The Gloom is a curtain of darkness that originates in the west of the Dusk Barrens.
Occasionally, without warning, the Gloom will descend and sweep across the entire Barrens. It seeps underground, envelops mountains, and cover entire forests. It's an endless sea of black.
When a person comes in contact with the Gloom, it swallows them in silence, only to deposit them at the docks of Prosperity Keep, where it finally dissipates. People carried by the Gloom feel like only moments have passed, and are left confused and disoriented with a feeling that has been described as "uneasy, but not unpleasant".
There are creatures and people in the Gloom, and they’re all vicious. Perhaps the Gloom made them so, or perhaps it simply ignores the vicious. You can trust anyone who lives in the Gloom, monstrous or otherwise.
As far as anyone knows, the Gloom has always been part of the Dusk Barrens, predating even the founding of the Empire. Various ancient sources describe it in confusing ways, as if it used to be different in the past.
Two or three generations ago, a small population established the original Prosperity Keep on the hills west of the river, which has since been deserted. It's unclear how the founders of the previous Keep managed to stop or prevent the Gloom, but after twenty years or so they were all wiped out. The current Prosperity Keep resides safely on the eastern bank of the Rush river.
The Gloom will appear a few minutes before the end of each session. It will descend at a moment of the GM’s choosing, grabbing the heroes in the middle of whatever they were doing, to sweep them back to town. This brings the session to an end.
<aside> 📌 Currently, being swept by the Gloom has no consequences except for being somewhat disoriented for a moment after arriving back at Prosperity Keep.
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<aside> 📌 Currently, the Gloom is unpredictable.
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