The Ruins of Moonwillow

Moonwillow was founded several thousand years ago, at the dawn of the elven civilization in the Vale. The elves, drawn to the mystical energies flowing through the land, sought to create a city that blended their artistry with nature's raw power. They carved the city out of the mountainsides, with its elegant marble spires rising above the lush forest. The city was a marvel, built with both magic and stone, a beacon of elven beauty, knowledge, and mastery over nature. At its heart stood the Grove of the Eternal Flame, a sacred site where magic and nature converged. Here, the elves drew their power, with the grove's energies sustaining both their magic and the land around them. For millennia, the city thrived in harmony with the forces of nature. For over 10,000 years, Moonwillow stood as the pinnacle of elven achievement. The Hall of Voices, the Tower of Knowledge, and the Temple of the Sun were constructed during this era. The elves flourished as scholars, mages, and artists, their magic in perfect balance with the land. The Vale was a place of unparalleled beauty, and Moonwillow was the heart of the Vale's peaceful existence. The city's magical mastery and connection to the grove made it a pilgrimage site for those seeking wisdom. Here, sages from distant lands came to study under the elves, and great feats of magical artistry were performed. The natural forces that the elves had once revered sustained their city, and Moonwillow was a place of prosperity for over ten millennia.

As time passed, the elves grew ever more ambitious in their desire to secure Moonwillow's future. They sought to harness the raw energy of the Grove of the Eternal Flame directly, believing that they could lock the grove's power into their city for eternity. The elves, in their hubris, drove a massive obsidian spike deep into the earth at the heart of the grove, hoping to channel its magic. But their attempt to control the grove's power had disastrous consequences. The grove's magic, once delicate and harmonious, was disrupted. The result was a catastrophic shift in the grove's energies, twisting nature and magic alike. What was once a thriving and peaceful place became the Grove of Chaos, a wild, uncontainable force of nature, where trees grew in unnatural ways, stones floated aimlessly, and raw magic crackled in the air. The elves tried to mend the damage, but it was too late. The very core of Moonwillow began to decay, as nature turned against the city. The once-beautiful buildings and sacred halls were overrun by thick vines, twisted roots, and warped energies. The elves were forced to watch as their beloved city fell into ruin. The final blow to Moonwillow came during the War Against Alaxus, the Minotaur Mage. As Alaxus's dark forces swept across the Vale, the elves of Moonwillow were too weakened to defend their city. The magical upheaval caused by the city's crumbling energy was only exacerbated by the war, and Moonwillow was ultimately caught in the path of destruction. In the chaos of the war, the elves tried to harness what remained of the city's magic, hoping to use it against Alaxus's forces. But Moonwillow's unstable magic backfired, making it impossible for the elves to defend their city. Alaxus's forces razed the Vale, and Moonwillow was left in ruin. The elves abandoned the city, leaving it to the forest's reclamation.

After the war, the elves returned briefly, but they found Moonwillow irreparable. The towering statues and marble columns were broken and buried under centuries of debris. The Hall of Voices, once a place of reverence for their ancestors, was now silent and cold. The Tower of Knowledge lay in ruins, its halls empty and forgotten. The Temple of the Sun was desecrated, its once-holy grounds stained with blood and dark magic. The elves abandoned the city, seeing it as a monument to their failure. The Black Spike remained, a jagged reminder of the elves' ambition and hubris. Streams of toxic black liquid flowed from the spike, poisoning the land and further ensuring that Moonwillow could never be revived.

Moonwillow Today

Now Moonwillow lies as a silent ruin, overtaken by the forest and the wild magic that still swirls through its streets. The Grove of Chaos no longer warps the land, but the twisted nature and magic remain. Trees, once part of the grove's sacred circle, now speak with dark voices, angry and full of sorrow at the elves' betrayal. Moonwillow remains a place of mystery and danger. The Timeless Cells, once used to imprison Moonwillow's greatest enemies, now house only forgotten secrets. The Tower of Knowledge remains a treasure trove of arcane lore, though much of it has been lost to time. The Hall of Voices echoes only with the ghosts of the past, and the Well of Dreams now reflects only nightmares. Despite its fall, some elves still hold hope that one day the Grove of the Eternal Flame may heal itself, and with it, the city may rise again. But for now, Moonwillow lies in the grip of decay, a city of lost glory waiting for those daring enough to uncover its secrets.

Menu of Notable Locations:

1. The Black Spike
A towering spike of black stone pierces the ground to leave an open space within the city's great grove. Large shards of cracked stone rise up from this wound in the earth. The obsidian spike narrows from top to bottom, its jagged surface extremely cold to the touch. Streams of black liquid flow through cracks in the ground around its base. Only magic could have raised such a massive structure of perfectly smooth obsidian and driven it into the earth. Designed to draw energy directly from whatever source of magical power lay beneath the city, the spike instead wounded or killed that source of energy. Now, streams of toxic liquid flow eternally from the wound, and whatever magic once powered the city of Moonwillow remains dead or dormant.
2. The Grove of Chaos
Once called the Grove of Eternal Flame this area is now wild brush and huge trees that dominate the center square of the city of Moonwillow, and presents an unearthly strange sight. Huge broken stones float through the grove, spinning slowly in the air. Bolts of electricity arc between the branches of dead trees. Once a beautiful tribute to the magic of nature and the elves, both those magical forces now seem wildly out of control. The elves raised this beautiful grove to show the strength of natural and magical energy flowing together. For thousands of years, this site inspired them, but the magic of the grove has become unstable after centuries of being unattended. The energy of nature has caused trees and brush to grow with alarming complexity, even as rifts in the magical weave plague the grove with chaotic magical effects.
3. The Hall of Voices
Set atop a high flight of crumbling stone stairs, this vast hall extends deep into the mountainside. Wall niches within house thousands of urns, many of which have been shattered to spread ash to the floor. Delicate runes etched into each urn describe the remains contained within. A chill wind blows constantly through the hall, swirling dust and ash, and filling the area with a howling sound. At the center of the hall, a chamber with curved walls is dominated by a towering statue of a female elf, her hands held out in a welcoming gesture. Ash-filled tears appear to fall from the statue's sad eyes. Despite the great age of the city, the long lives of the elves leave them relatively few dead to entomb. Those who have died in Moonwillow, whether naturally or unnaturally, are typically cremated, their ashes placed in urns within the Hall of Voices. Here, the spirits of the elves touch the lives of the living. Magical enchantments protect and preserve each urn, allowing living elves to speak with their deceased ancestors. Over the centuries, many of these enchantments have been broken, and a great number of urns have been shattered to expose the dust of the dead. Even where the magic endures, conversations with the dead are typically brief and cryptic.
4. The Timeless Cells
This round building with a collapsed roof marks the site of a wide, smooth shaft leading two hundred feet down into the earth. Large cracks mar the delicately runeetched stone walls of the shaft, and a hollow-sounding wind blows up from the darkness below. The faint remnants of arcane energy reveal that the shaft once held a floating platform used to descend and ascend. With the platform long gone, only ropes or flying magic will allow explorers to investigate the areas below. At the bottom of the shaft, dozens of cells connected by a network of magically protected hallways once housed the most powerful and dangerous enemies of Moonwillow. The cells vary greatly in construction, with each built to contain a particular enemy. Some chambers are crafted in the shape of small dodecahedrons, with each surface covered in metal etched with runes. Others might be vast caverns intended to encase huge monstrosities. Many of these cells are empty, their prisoners having either escaped or starved to death when the elves abandoned Moonwillow. However, some might still contain their original prisoners.
5. The Tower of Knowledge
A massive seamless granite tower. Statues of elven sages holding tomes and scrolls flank the large, broken doors that lead into Moonwillow's great library. Glyphs on the shattered doors bubble and spew black smoke into the air. For thousands of years, the Tower of Knowledge stood as the greatest single repository of lore and understanding in all known lands. Hundreds of thousands of books and scrolls lined the halls and chambers of this ten-story-high structure. The labyrinthine nature of the library made it exceedingly difficult to navigate, but sages and otherworldly beings spent whole lifetimes helping those seeking knowledge to find the right source. Chambers still hidden below the library were said to have contained forbidden texts and tomes of terrible power, available only to a select few.
6. The Temple of the Sun
Ivy stems as thick as a human's arm crawl over the broken white marble of this temple. Two tall, battered statues stand within, their size and appearance marking them as gods or rulers. One is armored in plate, a long, curved sword in her hands. Another is dressed in long flowing robes and holds a tall staff in his hands. The heads of the statues are missing. Alcoves containing broken statues of other elven gods and heroes surround the base of the temple. At the center of the floor, a large circle set with strange glyphs has been painted in blood. Moonwillow once held many temples to the gods of the elves, each of them quite different in construction. Some are narrow towers of smoothly curving stone. Others are large, unadorned stone blocks. The Temple of the Sun was raised for the worship of many gods. A large hall takes up most of the temple, but numerous chambers used for private worship and study stand beside and behind the main hall. A narrow stairwell leads to a network of chambers below the temple, used for isolated study, housing holy relics, and conducting rituals used to speak with beings from beyond the mortal realm. While some of these chambers have been ransacked, many remain intact.
7. The Chamber of Worlds
Violet light flares within this domed building, whose center is occupied by a huge floating orb. Seven bronzeringed portals are set into the walls, each filled with a swirling amber fog. Lines of electricity arc out from the portals to strike the orb. Another open portal cut into the ceiling at the height of the dome exposes the orb to the sky above. Made of the rock of the mountains above the city, this chamber holds seven portals that once opened gateways to worlds beyond the mortal realm. The central orb directed energy from the moon, sun, and stars above to the portals. Now, the instability of the elven magic that once powered this place has turned those portals to gates of chaos, shunting their power into the orb. Whether any of these portals can be reactivated, and what dangers might arise from doing so, remains a mystery.
8. The Well of Dreams
A wide circle of standing stones surrounds a pool of pure blue water. Tendrils of black liquid twist through the pool, continually churning, splitting, and reforming, though never mixing with the water itself. The Well of Dreams had been used for thousands of years as a pool of prophecy, and as a place dedicated to worship and communion with realms beyond the mortal world. Now tainted by the corruption of the grove, the Well of Dreams contains only nightmares