Research:The Broken Lands

Warning: This page concerns archaic world setting information from the I.C.E. Age of GemStone III. It is not canon in contemporary GemStone IV, nor is it canonical for Shadow World as the details may be specific to GemStone III. It is only historical context for certain very old parts of the game and these things should not be mixed.

This is a research page for interpreting the Broken Lands in its original historical context. It is impossible to understand the Broken Lands without the Shadow World source books, as its basic premise is elaborating relationships from that world setting. However, it was also made with its own specific lore texts which were unique to GemStone III, which would be considered non-canonical in Shadow World. It becomes a matter of interpreting and guessing at the intent. The Broken Lands most likely also has more cryptic symbolic meaning relating it to the archaic death theology and mechanics of Purgatory, and should probably be interpreted as a spin-off story of The Graveyard.

The Broken Lands was introduced by GM Kygar in the I.C.E. Age in a few phases between 1992 and 1994, with the exception of the Sheruvian monastery, which was instead after the De-ICE by GM Sayzor in late 1997. What is now called the Lysierian Hills was built to be an idyllic contrast around a hidden portal to an exotic locale, which was then chosen to have an "Unlife invasion" theme, elaborating on the relationship between the servants of the Unlife with the Dark Gods in the Wars of Dominion.

Archaic GemStone III Documentation:

• A Popular History of the Broken Lands (1993)
• The Temple of Darkness Poem (1994)
• Iruaric Language Notes (1994)

Related Projects:

The following research pages are interrelated with the subject of this one:

• Research:The Graveyard
• Research:Shadow Valley
• ICE gods

Shadow World

The world setting of GemStone III in the I.C.E. Age (Dec. 1989 - Sept. 1995) was set on Kulthea rather than Elanthia. This is the archaic Shadow World historical timeline, in contrast to the modern History of Elanthia. The story for the Broken Lands is "The Broken Land", but on the Wiki is labeled "A Popular History of the Broken Lands" (1993), and it is set in the context of Shadow World. This means the details and areas associated with the story must be interpreted in terms of the contemporary Shadow World source books. More subtly, it must be interpreted using books of an early enough date, as details first existing in later books would be apocryphal.

Methodology

The Broken Lands was developed late enough for Shadow World Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (May 1992) to potentially be relevant. However, the specific Iruaric glossary that was adapted and Iloura's shrine must have been from earlier books, coming instead from Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990). The Master Atlas Addendum in particular has some vestigial admixtures of the Unlife on Charôn, the moon of the Dark Gods, before that language was removed from later books. For explanations of paleo-history, crypto-history, and potential weaknesses of methodology, see Research:The Graveyard.

I.C.E. Source Books

These books are especially likely to have some degree of relevance to the story. The Uthex Kathiasas story is unique to GemStone, it does not exist in the source books.

• Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989)
• Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990)
• Demons of the Burning Night (1989)
• Quellbourne: Land of the Silver Mist (1989)
• Creatures & Treasures II (1989)

Authorial Intent

Some information is recorded on the authorial intent of the Broken Lands, which helps constrain the range of possible interpretations. GM Kygar did an interview in the Kulthea Chronicle, Volume I Issue V, which was the September/October issue of 1994. In this he describes how the whole concept was formed before any of it was created. The Seolfar Strake is north of the High Plateau on the Quellbourne maps, unlike the post-I.C.E. Age maps which place the Lysierian Hills south of Glatoph. Kygar describes making this region as a contrast for the Monastery, and describes earlier in the interview that the Kral (Modern: Krolvin) were only added to the Seolfar Strake in 1994 because of combat mechanics needs, as opposed to the "natural-growth" approach that was used for the original parts.

"The second approach is to come up with a concept or a 'main thread' and then to allow an area and the creatures to grow up around that concept. I think of this as a 'natural-growth' design, rather than addressing some specific need. Most of the Seolfar Strake, Monastery and areas beyond the Monastery are of this design concept. Because they are 'natural-growth' design, they do not always address the needs of every character class or type. I don't see a problem with that, and make no apologies for it. If there are 'gaps' in the area or creatures, then those gaps can be filled by other areas and other creatures.

When I started on the Seolfar Strake, I decided to have a natural sylvan setting in the foothills of a mountain, along with some buried ruins that contained a gate to a more remote and exotic locale. After looking at the Quellbourn map, I decided on Seolfar Strake as the location, since that was a previously untouched area of the island. Having a general idea of the setting and situation, I then had to search for a theme to justify it all. I read through a lot of background material about Kulthea, looking for a good plot to have it all revolve around. I settled on an Unlife invasion theme, but wanted to add a twist that had not yet been explored. The background material made it clear that the Unlife and the Lords of Charôn had worked together during the Wars of Dominion. I selected that as the theme."

- GM Kygar; Kulthea Chronicle, Volume I Issue V (1994), page 18

This "background material" has no modern analog in the world setting of Elanthia, so the "theme" of the Broken Lands is highly archaic. In the following paragraph he describes the additional background material that is not canon in Shadow World or Rolemaster. These include the legend of Uthex Kathiasas itself, the modified Iruaric glossary (1994), and the Temple of Darkness Poem (1994). The purpose of the Monastery in preventing the servants of the Unlife from exiting the Broken Lands is particularly interesting, because the story might have been read as being hidden so that it could not be found.

"Anyone who has not read the additional background material about the Monastery and areas beyond that are in the Tomes of Kulthea should do that. The legends and information that I came up with are not official RM material, so the only place you will find them is in the Tomes. Reading those should explain the exact history and plot of the area, though it does not give you every possible detail. Only after I have written a history and background foundation for an area like this, do I actually start building. I think the effect in the Seolfar Strake works. The approach is quiet and sylvan, with nary a hint of the dark struggle that takes place within the mountain. The Monastery itself fits the historical purpose for which it was designed, and that was to guard against intrusions of the Unlife through the gate that is located there. By reading the history and then really exploring and looking at the Monastery itself you can easily get a feel for the centuries of dedicated labor that the monks served. You can understand how their increased isolation from the rest of the world made them lonely and restless. In the end, they succumbed to the very powers that they were set to guard against and became servants of the very powers that they opposed. It's a tragic tale I guess." Kygar smiled a little.

"In any event, given that tale it was easy for the creatures to develop themselves. The wild creatures in the outer Strake are natural for that setting. The spectral monks and monastic liches in the Monastery are a very natural result of the history of the place. The general abilities of all these creatures are pretty natural."

- GM Kygar; Kulthea Chronicle, Volume I Issue V (1994), pages 18 & 24

Kygar then went on to explain that the Broken Lands itself is designed as an extension of the Monastery story, and that there is unifying theme and purpose behind all of it. He explicitly says that there is more to it than its surface meaning, and that you have to dig into the background to understand what it all means. Though part of what he is talking about is the dome puzzle which no longer exists.

"The area beyond the Monastery is an extension of the story. It was all developed in the same way. There is a theme and tale behind all of it, and in light of that theme it all makes sense. I don't want to go into Man'Ta Pn'Tairken in too much detail because there are some (hopefully) neat things there for people to discover on their own. I can only encourage people to look beyond the surface. Dig into the Tomes and find the stories that give it all meaning. My areas and creatures are more than simple conglomerates of game mechanics. They have purpose and reason behind them, well most of them anyway, and by understanding that reason you should be better able to discover how to deal with them." He chuckled to himself. "Hmm, that was a pretty long answer."

- GM Kygar; Kulthea Chronicle, Volume I Issue V (1994), page 24

Empress Kadaena

Empress Kadaena is at the heart of all the hidden meaning of the Broken Lands. In the First Era of the Shadow World history, the Lords of Essaence weakened the barriers between worlds with their portals, including Portals on the moon Charôn. Many thousands of years later these dormant portals on the moon interacted with the comet Sa'kain. This was what allowed the Dark Gods to first enter, or perhaps return, to this plane of existence in the Second Era. It was also what allowed the servants of the Unlife to begin appearing on Charôn. These dark forces eventually unleash the Wars of Dominion.

The actual "name" of the Broken Lands is the Man'Ta Pn'Tairken, which is Iruaric for the "Home of Broken Lore". Iruaric was the language of Kadaena's servants, an extended family known as the K'ta'viiri or "Lords of Essaence". The monsters in the Broken Lands were originally named in Iruaric, and it is the language used in the Dark Shrine. It was also used originally in the crypt in The Graveyard.

Charôn

The Wars of the Dominion and the Unlife are mentioned all the way back in The Iron Wind source book of 1980. "Empress Kadena" and the "Lords of Essence" exist in the 1984 books, but they were not wedded yet to the "K'ta'viir" of Spacemaster or a language called Iruaric. In the Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989) the Dark Lords of Charôn are not defined yet as a pantheon, where the moon Charôn is instead associated with servants of the Unlife. There is reference to underground caves and tunnels, but the relevant details are not given until the Master Atlas Addendum in 1990.

"Charôn is considered an evil presence by most Kultheans, who believe that the orb is a haven of strange, otherworldly beings and presences. Once again, superstition is not without a basis in fact, for Charôn is indeed a gate-world which hovers on the boundary between dimensions. Beneath the shining icy surface are myriad caves and tunnels - hiding places for the unspeakable. It is shunned by the Lords of Orhan. When Charôn passes close the inhabitants of the Great Moon are especially vigilant."

- Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989); page 17
- Tomes of Kulthea #1046

In the Jaiman source book of 1989 these evil otherworldly beings are "servants of the Unlife." These servants were able to leave Charôn on the Night of the Third Moon in the 1989 books. It is an idiosyncratic point in the 1989 books that Kadaena, in spite of having been dead for over a hundred thousand years, is sometimes still described as the leader of the forces of Unlife in the Wars of Dominion.

"Dark cults worship Charôn. They consider the zenith to be a time of particular importance, a time when servants of the Unlife are able to leave their home on Charôn and come to the Shadow World. ... The Amulet of Charôn is listed as an NPC because it has schemes, goals, and powers of its own, and should be treated like an NPC by the GM. This device is an ancient artifact dating back to the Wars of Dominion at the end of the Second Era. It was a tool created by the servants of Kadæna as one of their many plots of subversion - the prelude to all-out war."

- Jaiman: Land of Twilight (1989); page 46-47

"Dark cults worship Charôn. They consider the zenith to be a time of particular importance, a time when servants of the Unlife are able to leave their home on Charôn and come to the Shadow World."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 37
- Shadow World Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (1992); page 113

This is the vestigial text which survives in the Master Atlas Addendum, where servants of the Unlife are still associated with Charôn, whereas there is now also a pantheon known as the Dark Lords of Charôn. The Dark Lords were the ones primarily responsible for the Wars of Dominion, whereas it was the servants of the Unlife who were in the books prior to 1990. This is the context for Kygar's theme of the two factions working together in the Wars of Dominion. Of special note is that in the Master Atlas Addendum the forces of Unlife are "imprisoned" on Charôn instead of banished off-world into "the Void."

2,000 SE - First appearance of servants of the Unlife.

6,450 - 6,825 SE - Wars of Dominion. Even the Lords of Orhan come to Kulthea to join in combat against the legions of the Unlife. After centuries of strife, the dark forces are destroyed or rendered ineffective, and the the Unlife is driven back into the Void. Unfortunately, there is no way to ensure that it cannot re-enter the World at some future time. Enchanted, immortal Guardians are set at the Gates of the Void.

- Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989); page 9
- Tomes of Kulthea #1015
- Tomes of Kulthea #1016


"Even the Lords of Orhan descend to Kulthea to combat the legions of the Darkness. The Unlife is driven back and imprisoned on Charôn, all of its powerful servants destroyed. Many valiant Loremasters and Sages are killed, however. Unfortunately, there is no way to ensure that the Unlife cannot re-enter the world at some future time. Enchanted, immortal Guardians are set at the Portals."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 13


"The Masters of Emer are revealed in their full majesty as Titans and join the forces of the Light. Even the Lords of Orhan descend to Kulthea to combat the legions of Darkness. The Dark Gods are driven back and imprisoned on Charôn, their powerful servants destroyed. Many valiant Loremasters and Sages are killed, however. Enchanted, immortal Guardians are set at the Portals."

- Shadow World Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (1992); page 131

"The Void" is discussed in more detail on Research:The Graveyard. The shift to replacing it with the word "Portals" is emphasizing the origins of the gates in the Lords of Essaence.

c. -15,000 - -10,000: Althan civilization begins to evolve into a unique combination of technology and 'magic' (the Essaence power). Society also polarizes, with the Essaence aepts (mostly the K'ta'viiri) becoming a privileged upper class. A number of Portals are constructed on Kulthea (and several on Charôn); these gateways allow direct access to a selected few of the parallel dimensions. Althan scientists master techniques for opening and closing such gateways, sometimes using artifacts such as powerful crystals.

c. -14,500: First reappearance of the comet Sa'kain. It returns every 1500 years, though the proximity to Kulthea varies dramatically with each pass: sometimes brighter than Orhan in the night sky, sometimes all but invisible to the unaided eye. Its presence coincides with violent Flow-storms and serious disruption of the Portals.

...

c. -250 - 0: ... Indeed, large areas of Kulthea are laid waste as the Uruths destroy the remaining K'ta'viiri, using channels of raw Essaence. The backlash from this power destroys or damages many of the ancient Portals, leaving them 'open' without control. Strange creatures and destructive demons of the Void begin to enter this universe through the broken Portals. ...

c. 0: The final conflict of Utha and Kadaena takes place on Kulthea. Kadaena is beheaded by Utha himself, wielding a weapon known as the Soulsword. By a last effort of Utha, the Flows of Essence are altered to imprison the intruders: by placing the 'Eyes of Utha' at the poles, he prevents further influx of the strange and hideous creatures. While it was always believed that Utha caused the Flows to shift dividing the world into hemispheres, that was merely a side-effect of the crystals which he placed at the two poles of the planet. Their real effect was to insulate Kulthea from the radiations of the interdimensional rift, and thus inhibit Demonic incursions from the Void. ... A secret cabal is formed at this time; led by none other than Utha's son Daenku, it is made up of eight surviving rebels and calls itself the Ahrenreth (Ir. "Secret Circle"). Their mission is to ensure the safety of the Eyes of Utha and to continue to close errant Portals (or 'Shadowgates'). These Portals, though severely limited by the Eyes of Utha, still allow demonic beings limited access to Kulthea.

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 10-11

The comet Sa'kain returns in 1900 Second Era, interacting with those same portals on Charôn. Thus, the Dark Gods arrive in this universe through the broken ancient Lord of Essaence portals on Charôn, which were opened and closed with powerful crystals. This is highly suggestive for the Broken Lands, where a shrine of Morgu uses Iruaric, which naively makes no sense as a severe anachronism.

1900: The Comet Sa'kain returns, passing very close to Kulthea. The Third Moon (Charôn) passes through the long, fiery tail of the comet, and the Essaence of the comet's tail interacts with the gates of the moon. New creatures and beings (they are eventually called the Dark Gods) are transported into the Kulthean universe - and a presence of unspeakable evil arrives on Charôn.

c. 2000: First appearance of servants of the Unlife on Kulthea.

c. 4000 - 6450: The Dark Gods begin systematically gathering evil creatures into a host of darkness.

c. 6450: Another close passage of the comet provides the necessary energy to open the way for hordes of demonic servants. Volcanic eruptions, flow storms, and earth tremors rock the planet, destroying fortresses and cities. The Dark Forces are ready.

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 12-13

"Imprisoned" in the Third Era must be interpreted loosely, though some were more literally imprisoned. The Dark Lords are able to travel to the world below for a matter of hours every 24 days when Charôn is closest to Kulthea (page 38), though "certain gods" (unspecified) can do so during the "Night of the Third Moon", which is instead a zenith event. This may be a retcon of the vestigial language about "servants of the Unlife" on that subject on page 37. The Dark Lords may also send themselves for 10 hours through very powerful Gates, or indefinitely through a ritual summoning with continual sacrifices. What it really means is probably that at the end of the Wars of Dominion, the Lords of Orhan set "Guardians" at the major portals, so that the Dark Gods would be unable to use them without tripping a kind of alarm.

The Emer (1990) book on page 8 does not necessarily say the Dark Gods first arrived in 1900 Second Era, but rather they gained "easy access" to the world because Charôn "acquires a special access to the negative planes" (i.e. Chaos planes), and later Shadow World books have them first arriving instead in 450 Second Era which causes the Lords of Orhan to reveal themselves. Later books also refer to the souls of their followers being sent through portals on Charôn to the Pales, but this was not established early enough to be relevant, though a similar concept might be involved with older text on the Void.

Vruul

Empress Kadaena was the "Queen of Evil" who invented the gogor, which were re-named "vruul" after the I.C.E. Age in GemStone III. These were one of several examples of Kadaena making malevolent artificial constructs as servants. Gogor are essentially gargoyles made of flesh. They slumbered for thousands of years in urns of foul dark fluid until dark priests woke them up in the Second Era. There is a typographical error on page 37 of the Master Atlas Addendum that says "See Parts IV & V (Demons)" for minions lurking below Charôn, but Part V is actually the section containing Kadaena's constructs.

"Once the skies were blackened with thousands of these winged beasts, but that was in the First Era, when Kadaena ruled. It was thought that those few Gogor who survived the Conflict had perished over the stretch of time, but the world is not so fortunate. Guided by hints millennia old, the dark priests searched deep in lost caverns and the ruins of ancient citadels. They found crypts, and within them row upon row of stone jars, seven feet tall, their lids sealed. Sleeping within each, submerged in a foul but nutritive fluid, was an unspeakable beast-servant of the Queen of Evil, waiting through the long years until needed again. Some did not survive the eternity of suspension, but many darken the skies of Kulthea again."

- Shadow World Master Atlas (1990), Part V; page 34

Gogor are "black as midnight" with tough hides and leathery wings. They have green glowing eyes allowing them to see in complete darkness, powerful claws, and have an extremely good sense of smell. It is not included in their GemStone creature description, but they have long poisonous prehensile tails. This is depicted on the statue in the Dark Shrine, though oddly those gogor have blood red eyes.

>look relief
The image is that of a dark beast with leathery wings and blood red claws.  The inscription below the image is in a strange language, and reads "Marlu lyxatis kort.  Thro dyar K'mur."

[Lo thal ta shin.]

You feel a tingling sensation run through your body and suddenly you see...

[Dark Shrine, Chapel]
Here, surrounded by dark frescoes presenting frightening images of terror, foul beasts and macabre rituals, confronted by the huge, ghastly statue that dominates the center of the chamber, the sense of evil is a palpable force that threatens to smother and consume all that it can.
Obvious exits: northeast, northwest.

>look statue
The statue is large, over twelve feet tall.  The central figure is a huge, hideous beast with black skin, leathery wings and large red claws.  It stands atop a pile of skulls, surrounded by three smaller figures, with pointed tails, blood red eyes, and small, leathery wings.

The Dark Spirit Morgu (Modern: Marlu) looked exactly like an enormous gogor, and collected them as his favored pets, but the reason why is never explained in the source books. The invoking elements for the gateway in his shrine being Iruaric are strongly implying an ancient relationship with the Lords of Essaence. "Thro dyar K'mur" in particular is implying he was made to guard Empress Kadaena.

"Fire-demons are associated with destruction and typically serve the forces of terror. The mightiest of these creatures, the Flamesouls, are corrupted demigods in the service, whose avarice and hunger for hegemony led to their fall from grace. These vile, vengeful Demons serve Kadæna, although most were imprisoned on other planes at the end of the Wars of Dominion, or were utterly destroyed. The few survivors retreated into the depths of the underworld in order to survive until they could regain strength and exploit new opportunities. They repose like a dormant curse upon the world."

- Shadow World Master Atlas: Inhabitants Guide (1989), page 34

"Fire-demons are associated with destruction and typically are summoned by the forces of evil. Their power comes from the depths of the earth and the energy of the sun; they love the day and fiery caverns. Driven by avarice for power and death, they are among the most fearsome of demons. The favored guardsmen of Kadaena, most were banished forever in the Final Conflict. But some were actually imprisoned within deep caverns, unable to return to their planes and yet unslain. They await the unwary who might free them and find death as a reward."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990), page 18


"The citadel of Ahrenraax (Ir. the "Secret Claw") was located in the cool waters southwest of Emer. Stewardship of this volcanic island fortress was given to the Lord Ordainer Morloch (once known as Shuraax the Fire Claw, bodyguard of Kadaena)."

- Emer: The Great Continent (1990); page 63

This has some precedence in other books, such as the Inhabitants Guide (1989), where she has fire demons as bodyguards. In the Emer (1990) book she had an Ordainer bodyguard. It might also pertain to the vestigial text about her followers having fashioned the first of the Great Demons, which is a holdover from older I.C.E. source books where the demonic were created artificially by the Lords of Essence.

"The coming of the Unlife, a vast power which feeds upon destruction, brought to light (and to darkness!) cults and orders dedicated to evil; Great Demons were fashioned by the most powerful of the Lords who had fallen under the influence of the Unlife, led by the Empress Kadæna. Wise but twisted in spirit, the servants of the Shadow offered knowledge beyond that which the Loremasters deigned to give such "lesser beings," and the power of the Unlife grew unfettered in the Second Era. The 300-year-long Wars of Dominion concluded the Second Era."

- Demons of the Burning Night (1989); page 3


"Theories regarding the origins and creation of Demons are plentiful and contradictory, but the most commonly accepted explanation is that they were created by the Lords of Essence out of that force itself, and they exist on some other plane, waiting to be called forth. Now, most serve the Unlife. Whether Demons are intrinsically evil in nature or not is another matter open to speculation, and it is doubtful that the answer is soon forthcoming, since few users of Essence who are not already servants of the Unlife are willing to risk summoning one of these terrors."

- Cloudlords of Tanara (1984); page 8

These excerpts are particularly important because the story of the Broken Lands is that Uthex Kathiasas discovered what he believed was a new source of power, and he was trying to give "physical form" to that power. In other words, the story very strongly implies that Uthex was attempting to forge entities out of the essence, and his work was corrupted under the subtle influence of forces of the Unlife. The Dark Shrine raises the question of whether the Dark Lords originated in Lord of Essaence experiments in the First Era, and were merely banished in the Final Conflict rather than first arriving in 1900 Second Era.

From the Book of Dark Tales...

"Once She whispered and life was death
Gogur arose, his wide wings spread
Talons to tear and fangs to feed
The skies were darkened with dread."

Andraax 
SE 1782

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum, Part V (1990); page 31


Morgu, Cruel Master. Guard the Dark Queen.
Spirit born of death.

- The Temple of Darkness Poem (1994)

"Lyxatis" is most likely a glottalization of "lyx arulis", meaning "dread seer", so figuratively "Morgu lyxatis kort" means: "Morgu, gogor master." It seems highly likely that the use of "lyx", meaning "dread", is playing off the poem at the beginning of the constructs section. "Spirit born of death" would be playing off "life was death" in the lines where Empress Kadaena is implied to have made a high leader of the gogor. "Gogur" in turn is conspicuously similar to "Morgu." "Thro dyar K'mur" literally means "Guard dark Lady", which is "Dark Queen" in the poem. There is no Queen of the Dark Gods in Shadow World.

"Once Sentinels guarded all of the Dark Queen's palaces and holds, their inimical gaze unwavering as they scrutinized every being who passe their gates. Many were destroyed in the great conflict which ended the First Era, but some survived and now guard other portals to dark fortresses. These constructs are not unlike golems in some ways, fashioned out of stone or other adamantine substance, but they are more intelligent, an even possess a perverse arrogance to match their formidable powers of guardianship. For the Sentinels were designed to do one thing only: guard the entries to Kadaena's holds."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum, Part V (1990); page 33

(Note: This is the page and entry immediately before the Gogor section.)

Dark Lords

The Dark Lords of Charôn are not really a "pantheon", they are an uneasy alliance of rivals. They were first introduced in the 1990 books as the most singularly powerful of the forces of darkness, and Unlife adjacent without actually being immediate "servants of the Unlife." The Unlife is the most corrupted degree of the Essaence, which is called Anti-Essaence, inherently contradictory to the rest of Existence. The Dark Lords are manifestations of the chaotic aspects of the Anti-Essaence, similar to how the Lords of Orhan are manifestations of the Essaence. Avatars of deities are power given physical form.

"Individually, the Dark Gods are the most intrinsically powerful of the 'evil' factions. They are not driven by one will like the Unlife, and they are not fully independent like the Dragonlords. These masters of dark power are not even life in the biological sense, but energy beings: manifestations of the chaotic power of the Anti-Essaence. Most are less than complete personalities, driven by specific needs and goals. As a result, they seem two-dimensional and are often predictable in their reactions. Vindictive, violent and wantonly destructive, their methods are most often the antithesis of the artful minions of the pure Unlife."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 7

(Note: Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (1992), changes "chaotic power of the Anti-Essaence" to "chaotic aspects of the Anti-Essaence". Research:The Graveyard details the edition changes on matters of the Unlife and demonic categories.)

The Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990) further specifies that the Dark Gods originated in the Chaos planes, where the Unlife is the furthest ultimate extreme of it. However, this book also states the Dark Gods are "related" to the Demons of the Pale, which are entities of the Void. This language is retained in the Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (1992). Both imply relation to the "fallen demigod" Great Demons.

"So named because they stand for the opposite of order and Existence, the Unlife itself originates in the heart of Chaos. The Dark Gods entered the Kulthean universe from the Chaos Planes, though they are not the pure antithesis of existence that the Unlife is. ... Demons of the Essaence originate in the Chaos Planes, their form becoming more discordant the further their origins within Chaos."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 7

"These are the more familiar and lesser demons known as Outsiders. 'Outsider' is a general classification referring to all demons of the 'Planar' or 'Inner' Void. Demons of the Pale are categorized according to their home plane. Of those within the Pale, First Pale Demons are the weakest; Demons of the Sixth Pale are the strongest. These demons are related to the Dark Gods of Charôn, and serve those evil masters (when summoned from their homes in the Planes)."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 23

This is important given the premise of the Uthex Kathiasas story of giving physical form to his new source of power, which plays off the text for how Evil spells are perceived. If the crystal dome in the Broken Lands is able to fashion entities from pure energy, which is implied to be a Lord of Essaence artifact, and the Lords of Essaence fashioned "Great Demons", it stands to reason that the Dark Gods who are related to demons might have originated in the same way. This allows the idea of Morgu guarding Empress Kadaena to make sense, as the Dark Spirits are created by the Dark Lords as servants.

"4. Immortality: Unlike the greater deities, the Dark Spirits are not exactly immortal, as they are really little more than manifestations of their master's will. The destruction of their chosen mortal form (as indicated by a killing critical or other catastrophe) results in the body (though not personal items - those are left in a heap) vanishing in a ball of fire or other showy end. The 'soul' of the Dark Spirit flees to Charôn if his master wills it - and he has the energy; many Spirits are unable to make the trip and are dispersed forever. If he makes it, he will either be permitted to reform, or the angry God may dissolve him anyway."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 45

In later Shadow World books it is explicitly postulated that the Dark Gods may have originated as Lord of Essaence experiments with creating non-corporeal life, but the earliest available reference to that seems to be "Emer Atlas I: Haestra" in 1997. The Dark Grotto and Dark Shrine were introduced in GemStone III no later than early 1994. It is worth mentioning later sources because material first appearing in books of a given copyright date might have been available in some other form at earlier dates. "Haalkitaine" (1998) is the earliest available reference to 6521 Second Era being the year Lorgalis conquered Saralis with the Ordainer Kharuugh. It is one of the only specific dates mentioned for the Wars of Dominion, and it is the same year Uthex Kathiasas was killed immediately next door in the Broken Lands.

Second Era

"450: First Loremaster-recorded appearance of the comet Sa’kain, a burning mass that hangs in the Kulthean sky for weeks. As it passes near the planet, it disrupts the function of the Eyes of Utha, and opens a door into a multitude of universes—including the Void. The comet returns every 1500 years. Soon after this event the Dark Gods begin to appear on Kulthea. To counter this, the Lords of Orhan create manifestations of themselves and accept followings. The origins of the Dark Gods remain unclear, though some suspect they are actually former Lords of Orhan who turned from the benign ways of their brethren. Others hold that they are early manifestations of the Unlife, or even ‘failed’ experiments by the Althans to create non-corporeal life. Perhaps only Andraax knows the truth."

- Emer Atlas I: Haestra (1997); page 18
- Haalkitaine (1998); page 17

(Note: By Shadow World Master Atlas, 3rd Edition (2001), page 166, this adds a possibility of having escaped an "inter-dimensional prison.")

These happen to be the same possibilities that are likely for GemStone III. The story for the Graveyard was most likely written in a context where the Dark Lords were not defined yet, so Empress Kadaena is treated as a Lord of Orhan who was the first of them to follow the Unlife. The idea that the "Althan" scientists were attempting to forge non-corporeal life, which is to say energy beings, is consistent with the overt premise of Uthex's work and earlier Shadow World books where the Lords of Essaence artificially made demons. The demons of the Black Hel were also made as servants by those dark gods.

Iruaric

Iruaric is the (mostly) dead language of the Lords of Essaence, and the ancestor of most languages in the Shadow World setting. It is only understood by relatively few, though in much later books its word-parts overlap with Iylari and Kugor. The language is partly telepathic, so most races cannot speak it properly. It was first mentioned in the Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989), where some word parts are defined through place names. The first Iruaric glossary is in the Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990), page 94, which is the one the GemStone III specific version modified.

"There are fourteen areas which might classify as true continents or continental groupings on Western Kulthea . . . These names are the ancient Lords of Essence titles (like those of the moons), and in many cases the inhabitants are unaware of the original name of their continent." 

"The seas of the western hemisphere were named by the Lords of Essence as follows . . . Interestingly, though the original Iruaric names have been lost to nearly all but Loremasters, the ocean names in local tongues correspond in translation in almost every case."

- Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989); pages 10 and 14


"Iruaric: The language of the Lords of Essence. In its 'true' form, it was partially telepathic and powerful. It can be learned in a relatively innocuous form by other races. It is related to the Primal Essaence; the extent of its true power can only be guessed at."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 93

It was also defined in the Inhabitants Guide (1989), which specified the common origin of all humanoid races, along with the recurring premise that the Lords of Essence altered life into novel forms. This is a relevant theme as Kadaena herself was the creator of many monsters. These races are also often named in Iruaric. This is important because several of the Broken Lands creatures had Iruaric names.

"In some tales they are referred to as the K'ta'viiri - which means literally 'Lords of Essence' in the Iruaric tongue (K = lord, viir = essence or power, i = plural). These beings were of the original race of Kulthea, but whether they were actually native to this world is a question yet unanswered. The whole of this race was known as the Altha, a curious word which has no meaning in Iruaric or any other Kulthean language. It is important to make the distinction between the Althan peoples and the K'ta'viiri, as only the latter people became Lords of Essence. The Althans constitute all of the original humanoid inhabitants of the Shadow World during the First Era. They formed the 'raw material' if you will for the myriad races to follow, whether they evolved naturally through the course of time and the mutating effects of the Flows, or were the result of direct manipulation through K'ta'viir experimentation."

- Shadow World Master Atlas: Inhabitants Guide (1989); page 44

The most important thing to understand about the use of Iruaric in the Broken Lands is that it is highly anachronistic. The Lords of Essaence were destroyed, and Empress Kadaena decapitated, in a civil war over 100,000 years before the Dark Gods arrived on Charôn. The modified Iruaric glossary made by Kygar is almost identical, except it has several paragraphs of background lore added to it. Kygar has early Iruaric being glyphical or hieroglyphic, rather than "phonetic", by which he really means alphabets. This would imply that the wording on the Dark Shrine entrance should have been written in the Second Era. That is assuming "modern day languages" frames the word "modern" for modern Iruaric, which could be interpreted very differently, referring instead to the end of the First Era. This requires speculation.

Hieroglyphics were actually "phonetic" after all and were deciphered as a result in the 19th century. What Kygar seems to be saying is that these glyphs are like ideograms, and that slight differences in the symbol conveyed many aspects of meaning, and that these variants could have very different pronunciations. In a phonetic script like our alphabet they would be rendered quite differently, because that would be encoding the way it sounds, rather than the visual similarity of the original glyphs with their common family of meaning. "Translating" ancient Iruaric into "modern" Iruaric could refer to language drift, or the incompleteness other races have with it. But Kygar seems to be speaking of converting the written forms, which is really "transliteration", not translating as if between modern English and Old English.

A Glossary of Iruaric Terms

The following is a brief glossary of words and word-parts in the ancient language of the Lords of Essaence. As with nearly all languages, Iruaric is not entirely consistent and is at times contradictory.

Translation of ancient Iruaric to modern day languages is difficult at best. Even translations from ancient Iruaric to modern forms of that same language will, at time, fail to represent the original ideas accurately. This is due mainly to the glyphical, or hieroglyphical form that early written Iruaric took. Often, similar symbols would represent many aspects of the same idea or word, with only minor changes in the glyph that differentiated the meanings. Often, however, these similar written forms had widely varying pronunciations. The use of phonetic representations of Iruaric as a written form are a fairly recent development, historically, and again vary widely from one culture to the next.

The following list of terms is not meant to be a comprehensive dictionary of the Iruaric language. Indeed, such a work would fill many volumes of text. Instead, this list of terms represents many of the most commonly used Iruaric terms and word-parts that were employed in naming places, people and things. The representations of Iruaric terms are phonetic, and are not indicative of the language syntax.

The incorporation of "is," "er" or "aer" into a verb typically converts that verb to indicate "one who does" that action instead. For example, the verb sing is "lina," singer is formed by adding "aer" to the verb. The addition of these modifiers may be as a prefix or suffix, but in most cases they are added as a suffix.

Most plural forms are achieved by adding "i". In many cases, "ri" is added to make a term plural, but the form "ri" typically signifies a very large quantity or an increase, and most often signifies a total plurality such as when referring to a whole group of things. For example, the High Elves are known as "Ilyari," a pluralization of the term "Ilar." When referring to a particular chain of mountains, the term typically used would be "thosi," but when referring to all of the mountains of the world, or to mountains in general, the term typically used would be "thosri."

The term "ta" is used to indicate a relationship or correlation. For example, a place that is the home to a race of giants might be referred to as "man'ta hori," home of giants.

most ancient forms of the language, before the glottal stops employed in the early forms developed fully into vowels. In some later forms of the language, apostrophes are used to indicate two or more word-parts that have been incorporated into a single glyph.


(Note: Italics are relatively unaltered Shadow World text, bold is Kygar original text. The truncation of the last paragraph is in all available copies, and this is very unfortunate, because that paragraph is probably very important for interpreting the intent.)

However, Kygar has the most ancient forms of the language being glottalized, meaning sounds were dropped compared to later forms. If the sound for "t" were a glottal stop, for instance, "butter" would be pronounced "buh'er." This is important because the Iruaric used in the Broken Lands drops "phonetic" letters from its words (e.g. "thro" instead of "throk"). This is implying the words or phrases originated in a First Era native speaker. The premise that apostrophe forms are indicative of later Iruaric is a retcon specific to GemStone III, in Shadow World canon the later forms instead smoothed words together.

The idea that the early spoken Iruaric had widely varying pronunciations, and that many meanings were in similar symbols that are lost in transliteration, amounts to the Iruaric in the Broken Lands having to be interpreted creatively. While "lyx" is a word part, for instance, "atis" is not. The sound "ul" is dropped in the "lug'shuk traglaakh", however, and this allows "atis" to be read as a variant pronunciation of "arulis." It is still dangerous to interpret missing letters this way, since the paragraph is truncated. It might instead reflect the Second Era phonetic system variation, and "atis" or "shuk" may involve undefined rules. But the inclusion of the premise of "translating" ancient Iruaric into "modern" Iruaric being difficult is probably framing the Dark Shrine as a case of ancient Iruaric re-expressed imprecisely into its modern form.

(1) Dark Shrine Inscription

The Dark Shrine inscription is the most conceptually important part of the Broken Lands, and interestingly was never De-ICE'd, while the creature names of the Broken Lands were stripped of their Iruaric and so was the analogous voice command puzzle in the Graveyard. "Lyxatis" is translated as "Cruel" in the Temple of Darkness poem. The possibility of "atis" encoding "arulis" through glottal stops and variant pronunciation is given earlier. Another way of parsing it is to interpret "lyxat" separately from "is", and treat that as the "-is" suffix meaning "place (noun)." The term "at" may be a letter swap for "ta", meaning "of" (similar to how Kygar modifies his made up "Ilar" for Ilyari verus Iylari), or a variant pronunciation of "az" for "dwell" or "home." It might even encode multiple meanings, like how "dyar K'mur" might.

Lyxatis could then mean something to the effect of Morgu whom in dread dwells or the personification of dread. This might be supported with the palpable, smothering feeling of evil in his shrine, which appears to be his dwelling. If this "dread" were instead taken as a verb, the "-is" modifier on verbs gives the meaning "one who does that action". This could mean Morgu he who is the act of dread. This might be translated as "cruel", as in the Temple of Darkness poem, but might also refer to the gogor "darkening the skies with dread" as in the Andraax poem. It is impossible to know the intent for certain.

(2) Monsters

The minions that Uthex made were named in Iruaric, except for the giant fog beetles. It is dubious that he named them. It might be their ancient Iruaric names to the crystal which presumably makes them.

• Kiskaa raax: The myklian were called "kiskaa raax", which is Iruaric for "cold/chilling claw." This is a clean translation with nothing to parse or guess. It simply refers to their cold flaring property.

• Dyar rakul: The dark vorteces were called "dyar rakul", where "rakul" must stem from a composite glyph. "Rakul" is most likely a double meaning. Morphing together "rak" and "kul" makes dyar rakul mean "dark cold shadow", referring to their coldness and appearing as a mass of shadows. "Rakul" may also be parsed as "ra kul" meaning "power shadow", which refers to their ability to drain power ("mana" in modern terms) from their victims. These might be based on the Nycorac and Blacar, as explained elsewhere, but could also be darkness elementals (like dark wisplings, now called dark vysans.)

• Lug'shuk Traglaakh: The magru were called "lug'shuk traglaakh", which is a complicated mixing of words. "Shuk" is not a word. "Shu" means "fire" or "flame", "shulu" means "wet", and "hulk" could be read as a contracted "hulkanen" for "barren" or "empty." "Laakh" is an unusual case because Kygar's modified glossary has it meaning both "lost" and "maker", whereas the canon glossary has "lavan" being the word for maker. These are right next to each other in the glossary and must be intentional. "Trag" is presumably a variant pronunciation or orthography for "trog" meaning "cave", but as will be explained elsewhere might also refer to cave dwelling extraplanar entities called Traag. The overall meaning is something to the effect of "ugly fiery-wet emptying cave makers/losers", because they are highly caustic and burn their way through the rocks. If the magru were supposed to be extraplanar entities called Absorbers, they reproduce by devouring flesh. This would explain their deep bone pit.

Apocrypha:

The modified glossary is missing the words for "pillar" and "god", where the Pillar of the Gods is related to the origins of the Lords of Orhan, but this is most likely coincidental. While the Pillar of the Gods is defined in Iruaric as Luor'ka'tai in the first edition of Master Atlas (1989), page 11, "luor" and "tai" were only added to the Iruaric glossary in the second edition of Master Atlas (1992). The term "Luor'ka'tai" was likewise omitted in the Master Atlas Addendum (1990) section for the Pillar of the Gods on page 73. Consequently the omission of those word from our modified glossary is probably meaningless.

Black Hel

The Black Hel is an Outer Plane where a pantheon of Dark Gods is imprisoned, as they were banished by the Lords of Orhan during the Wars of Dominion. They are ruled by the dark goddess Orgiana (Modern: Eorgina), who unlike in the modern world setting of Elanthia, is not the "Queen" or "leader" of the Dark Gods. While there is some contradictory text about Orgiana having escaped to Charôn, she was actually banished with her surviving servants in the Black Hel. These would implicitly be other Dark Lords, but Demons of the Burning Night (1989) pre-dates the Dark Lords of Charôn concept.

In other words, Orgiana is not even present in the Third Era, having only been involved in the Second Era. The author of Shadow World included her in the Dark Lords of Charôn as a retcon of the earlier book. In the Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990), page 9, it is implied that the Lords of Orhan did not intervene in the Wars of Dominion until near the very end. This is all problematic for our purposes.

Theocracy

The theocracy of the Black Hel was ruled in the Second Era by V'rama Vair, the surviving mortal daughter of Empress Kadaena. The symbol of Orgiana in her theocracy was an image of a powerful artifact known as the Helm of Kadaena, which retains part of Kadaena's consciousness. In terms of only the 1989 books one could plausibly assume Kadaena was wearing it when she was decapitated. There is no explanation for why Orgiana helped V'rama Vair or what relationship Kadaena herself might have had with the Black Hel. Research:The Graveyard explores the issue of conflations of Orgiana and Kadaena.

Orgiana, Mother of Darkness
Repose in silent waiting,
With revanche to come.

- Temple of Darkness Poem (1994)


C. Crypt of Kadæna (V'rama's Mother). A curse is written in Low Nureti across the top of this crypt's entryway. It reads:
"Who disturbeth the sleeping queen
Thy luck lose, they skills fail
And join thy tormentor in the Black Hel!"

- Demons of the Burning Night (1989); page 46
(Fake sarcophagus of Kadaena where the Helm of Kadaena was once stored. Next to the portal to Black Hel where Orgiana imprisons you.)


An inscription is marked in white letters on the face of the Heartstone. It is written in Black Nureti and reads:
"By coward Utha cruelly slain
She sleeps, who spurns death
And awaits the hero shining-clad..."

- Demons of the Burning Night (1989); page 42
(Where the Helm of Kadaena is actually kept, in the Temple of Burning Night below the idol of Orgiana.)


(Note: These are the same excerpts that Research:The Graveyard argues might have been used for the crypt in the Graveyard.)

There is no guarantee that Kygar was even looking at Demons of the Burning Night (1989), but it is conceivable it is relevant, especially if it was used in the crypt of the Graveyard and if there was a spin-off or continuity intent with that story. Bonespear Tower is a memorial for Kygar. It is haunted by an I.C.E. Ordainer demon named Maleskari, who Bonespear intended on trapping within a sword. This is highly likely to be playing off the dark saw-toothed scimitar that was sold at auction, which had a slayer demon of the Black Hel embedded within it who spoke to the wielder of acquiring souls together for Maleskari.

Orgiana has the title "Mistress of the Dark" or "Goddess of Darkness". In Iruaric this would be plausibly given by the phrase "dyar K'mur", which literally means "dark Lord-female", where word-part order is not indicative of the grammar. It is possible the Dark Shrine is saying that Morgu was "born" to be the guard of the "mother" Orgiana, and when rendered in Iruaric, this is conflating Orgiana with the Dark Queen, Empress Kadaena. Aside from their similarities and cryptic relationships, Dark Spirits are manifestations of the will of Dark Lords, so it makes no sense for Morgu to be guarding Empress Kadaena. Meanwhile the Legend of the Necropolis of Etrevion (1990) speaks of Kadaena as if she were the leader of a faction of the Lords of Orhan who turned to the Unlife and frames her as a rival death goddess to Eissa.

Temple of Darkness

The Temple of Darkness Poem includes the Dark Lords of Charôn, but refers to conditions that did not exist until after the Wars of Dominion. This is implied more directly by being from "the ruins" of the "Temple of Darkness." The way several of the Dark Gods are depicted is unusual. One of these is Orgiana possibly described as if she were dead, and indeed the Black Hel deities are called "the dead gods" of Aranmor, emphasizing her waiting for revenge which is actually stated in Demons of the Burning Night (1989). What is more strange is calling her "Mother" of Darkness, given her hatred of males.

Her description in Master Atlas Addendum (1990) says "she alone escaped back to Charôn", implying these "Dark Godlings" of the Black Hel were of Charôn, but this is contradicted by Demons of the Burning Night (1989) where this is only a rumor and she is actually in the Black Hel. Later books confirmed she was actually banished in spite of retaining that escape wording. It does contain the line "rebuilding her power, and prepares for the day when she will return to the Shadow World." But silent repose is not her demeanor. Only Demons of the Burning Night (1989) states she is the ruler of the Black Hel gods.

Orgiana, Mother of Darkness
Repose in silent waiting,
With revanche to come.

- Temple of Darkness Poem (1994)

[Dark Shrine, Burial Vault]
Dark skeletal figures lie in silent repose, stacked one upon the other in tiers of niches carved out of the stone walls.  Their musty odor assails your senses, and adds to the oppressiveness of the chamber.  A low stone slab occupies the center of the chamber, like a raised dais, but there is nothing on it except for a thick layer of dust.  You also see a large bronze door.
Obvious exits: none.

(Note: "Silent repose" is used in the Dark Shrine itself to mean death, rather than sleeping or kept in place.)

Z'tarr (Modern: V'tull) is called a "vengeful warrior", which is perhaps consistent, given he uses his sword with "grim vengeance" in his canon description. But then Omir (Modern: Onar) is associated with "vengeance" and "righteous retribution", when he is actually emotionless. Akalatan (Modern: Amasalen) is bizarrely described as a grim reaper figure, though he has a psychopomp role in the theocracy of Klysus in later Emer books. Zania (Modern: Zelia) was originally a Dark Spirit and supposedly the chariot driver of Charôn. "We watch for your return" is probably a broader, more loaded meaning.

Akalatan, Dark Watcher
Grim reaper,
Gathering the tares.

Morgu, Cruel Master
Guard the Dark Queen,
Spirit born of death.

Zania, Keeper of the Moon
Fair charioteer,
We watch for your return.

- Temple of Darkness Poem (1994)

Morgu is "wantonly cruel" in his demeanor, similar to Orgiana being "cruel beyond belief", which lends itself to "cruel master" in the poem. However, "guard the dark queen" has nothing at all to do with his canonical description, nor does "spirit born of death." Orgiana could be interpreted as dead Mother. It is possible our Morgu was banished with Orgiana. Which explains his absence if this is Charôn.

"One popular account claims that Kadæna, dark mistress of the First Era, has risen again on Aranmor and prepares her resurrected armies for some final, shocking revenge."

- Demons of the Burning Night (1989); page 4


"The PC enters the Black Hel in person through a door hidden in the crypt of Kadaena on the Royal Estate (part X-9-3) in Tarek Nev. Once there, he is stripped of all weapons and armor and taken before the court of the gods of the Black Hel. The Gods sit in massive black thrones and are quite horrifying. Orgiana presides. The fate of the PCs rests entirely on the humor of Orgiana. Most gods will want to enslave, torture, or kill the PCs. Orgiana tells the PCs that they are doomed to stay in the Black Hel for eternity unless they can "amuse her" by helping to destroy Kulthea. The gods of the Black Hel have a great hatred for the planet of Kulthea, but they are banished from ever returning. They offer great recompense to PCs who will work to destroy the White Essence users (Loremaster) and blacken Kulthea's heart. PCs who refuse to help Orgiana and her cronies are kept prisoner in the Black Hel until they change their minds, undergoing a daily regimen of abuse and neglect."

- Demons of the Burning Night (1989); page 15

Most importantly, the Morgu stanza is present in this poem that only makes sense after the Wars of Dominion, except it is written in Iruaric on the Dark Shrine in the Broken Lands. Uthex Kathiasas was killed in 6521 Second Era, which was early in the Wars of Dominion. The Loremasters sealed the portal with Runes of Warding, and were probably the ones who destroyed the library in the Dark Shrine, whose entrance is arguably a Lord of Essaence style gateway like the crypt in the Graveyard. These pose severe chronological questions, such as when the Broken Lands is, or if Kadaena knew future events. This is relevant to Research:The Graveyard questions over Kadaena during the Wars of Dominion. The Temple of Darkness poem is itself "translated", possibly also from Iruaric, with the same timing issues.

Grand Design

Location

While the Broken Lands is commonly taken to be "The Moon" of the Dark Gods for some obvious reasons, this is somewhat dubious and seemingly contradicted by the Uthex Kathiasas story itself. It might be interpreted as a huge underground cavern of Charôn with a subterranean mountain range, or it might be interpreted as one of the parallel worlds that was accessed from the Charôn portals, perhaps even Charôn as it exists in another reality. Charôn is a gate-world hovering on the boundary of other realities. There are several possibilities that could be considered plausible and it is not obvious which is right.

The Moon

"The Moon" is the most likely location because of parsimony. Charôn is most likely a large asteroid that was captured long ago, similar in size to the largest ones in the real world asteroid belt. It is a little more than half the size of Pluto's moon Charon, which is named after the mythological ferryman of the Greek Underworld. This is the rest of the text from the first edition of the Master Atlas. It implies that there would be very little gravity, but does not actually say it. The other text includes the premise that beneath "the shining icy surface are myriad caves and tunnels - hiding places for the unspeakable."

"Charôn circles Kulthea at 190,000 miles (note that it is also inside the orbit of Orhan) and is quite small: 350 miles in diameter. It is a featureless rock ball with a silvery grey appearance. An interesting aspect of Charôn is its polar orbit. This is quite an unusual situation and suggests that Charôn was not always a satellite of Kulthea. It may have once been a large, stray asteroid caught in the Shadow World's gravity well, or some body from outside the system.

Because of Charôn's unusual orbit, it and Orhan rarely conjunct; fortunate considering the tidal and meteorological disruptions, and the strange and bizarre Essence aberrations which occur during those periods."

- Shadow World Master Atlas, 1st Edition (1989); page 17
- Tomes of Kulthea #1046

The Master Atlas Addendum (1990) elaborates this further. The surface of Charôn is covered in thick ice and has no atmosphere whatsoever. There is so little gravity that there is "almost no perceptible 'up' or 'down'" when underground. This violently contradicts the idea that the Broken Lands is the surface of Charôn. The internal volcanic heating creating a "(barely) livable environment" in the caves and tunnels, whether from tidal heating or some aberration of its nature, is potentially consistent with the Broken Lands being underground. This might be implied by the Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath parallel.

However, this would require the existence of abnormal gravity, whether through aberrant magical reasons or artificially, since the Lords of Essaence were extremely technologically advanced. It is possible this may have been explained once by the crystal dome puzzle, especially if there was a control room when phased into while powered off. But on face value the gravity and air are serious inconsistencies.

"The surface of Charôn is a frozen waste; there is no atmosphere, and the exterior is encased in a solid coating of ice which Kulthean Astrologers think to be as much as hundreds of feet thick. But under that coating of ice, Charôn is heated from within by volcanic forces, creating a (barely) livable environment in the thousands of caves and tunnels. It is here that the Dark Gods survive.

The Third Moon is a sphere 350 miles in diameter. Even though it has a massive core, it only has enough gravity to barely maintain a small hold on objects. Thus, the caverns and warrens have the added disorientation of there being almost no perceptible 'up' or 'down'. Any poor unfortunates who are transported suddenly to Charôn will find themselves in a totally alien world.

The caverns of Charôn are populated by all manner of monstrous creatures, awful travesties of life summoned to guard the passages of the Third Moon. GM Note: See Parts IV & V (Demons) for details of lesser creatures who might be lurking in the corridors of Charôn."

- Shadow World Master Atlas Addendum (1990); page 37


(Note: The Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (1992), page 113, adds that the frozen ice might be carbon dioxide, and changes the GM note at the end to "See Demons of the Pale for details of lesser creatures who might be lurking in the corridors of Charôn." This edits out the typo where Part V is Kadaena's constructs, which was probably supposed to be Parts III & IV, the Demons of the Essaence and Void. It is specified on page 76 that they are "related" to the Dark Lords of Charôn, which is on page 23 of the Master Atlas Addendum. This is somewhat strange because both books, page 7 in the Addendum and page 29 on the Atlas 2nd Edition, have the Dark Gods originating in the essaence Chaos planes rather than the Void. Meanwhile the Demons of the Essaence from the Chaos Planes are left unmentioned.)

The repeated use of stalactites and stalagmites in the Broken Lands indicates the melting of ice by volcanic heat. This is very directly implied by the boiling sea of mud which is prone to geyser eruptions next to the ice slopes. However, the mountain range is depicted from the Dark Shrine as snow covered, which is still strange for a place without weather. It is presumably supposed to be precipitated steam. The crystal dome itself may be reference to the "powerful crystals" used by the Lords of Essaence to open and close portals on Charôn in the First Era. It is almost certainly supposed to be a Lord of Essaence artifact. It may even be a Lord of Essaence "speaking crystal", essentially, an Iruaric voice interface for a deep underground vault, with the surrounding crystals being the major part of its mechanism.

[Dark Shrine, Large Chamber]
Like a huge pair of eyes, two large, round windows look out over the eerie rough terrain far below.  The openings look out on a panorama of rocky desolation.  Huge, jagged mountains rise up all around, snow capped peaks high above ice covered slopes, strewn with large boulders.  The cold wind that blows in through the openings bears as much desolation as the view.  There is no scent of green trees and running sap, no odor of wildlife rising from the slopes outside.
Obvious exits: east.

The terrain seems inconsistent with the canon description of Charôn for the Broken Lands to be a vault covering part of the surface of Charôn. If this were the intent, the meteor swarm by Loremaster Kulfair would have exposed the interior, allowing the air to escape into the vacuum. One might conjecture a force field went into effect to patch the hole, but rocks still fall from above onto the jagged plain below. This makes more sense as an occasional rock falling from a damaged cavern roof than regular meteors strikes. However, GemStone III is still its own instance, and it may simply be non-canonical in this way.

You hear a loud rushing sound from the sky above you, and you look up just in time to see a huge chunk of rock hurtling toward you at incredible speed!  You try to dodge out of the way, but before you can move more than a few inches, the massive stone crashes into you, knocking you to the ground and causing serious injury!
   ... 10 points of damage!
   Bones in left arm crack.

A huge geyser of boilng water and mud erupts from the sea of mud nearby!  Before you can react, a torrent of the steaming sludge comes raining down on you!
You are injured by the boiling hot sludge!
   ... 10 points of damage!
   Burst of flames to right leg burns skin bright red.

A torrent of thick sludge suddenly comes raining down on you!  After a brief moment of surprise, you realize that the stuff is boiling hot!
You are injured by the boiling hot sludge!
   ... 5 points of damage!
   Minor burns to right leg.  That hurts a bit.

The primary appeal of interpreting the Broken Lands as Charôn is the existence of the Dark Shrine and the use of Charôn in the puzzle to reach the jagged plain. Naively, we would expect the Dark Shrine to have been used by Morgu himself in the Second Era, along with the servants of the Unlife who reside under Charôn. The huge rubble on the jagged plain would be from a cave in of the roof caused by the meteor swarm. But this is not as obvious as it sounds. The Dark Shrine is playing at a relationship Morgu had with the Lords of Essaence, even Kadaena herself, over one hundred thousand years ago.

They first appeared on Charôn in the Second Era through ancient Lord of Essaence portals to other planes of existence, so the mere association of Dark Gods or Charôn is insufficient for assuming it actually is Charôn. There are obvious questions to be asked, such as if this is Charôn in the Third Era, where are the Dark Gods? Where is Morgu? Why is there no "Guardian" at this portal established by the Lords of Orhan? The most serious issue of all is that the Uthex story calls it a natural gate to another plane of existence. Interpreting the Broken Lands as Charôn requires bending over backwards, trying to read that as Uthex misinterpreted it as such or was misled to that effect, but only until later when he made the secret passageway to the jagged plain and somehow not knowing anything about the Dark Shrine at first.