The Pale
The Pale is a broad quarantine region in Faulmoor, lying southeast of Greymire and north of Blackholt Fort. Once a settled landscape of farmland, cattle routes, river traffic, villages, forts, and religious holdings, it has been largely abandoned since the spread of the Rotmire Blight.
Overview
Long neglect has allowed marsh and floodwater to reclaim much of the region. Roads vanish into standing water, firm ground gives way without warning, and old farms and work sites survive as half-submerged remnants of the communities that once maintained them.
The Pale's devastation is as much the absence of labor as the presence of Blight. Drains go uncleared, landing stages rot, roads drown, and routes disappear because too few people remain to maintain the systems that once made the landscape habitable.
Travel remains possible, but old maps are unreliable. Local knowledge, ferries, small boats, and patience matter more than distance. Flooded channels may conceal Blighted beneath apparently still water, making unnecessary noise or disturbance dangerous.
History
The Pale became a major containment zone during the early response to the Blight. As restrictions hardened and settlements emptied, the labor that kept roads drained, waterways managed, and isolated facilities supplied collapsed with them.
The region was not destroyed in a single event. It was abandoned piece by piece until marsh, ruined infrastructure, and quarantine became its defining features.
Present Day
The Pale remains one of Faulmoor's least reliably controlled regions. Flooded farms, broken landing stages, shrines, storage buildings, military remnants, and abandoned settlements still mark the old landscape.
Old routes continue toward Blackholt Fort and the roads leading farther toward Vexenford, but present-day passability changes with weather, water, and local conditions.
Notable Locations
Pale-Edge Ferry Outpost
An unnamed ferry outpost stands on stilts above one of the flooded approaches. Patched timber, tarred supports, lanterns, and a rough dock surround a low barge used for slow crossings into deeper marsh.
Crookbend Station
Crookbend Station is a pre-Blight river shipping and logistics facility. It was eventually overrun after most workers fled and the remainder barricaded themselves inside. The site still bears the marks of hurried evacuation, damaged river infrastructure, and failed defenses.
Lathander Monastery
The Lathander monastery in the Pale remained occupied by a small religious remnant after much of the surrounding region was abandoned. For generations it safeguarded Emberglass.
The monastery and wider Church of Lathander came to believe that the relic should pass to Lady Elspeth Wilthorne for a religious pilgrimage. Emberglass has since left the monastery, but the route, destination, and ultimate purpose attributed to that pilgrimage remain uncertain outside the Church.