Tilverton Scar

The Tilverton Scar, initially known as the Black Crater, was a crater, plagueland, and ongoing magical disaster in northern Cormyr. It was all that was left of Tilverton after it was attacked by the forces of Thultanthar in 1372 DR.

Geography
The Scar was a wide crater that encompassed the entire former site of Tilverton, including the outlying sprawl beyond the walls. It was initially born of a rift to the Plane of Shadow that subsumed the city and surrounding terrain, and then filled the hollow with disturbing, unnatural shadows that resembled a shifting black fog. Anyone who entered it was permanently and irrevocably lost, with divination magic unable to determine anything about their fate. The Weave was heavily damaged in the area, so magical spells cast within of the crater had a chance of malfunctioning, with more powerful and complex spells increasingly certain to fail.

After the Spellplague it became an active plagueland pocket with a unique combination of raw Weave and shadow energies, with an endlessly rising and collapsing spiral of shadows and blue fire.

Flora & Fauna
The former site of Tilverton were known to be haunted by deathshriekers, vengeful spirits born of destruction and suffering.

Trade
The Moonsea Ride was blockaded many miles from the crater, with a wide bypass starting east of the Purple Dragons camp that looped north to meet the North Ride and eventually met up with the other end far to the south-west, marked out by stone cairns and enforced by the Purple Dragons garrison to ensure nobody saw into or intruded near the Black Crater.

Defenses
Immediately after its creation in 1372 DR, the Black Crater was guarded and monitored by a detachment of 50 Purple Dragons commanded by Captain Miri Dunman and 20 veteran War Wizards. They set up an outpost on a ridge north-east of the crater that let them oversee the ruins, Moonsea Ride, and surrounding landscape. The base was supported by a direct portal connection to Suzail in the Royal Court.

The posting was extremely stressful, even without the presence of enemies. The soldiers and their Captain weren't sure of the nature of the Crater or the dangers it posed, and had direct orders to kill anyone who approached it. It was assumed that any who entered the pit were lost forever to a malevolent force, and killing them before they got there was a mercy.

By 1479 DR, a small keep had been erected within a few hundred yards of the plagueland's edge. The curious could use this keep to examine the site with some safety.

History
On Mirtul 27 of 1372 DR, Tilverton was attacked by the forces of Thultanthar and fiercely contested by Cormyr, with the city's population evacuated ahead of the battle. The city was destroyed by the clashing magics unleashed by Royal Magician Vangerdahast and Rivalen Tanthul that caused the town and the ground beneath it to be devoured by a mass of shadowstuff flowing from a portal to the Plane of Shadow. The lower city and surrounding area was most affected, with the Old Town atop the Knoll remaining intact for some time.

The knight Sir Ajandor Surehand and his squire Kevin arrived on Kythorn 11, answering the initial call to war. They began hunting down the shadows lurking in the ruins and sighted a strange amalgamation called King Shadow, a huge flying mass of shadows. Kevin struck out into the Old Town alone, ultimately freeing a number of prisoners who had been captured and kept by the shadows in Tilver's Palace, but also being captured himself. Together, he and Sir Ajandor destroyed King Shadow, freeing the ruins from its terrible presence.

Within a few months, all that remained of Tilverton was a crater filled with unnaturally strong and animate shadows. The site became known as the Black Crater, and Cormyr immediately established a strong Purple Dragons and War Wizards presence on a nearby ridgeline and began work on fortifications, under the local command of Captain Miri Dunman. The area immediately around it was considered off-limits to everyone, and the Moonsea Ride was blocked off and rerouted around the site. The presence of orc raiders at the nearby Netherese ruins was noted in the midyear, leading to the discovery of a great portal network connected to the ruins of Blister.

By Greengrass of 1373 DR, survivors had returned and built a new settlement a few miles away, naming it New Tilverton. Unfortunately, by Marpenoth some unknown creature had begun stalking and killing the locals, leaving their remains on the road to the former city.

After the Wailing Years, the Scar changed from a mere pit of living shadows to an endlessly collapsing spiral of darkness and blue flame, becoming the only active plagueland in Cormyr. People who got too close were sometimes marked with a spellscar or a wasting disease. Those who were changed by the Scar subsequently dreamt of a monstrous plaguechanged creature of earth and shadow at the bottom of the pit, trapped and sustained by the disaster swirling around it. Legends called the being the Shadow Shredder, and claimed that the Shadovar avoided the area because of it.