold to many species, not just the Mendac witches. While it hosts thousands of flowers, trees, grasses, there are long-standing residents that cover the bulk of the Virginian landscape. Besides the common oak and pine trees typical of the region, the Hollow has several fused tree types such as:
EVER AUTUMN TREE- a maple-oak-dogwood conglomeration species that stays in colors of the fall season year round with gigantic, brilliant orange and yellow-brown leaves as large as a person (also known as torso leaves); these trees grow in densely packed numbers, often reaching heights of 200 feet tall…
ARTERY TREE- these cherry blossom-oak hybrids are often see near Scholar-protected regions of the Hollow— always dark red or pink in color, these trees include fleshgroves (pinkish-grey drooping blossoms on char-colored bodies) and the redtrees (known for their seasonal rituals of releasing hundreds of gallons of blood-red sap used as a bonding agent for many witch tools)…
GOLDMIST GRAINFIELDS- twenty-three thousand acres of the Central Hollow is maintained by the plumers (fire witches) year-round, ensuring the survival of precious, enchanted grain that both nourishes and empowers the Mendac that consume it —also known as the Lowfields of Heart
HARSHTURF FIELDS- the knee-high teal-colored grass where cloud towers are formed and used for witch transportation; the extremely tough grass has four times the roots and biological connections of classical grass plants, allowing it to burrow and weave itself into the soil