Graveyard of Ixmus
In the north of the Taagi Baara Steppes lies the dreaded Graveyard of Ixmus...
A sandy crossroad leads to the great cliffs of Ixmus which herald the entrance of the boneyard. The land where the last leviathan lies. The land where bones defy time. It is a cursed land where even the soil is said to be hexed.
No man, woman, or creature walks through Ixmus and returns the same. From the husks of creatures lost to time to the leafless trees that once told of a land that was lush and arboreal.
Overview
An ancient graveyard where the corpses of beasts whose names were long lost to Arethil faded away. The decaying husks of their flesh and blood have faded away centuries ago yet the bones of everything that dies in Ixmus remains pristine through some dark force. These dark sorceries have attracted less superstitious outlaws who use the graveyards to hide away from the law. It also attracts more unsavory types such as necromancers and magical researchers who are interested in the forbidden magics that manipulate blood and bone.
Rumors abound that on certain nights some unknown, unseen, force causes the bones of ancient and extinct beasts to re-animate and hunt down any trespassers found within the graveyard's reach, adding to the pile of bones already present.
History
It's believed that long ago, perhaps all the way back in the Age of Uroghosh, the lands of Ixmus were a lush and vibrant jungle. These grounds provided a suitable home to large behemoths, leviathans, mantis-bears, and even wyverns. The sentient species of Arethil learned to avoid such a violent and dangerous jungle for fear that they might prove ample prey to the wide array of creatures that called Ixmus home.
Over time the hubris of man and orc caused small settlements to form near the jungle's edge, living off the fertile lands. It was a hard life but for those daring and brave enough the jungles of Ixmus proved to be a source of great bounty and provided a comfortable life for the people who dared to build their yurts so close to the terrors that lurked within.
And then, for reasons lost to time, a great calamity caused the trees to wilt. The creatures to die. The once lush lands decayed into an inhospitable graveyard. The men and orcs who had once settled left the land behind, with claims of ominous noises coming from the epicenter of Ixmus.
Today the grounds are a common destination for fledgling and foolish necromancers who wish to study the odd arcane presence. A training ground for so-called ghost hunters and holy zealots looking to cleanse the land. None have managed to uncover the source of the foul magics at work.