Verita's Barricade
"I didn't know Verita personally but I bet she was unpleasant." - from the memoirs of Lewin Von Treet, Vault: the Land of Stuff and Things
Between the town of Daggereach and Ternaqual Point is the dangerous and volatile landscape known as Verita's Barricade. Legend has it a sorcerer, unhappy with the direction the city of Caim was taking during its construction, attempted to establish herself as leader through rule of might. She claimed Dragonfall was only the beginning of a centuries of hardship, and only through the power of magic could Highcroft be made ready to defend itself. Knowing only peace and prosperity after Dragonfall, the people refused to replace one tyrant with another. The sorcerer, Verita, decided to show them how wrong they were on the plains outside the newly established fortress city of Welkinreach. She gathered thousands of those building the nearby city to demonstrate how quickly their fortunes could turn. Her power flowed from her, upturning the earth. But she lost control. The demonstration soon became a massacre.
The people of Welkinreach became encased in impenetrable crystals, each one stuck lifelessly yet frozen in the moment of their deaths, fear etched in their faces, the certainty of their deaths in their eyes. Verita's power was such that thousands upon thousands of people died that day, forming crystalline formations miles long across the plains. No one knows what became of Verita after that day, which came to be known as the Crystal Crown Massacre. But Verita's Barricade persists to this day.
Those who are sensitive to the spiritual realm feel ill at ease in the barricade, and Verita's power remains in abundance. Crossing the barricade is as dangerous now as it was being in attendance the day of the Crystal Crown.