In the Library, there are stories told of a peculiar man who walks not among the bookshelves and statues of the halls of the Great Libary, but walks among the cliffs and crags of the vast multiverse. He is said to seek knowledge in the material, to discover and return what the Library does not hold, and to tell the stories of those who cannot tell their own. Now, rumors state he is a wanderer in the Lands Unclean, searching for his next story…
Accompanying Works:
The series "The Lands Uncatalogued," a parody of Atlas' Burden written by StrangerSwing
Part 1: Jäara Forser, Unnamed
The work Poem found on a crumpled notecard is technically an Atlas' Burden adjacent piece, as the poem was first written as piece by Valentina Eckhart herself.
Overview:
The Lands Unclean has come to mean the particularly world in which the story of Atlas' Burden plays out. The Lands Unclean were never a peaceful place by any means, continually ravaged by the scars of war and the latent powers of ancient magics. The land is coated in mist, and what people do remain seek to eke out a meager living by farming the less-than-fertile soil, plumbing the depths for mineral wealth, or engaging in trade between the largest remaining bastions of civilization.
History:
The Lands Unclean has, for most of its history, been under dominion of The Worm. The Worm is a deity of decay and rot, which spreads its influence through disease and sickness, both of land and of body. This changed, about 3000 years before the present day, when a vampyric force betrayed The Worm and spread mist throughout the lands, allowing vampyrs to once again regain control of the surface. The power struggle between the vampyric forces and the forces of decay and worms has continued ever since, though at the time both sides have lost considerable strength. Rumors of a new outbreak of wormrot have been heard amongst the more spiritual in the villages, though…
Notable Locations:
There are, as far as we are aware, two major bastions of life left in the Lands Unclean.
Tuskini:
The land least effected by the encroaching mists, Tuskini is the agricultural center of the continent. Most food is grown here, and the population mostly consists of farmers and supporting personnel. Many guards are, as well, trained here. Lt. Valentina Eckhart grew up in and graduated from a school in Tuskini.
Due to its low-lying and desirable nature, the city of Tuskini must maintain a vigilant watch , or else it will find itself falling beneath the cloud of mist and monsters which blankets the surrounding landscape.
Raven:
The greatest Dwarven industrial center left standing, the city of Raven is built atop a great mountain, supported by the bones of a long-forgotten gargantuan entity. The city is quite advanced, encircled by channels and rivers of molten iron, steel, and copper to feed the factories and fend off the bitter cold. The height of the mountain Raven sits on protects it from the mists, though some believe the mists have been rising further and further up the great slopes…
