The people of the @Sunscar Highlands do not fear darkness the way other regions of @Aurelia do.
They fear the sky.
Far beyond the warm valleys surrounding @Dawnspire Castle , the eastern ridges rise into a volcanic wilderness of shattered black mountains, molten fissures, and smoke-stained skies where survival itself feels temporary.
And above those mountains—
Something hunts.
The eastern Highlands are plagued constantly by violent supernatural storms known as:
Sunflare Tempests
These storms form where volcanic pressure, unstable thermal currents, and fractured magical forces beneath the mountains collide.
The Tempests are beautiful from a distance.
Clouds burn with:
ember-lightning
ash-filled winds
and drifting molten sparks resembling fiery snowfall
Entire skies glow crimson during severe storms, turning the eastern ridges into silhouettes of black fire beneath the heavens.
Minor Tempests strike almost weekly.
Major Tempests capable of collapsing settlements or grounding gryphon patrols emerge several times each season, often alongside increased Skyrender activity.
The storms do not behave naturally.
They:
shift direction unpredictably
intensify around violence
and sometimes form unnatural calm zones over ancient volcanic sites
Many believe the mountains themselves are reacting to something deep below the earth.
Hidden within the eastern volcanic ridges lies one of the most feared places in all the Highlands:
@The Skyrend Broodnest
A colossal crater surrounded by:
obsidian cliffs
magma fissures
ancient ruined watch platforms
and skies permanently filled with ash and circling shadows
The Broodnest descends into sprawling volcanic caverns filled with:
cliffside nests
molten tunnels
resin-coated chambers
and endless skeletal remains of prey dragged into the mountains over generations
The creatures dwelling there are known collectively as:
Skyrenders
And they are not ordinary beasts.
The dominant predators of the eastern skies, @Skyrenders resemble horrific fusions of wyvern, carrion bird, and volcanic drake.
Their bodies are covered in:
iron-dark scales
glowing ember-like fractures
and soot-black wings stretched across skeletal frames scarred by heat and battle
They hunt in terrifying coordinated swarms, diving from cloud cover or @Sunflare Tempests at devastating speeds.
Unlike mindless predators, they:
scout patrol routes
test defenses
retreat strategically
and learn from failed hunts
Entire caravans have vanished after taking supposedly secret mountain routes.
Many gryphon riders believe:
the Brood thinks collectively
Lean long-range hunters that patrol above cloud cover before diving from sunlight itself. Their blade-like wings produce metallic slicing sounds during attacks.
Rare elite Skyrenders adapted specifically for hunting inside @Sunflare Tempests. Massive and heavily armored, they actively target gryphon riders and flying mounts. Volcanic lightning crackles across their wings before striking.
Smaller vulture-like swarm feeders drawn toward violence and death. Entire flocks often appear before disasters fully occur. Highland folk believe they can smell fear.
Four-legged volcanic pursuit predators inhabiting the lower caverns and tunnels beneath the Broodnest. They stalk wounded survivors after aerial attacks and swarm prey through volcanic passages.
Ancient serpentine tunnel-beasts dwelling deep beneath the mountains. Even mature Skyrenders avoid their territories. Their movement sounds like distant earthquakes beneath stone.
Juvenile Skyrenders hatched within the depths of:
@The Heart Pit
Chaotic, starving, and vicious, they swarm prey in feeding frenzies while competing violently against one another for survival.
Victims captured but never fully consumed by the Brood. Wrapped in volcanic resin and suspended within the tunnels, some remain horrifyingly alive for unnatural lengths of time. Ruptured Husk clusters occasionally produce shambling heat-warped remnants driven only by pain and instinct.
Deep beneath the Broodnest lies:
@The Heart Pit
The birthplace of the Skyrenders.
An immense magma-lit cavern stretching into the molten roots of the mountains beneath the eastern Highlands.
The chamber contains:
rivers of lava
colossal resin-coated egg clusters
volcanic pillars resembling the ribs of buried titans
and ancient ruins fused directly into the cavern walls
Every surface trembles with:
distant wingbeats
cracking shells
shrieking hatchlings
and deep breathing echoing through unseen tunnels
At the center rests:
@Skyrend Matriarch
No confirmed description of the Matriarch fully agrees with another.
Survivors describe only fragments glimpsed through ash and volcanic light:
enormous burning eyes opening within darkness
skeletal wings vast enough to eclipse magma-light
jaws large enough to swallow gryphons whole
and breathing powerful enough to shake the cavern itself
Unlike ordinary Skyrenders, the Matriarch rarely hunts.
She waits.
Entire swarms bring prey directly into the depths while every Skyrender within the mountains responds instantly whenever she stirs.
Some scholars fear the Brood are not truly offspring—
But extensions of her will.
What truly terrifies the gryphon riders of:
@House Solvayne
is her apparent intelligence.
The Matriarch’s attacks increasingly coincide with:
weakened patrol routes
political unrest
supply shortages
or moments of regional instability
Some hunters believe she studies human behavior.
Others fear:
she understands language itself
For generations:
@House Solvayne
has fought to contain the Broodnest before the creatures spread deeper into the Highlands.
The gryphon riders of @Dawnspire Castle patrol the eastern skies constantly, intercepting:
roaming Skyrender packs
Stormtalon sightings
and migrating swarms during major Tempests
Entire patrol divisions exist solely to monitor activity surrounding the eastern ridges.
And despite those efforts—
The Brood continues growing.
The swarms become larger.
The creatures adapt faster.
The attacks grow bolder each year.
Near the Matriarch’s nesting grounds rests an ancient relic known as:
@Dawnflare Crown
A shattered circlet of blackened gold and fractured sunstone crystal glowing faintly within the darkness of @The Heart Pit .
Unlike everything else within the Broodnest:
it does not feel violent
corrupted
or hostile
It feels:
protective
Those standing near the Crown often describe:
warmth spreading through their chest
fear becoming strangely muted
and the crushing pressure of the cavern weakening slightly
Most disturbingly—
The Skyrenders avoid touching it entirely.
Some scholars believe the Crown belonged to:
an ancient Sunscar ruler
a forgotten gryphon champion
or a protector of the eastern mountains long before the Highlands were settled
The broken section of the Crown occasionally grows warm near sleeping creatures, as though reacting to:
something unfinished beneath the earth
The oldest hunters of the eastern Highlands speak quietly of another fear.
Not the Matriarch.
Something below her.
Deep beneath:
@The Heart Pit
there are moments where the mountains produce sounds unlike:
wingbeats
volcanic tremors
or beast calls
But breathing.
Slow.
Immense.
Ancient.
As though the volcanic roots beneath the Broodnest contain something even the Matriarch fears disturbing.
And with every passing season:
the storms worsen
the Brood expands
and the eastern skies grow darker
The people of the Highlands continue looking upward for danger.
While something beneath the mountains may already be waking below them.