Lore
The eccentric Lord Tseldora, known for his fascination with spiders, built a town and a personal fortune by mining brightstone. Supposedly, the duke himself, an eccentric soul fascinated with spiders, went on to take a form that was far from human. The design of Tseldora clothing recalls the area's glory days, the peak of the brightstone boom. Tseldora flourished with the discovery of brightstone, deep under the settlement. But with this prosperity came greed in equal measure, and the people were ever in search of that which they lacked. The brightstone that brought prosperity to Tseldora served to stoke the flames of its peoples' desires, eventually leading to its ruin. Those bewitching, brilliantly gleaming stones are said to be fragments of a being that one roamed the entrails of the earth.
One day, the town was overrun by spiders, but lord Tseldora only stood by and watched, eerily contented. One great spider, the Duke's Dear Freja, watches over the Writhing Ruin, an ancient thing whose shadow remains cast over the land. It first took possession of a solitary insect, but grew its power, feasting on the wealth of twisted souls found in the land. Tseldora is a place burdened by terrible misdeeds, and those who remained there were transformed beyond recognition. The fools that venture into Tseldora, unaware of the ancient deeds that still haunt the cove, are likewise transfigured into unspeakable malformations.
The foes encountered here are:
- Parasite Spider: Brightstone Cove was abandoned years ago when the town was suddenly and mysteriously overrun by this parasitic species of giant spider. Many of the residents who were unable to escape were caught by the spiders and became their hosts, doomed to wander mindlessly at the whims of their bloodthirsty masters.
- Sand Basilisk: A subspecies of the Basilisk whose bulbous false eyes have completely atrophied as an adaptation to living in desert environments. This variant still attacks with petrifying breath but has also learned to burrow under the sand, enabling it to ambush its prey and travel undetected.
- Red Crystal Lizard: A Crystal Lizard whose dorsal stone is red rather than the usual blue. It is unknown whether this is merely a mutation or an entirely different species as the existence of these incredibly rare specimens has only recently been confirmed. Unlike their blue brethren, Red Crystal Lizards harbor a much more bizarre and dangerous secret: they are walking time bombs and will detonate in a massive explosion if disturbed.
- Undead Peasant: Former working class residents of Brightstone Cove Tseldora. The mysterious events surrounding the town's destruction robbed these unfortunate souls of their humanity and reduced them to cursed monsters; they now viciously attack any who wander into the settlement's remains.
- Parasitized Undead: Former residents of Brightstone Cove who failed to escape the wave of invading spiders and became the parasitic arachnids' hosts. A gruesome fate undeserved by those whom it befell, the still-living host is used as a source of nourishment by the spider as it seeks out new sources of food.
- Hollow Mage: Whether they were there before the town's destruction or moved in afterward is unknown; what is painfully clear is that they have no intention of allowing visitors to leave the ruins alive.
- Duke Tseldora: Propertier of Brightstone Cove and founder of the mining town which once flourished there. Duke Tseldora disappeared after the town was suddenly and mysteriously overrun by spiders and was never heard from again. Though the circumstances surrounding Brightstone Cove's destruction remain unclear, the murky truth behind Duke Tseldora's disappearance seems somehow related to his unnatural obsession with spiders…
- Vengral's Body: The decapitated body of Vengral of Forossa. Separated from its head during a brutal war long ago and now somehow ambulatory once again, it wanders in search of the battles it knew in life as though reanimated by its old bloodlust…
- Porcine Peasant (Dark Spirit): A peasant of unknown origins whose soul haunts the ruins of Brightstone Cove. This enigmatic character carries the peculiar Porcine Shield, but whether this is a clue to his identity or simply a coincidence can only be left to speculation.
- Prowling Magus: An Aldia warlock who occupied the abandoned Brightstone Cove Chapel and began using the site to conduct dark rituals with his Congregation of enslaved Undead. His minions do not take kindly to interruptions of their services and readily offer up intruders to their master as sacrifices.
- Dark Cleric: Drangleic clerics in the service of the Prowling Magus. How and why they came to serve this evil being is as mysterious as the clerics themselves; it is uncertain whether they even retain their own consciousnesses or are merely extensions of the Magus' will.
- Undead Supplicant: Members of the Prowling Magus' Congregation, these withered Undead have fallen completely under their master's control. Retaining no will of their own, they now serve the Magus with blind dedication.
- The Duke's Dear Freja: A monstrous two-headed spider which serves as the Keeper of the Writhing Ruin. Apparently Duke Tseldora's pet and more than likely the progenitor of the swarms of Parasite Spiders which overran and destroyed Brightstone Cove. But what could the Duke have wanted with such an abomination, and what madness could have possessed him to allow the destruction of his own domain…?
Theories
Title of theory.
Sources
PREV: Black Gulch
NEXT: Cathedral of Blue