Vort’Naal

The Spores of Vort’Naal

(Introductory horror tale for the region)

No map dares mark the true borders of Vort’Naal.

Long ago, before the spores took root, it was a temple valley—sacred, hollow, and forgotten. The last pilgrims who entered sought divine silence. What they found was rot.
The air here is sweet with decay. The trees do not move in the wind—they twitch. Beneath the soil, veins of bioluminescent fungus pulse slowly, like a heartbeat. Above, towering mushrooms exhale clouds of sleep-thick spores that smother the lungs and erase names from memory.
And then there is her.
They call her Brood Matron, though no one knows her true name anymore. She was once a priestess who tended the mycelium gardens, whispering prayers into the roots. The spores heard her devotion. They wanted a voice. So they gave her one—long and clicking and serrated.
Now she watches the land with eyes like wet garnets, perched on wings that have not rested in centuries. Her skin is bark-green and lacquered with spore-dust. She speaks not with words, but with the hypnotic hum that echoes between your ribs when you’re lost in the Mycosea.
Some say she weeps.
Some say she lays eggs in the skulls of wanderers.
But no one leaves Vort’Naal the same. Not even the wind.
So if the mushrooms seem to breathe when you pass,
If the shadows tilt in reverence,
If you feel eyes behind your own—
Then you are already hers.

Regions de Vort’Naar

The Mycosea

– A fungal ocean that never ends. Mushrooms tower like trees, caps wide enough to catch the moonlight.
– The air is thick with spores; breathing too deep invites dreams you never wake from.
– Fungal colonies hum softly. Some say it’s language. Others say it’s prayer.
– Creatures here do not rot when they die—they bloom.
– Travelers often wander in circles, their skin slowly softening, sprouting filaments from beneath their nails.


Temple Hollow

– Crumbling ruins swallowed by nature and something deeper. Roots split stone like bone.
– Statues with no faces kneel in overgrowth, arms outstretched to nothing.
– At night, the bells ring. No one sees them swing.
– A chorus of voices rises from the earth—rasping, wet, unfinished.
– The walls bleed when touched. Gently.


Wyrm-Cleft Ridge

– Sharp peaks that resemble broken teeth gnashing at the sky.
– Bleached dragon bones lie cracked along the paths—some still warm.
– Mists cling low, thick enough to drown in.
– Echoes travel backward here. You hear your scream before you open your mouth.
– Something massive coils between the rocks, always just out of sight.


Silent Mire

– A swamp that drinks sound. Even your thoughts seem quieter here.
– Water black as pitch, with ripples that respond before you’re near.
– Lanterns drift among the reeds, never swaying, never leading out.
– The mud whispers secrets in a tongue you almost understand.
– Bones rise with the tide. Some still hold hands.


Siblings’ Spine

– A ridge of jagged stone shaped like a twisting vertebrae. No one knows whose.
– The wind here screams. Sometimes it says your name.
– Obelisks grow like tumors from the earth, etched with symbols that change when blinked at.
– Travelers find matching wounds on opposite sides of their bodies.
– It is said two spirits roam here—bound twins who share every death twice.

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