The Great Gray

"Death is Here" The Great Gray is known as the most horrible and deadly place on the continent. Entering the Great Gray is surely a death sentence, but it doesn't stop travelers from exploring. It draws them in with its mysterious history, promise of wealth, and intrigue.

History
The Great Gray has always existed. From the earliest writings found, there has always been mention of The Great Gray. It hasn't always been known as The Great Gray, however. Through older writings multiple different names have been documented based on the time period such as: The Wilds, The Big Nothing, and just simply Empty. As in "do not enter Empty, for death lives there".

Landscape

 * The Great Gray's landscape is simply stone fields coverd in snow. Some grassy's fields have been noted, but due to the gray-green colour of the grass, it is just grouped with the stone. Mountains are prominent, looming over travelers heads as they walk the shallow stone valleys. If a traveler was to decide to climb a mountain in The Great Gray to see the area from a higher vantage point, they would have no accesable paths upwards unless they came traveling with a long rope and hook to scale the mountain with. "The mountains", say the ones who were lucky enough to survive, "are just the most unholy things in existence. They are almost alive, existing purely to kill you".

Weather

 * The weather is a different beast altogether. Furious blizards rage weekly. Sunny days are there only to give you false hope, before The Great Gray swallows you up whole.

Foliage

 * Throughout history, many scouts have done minor research in the area. The one consistent thing they have found out about The Great Gray is that it has very high soil fertility. when plants do grow, they grow tall, and full of life. Small spruce forests pop up in The Great Gray, offering wood for travelers, and a home for wolves. Notable Foliage:


 * Tall Grass
 * Poison Ivy
 * Toxicodendron radicans: a flowering plant that causes itching and rashes when touched
 * Mountain Deathcamas
 * Anticlea elegans: A white lilly like flower in the trillium family. The flower is extremely poisonous.
 * Adder's Root
 * Arum maculatum: used by skilled brewers to make Saloop, a Prymoor working class beverage. If prepared incorrectly, it can be highly toxic.
 * And the rare flower. Rare.

Writings
[...] = missing information

The Wealthy Traveler

 * Jonah Babylon, a wealthy trader for the town o [...] cided to spread his wealth around the Town of Reszal. He had heard of the pit town before, and knew there were going to be fights and races that would interest him more. He prepared for a week to go on the road.


 * 'You gonna take the direct route, Jonah?' asked Isazal, the night before his departure at the local tavern.


 * 'No, I am going straight north through Empty' remarked Jonah, and suddenly the tavern was dead silent. This preposition was not expected from Jonah. He was always logical and smart about his actions and dealings, and no one expected him to say what he said.


 * 'You can't be serious! You would die!' yelled the barkeeper.


 * 'I have a plan to survive,' he said, patting his sac full of raw beef. 'I am going to distract them with these.'


 * 'What about the cold? The locals? the... EMPTY!?' proclaimed a drinker


 * 'Once again, not a problem. I have a coat.'


 * Jonah was never heard from again.

The Weary One

 * A man came from the wilds today. I have never seen one man so disoriented, dirty, and wounded. He said his name was Jon something. He was clearly mad, babling about his money, and lost years.


 * After I took him in, and my wife cleaned him up, he told us stories of 'Empty' as he called it. He said he has been lost in it for so long it was the only life he seemed to ever know. He ran into the Tribals, which were as of late, only a story. They found him unconscious in the snow, clothes torn to shreds and half frozen. He woke up warm and surrounded by mad men. They were screaming at him, as if he was the most foreign thing they ever saw. They taught him to survive, and sent him on his way.


 * He has had battles with wolves, bears, and even closely lost his life from some flower he ate. Jon told us he went into Empty a young man and stumbled out an old man.


 * An interesting visitor for Reszal. We were just getting bored.

The Great Gold

 * To who ever reads this.


 * I left a few months ago to forage for some berries in The Great Gray. Time seems to have... slipped from me, and I find myself here writing a note in the centre of town at midnight, hopeful someone will read it. The savages told me of The Great Gold, the... garden, area of The Great Gray no one talks about. No one knows where it is. I know where it is. They told me. The whispered it into my dreams while I was bleeding out from a wolf attack. I am here to gather supplies and go back, back to the land I feel a connection with more than here. I need to find The Great Gold. Its waiting for me. Don't look for me.


 * --Zeke

A Letter for Edna

 * "dear edna. there are tribesman here. here in the great gray. they've lived here for as long as it has been. and they're teaching me. they have ways to survive in the gray. i am not coming home from my journey, im leaving you and that filthy retched town. i'm staying here. the fortune is for me. i have been swallowed by the gray. the great gray. hail the great gray. hail hail the great gray"

Hail, Hail, The Great Gray
This phrase has been popping up in more letters and locations closer to present day. Travelers who have come out of The Great Gray have been noticed mumbling it under their breaths, and some grave sites found in The Great Gray just have this written in the snow over and over.

"The locals... the tribals, the murderers, whatever you want to call those savages... they hail it. Its like a religion to them. The thing that keeps them safe, the home they know, the home they won't leave, the home they share with those willing... The land is a religion. Hail, Hail, The Great Gray"

MWC Info

 * 1) Project Name: The Great Gray
 * 2) Lore Notes and Details: [Above]
 * 3) Relationship with Existing Lore: Towns exist on the fringes of The Great Gray. People go to The Great Gray. People lose themselves to The Great Gray. People die in The Great Gray.
 * 4) Purpose
 * 5) To add mystery to the lore
 * 6) Allow a starting point for peoples stories
 * 7) Approximate Size: Extreme Hills+ Biome on the render
 * 8) Approximate Location: Extreme Hills+ Biome
 * 9) Theme, Building Style, Block Palette:
 * 10) Theme: Old, Ruined, Abandoned
 * 11) Style: Stone Buildings, Ruined.
 * 12) Palette: Stone, Cobblestone, some Wood.
 * 13) WorldGuard Flags: None.
 * 14) Resource and Labour Sources: Personal.
 * 15) Notable Structures: None yet.
 * 16) Specific Information: [Above]