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Chapter 5: TRAVERSING THE WASTELANDS
black smoke rises everywhere, sometimes obscuring vision for miles in each direction, especially downwind. The
smoke of the Pock’s eternal fires can be seen clearly more
than fifty miles away on a clear day. The air around and
over the Pock is hard to breathe without a scarf or filter,
either of which clog quickly with filth. Animals never willingly go near the Pock.
Origins
The Pock’s origins are unclear. Some claim it is only a
volcano, despite it not being a mountain nor suffering
apparent eruptions. One legend attributes its existence
to ancient magic that continues today to befoul the face
of Khitus.
Yhethinar was Mage-Master of the equatorial city of
Hemishtan, a nigh-immortal sorcerer of tremendous
power who served a long succession of rulers. His presumed mastery of magic—and his effective mitigation
of sorcery’s wrath away from himself and Hemishtan—
spawned from far darker origins than any of his contemporaries ever guessed: as a youth, Yhethinar made
a pact with Bethayalbub, a demon.
Bethayalbub seduced and controlled the young wizard through her masquerade as a lissome serving girl,
only revealing her true nature years later. She had unnaturally aided his power and kept sorcery’s wrath at
bay. But rather than reject his lover’s now-revealed demonic nature, Yhethinar embraced it wholly, though
only in secret. To Bethayalbub, he rendered all manner
of cruel concessions that plagued the Hemishites for
generations, all the while masquerading as the city’s
most righteous protector. Bethayalbub demanded free
access to Hemishtan’s wayward souls, and Yhethinar
accommodated, blinded by his unfettered access to
power.
In his time, the wizard took dragon form and passed
himself off as a Daragkark. He even gained some tacit
recognition from both Tharcluun and Shagnathrix, sitting in on more than a dozen Daragkarian Councils.
However, for the Hemishites, these were the “bleak
times,” and truths about their wizard’s foul cruelties
whispered among shadows, then private places, growing in volume and detail. Belus Shur, a Shadazim witch,
worked half her lifetime and then gave her own life
for a single curse that sent all the grief of Hamishtan’s
damned children into Yhethinar’s dreams. Driven
quickly mad, Yhethinar fled to the desert where his
lover Bethayalbub confronted him in a tremendous destructive battle. While none know what truly occurred
in that battle save their deaths, the Pock is what remains
around that spot to this day.
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