The Scar

Where a volcano was. Where a dragon died. Where something worse came out. The wound will never fully heal — but it has been tended.

What It Is

The Scar is the former lair of Vol'kathar — a Dragonspine volcano that ceased to function as a volcano when Kavu activated the Ember Compass inside the dragon's throat. The caldera that remains is a permanent wound where four planes of existence briefly merged:

• Toril's fire — the material plane
• Fernia — Eberron's Sea of Fire; fire as axiom, not element
• Kossuth's realm — the Lord of Flames' diminished divine plane
• The Aetherial Expanse — Asteth's domain; fire in colours that don't exist

The wound does not rage. It breathes. The obsidian glass of the crater floor is warm to the touch. Fire behaves wrongly here — torches burn without consuming fuel, sparks drift sideways, the air smells of sulphur and incense from temples that don't exist in this reality.

Physical Description

The caldera is approximately a quarter-mile across, floored in mirror-smooth obsidian glass still radiating warmth. At the rim, four-coloured crystalline formations spiral upward where the planes briefly touched — some glowing red, some white-gold, some bronze, some in the colour that Asteth's fire leaves behind.

A ring of cooled divine flame, twenty feet across, sits at the exact centre — rough hearthstone rather than glass, protected, the space where Kavu was found alive.

Vol'kathar's Monument

At the centre of the caldera stands the crystallised body of Vol'kathar the Ascended — frozen in the moment of his death. Jaws gaping, forced open from the inside. Wings half-spread. Eyes still holding a last echo of four hundred years of terrible life.

Bands of colour in the glass tell the story: red at the base, white-gold threading through, bronze at the joints, and Asteth's fire frozen at the throat — the killing blow, preserved for eternity.

It will stand for a thousand years. Pilgrims are already coming.

Siberys Dragonshards

Hundreds — possibly thousands — of Siberys Dragonshards are scattered across the crater floor and surrounding mountainsides. Fragments of a dead god from Eberron's cosmology, bleeding golden light. They range from fingernail splinters to chunks larger than a human head. Each one is worth a fortune. Each one doesn't quite follow Toril's rules.

Events at The Scar

Vol'kathar's Death

Kavu triggered the Ember Compass inside Vol'kathar's throat. Four planes merged in the space where Vol'kathar stood. The dragon was crystallised in divine fire, from the inside out. The volcano erupted upward in a column of four-coloured flame visible from twenty miles away. Kossuth and Asteth the Empress were reunited.

Errtu's Emergence

Hours after the eruption, Errtu — a balor who had spent days ascending to Demon Lord status by feeding on the demon lord incursion's residue — felt the planar wound and climbed up from the Deep Wastes to claim it. He was defeated and banished by the party and allied NPCs (Caladorn, Zariel, Karlach, Wulfgar, Arveiaturace). His ascended form was undone; he returns to the Abyss as a mere balor.

Ivor's Arrival

Ivor Blackwell, Burgomaster of Flamemeet, arrived with dozens of villagers an hour after Errtu's banishment. He saw Kavu. He saw the caldera. He said: "You've changed everything, old friend." Flamemeet is already transforming.

Current Status

The Scar is stabilised but permanent. Caladorn established protective wards before departing. The divine presence of Kossuth and Asteth lingers as warmth in the air.

What this means going forward:

• Fire elementals sometimes manifest in the caldera — confused but not always hostile
• Divination magic is unreliable within five miles
• The Scar flares occasionally, releasing bursts of extraplanar fire
• Factions are moving: the Zhentarim have established a "trading post" near Flamemeet; the Harpers have sent agents; the Lords' Alliance is debating annexation; the Cult of the Dragon is very interested in what happened to Vol'kathar
• Fire Giants from Maerimydra in the Deep Wastes have noticed the disturbance and are sending scouts

GM Notes

The Long View

Caladorn's warning: "This scar will NEVER fully heal. Things will always be able to sense it — as that demon lord just demonstrated. You have made this region a beacon for planar threats for the next thousand years."

Errtu will return in ~100 years. Others will come before him. Somewhere in Eberron, someone noticed their cosmology leaking.

The Dragonshard Economy

Siberys Dragonshards don't work quite right in Toril's magic system, but they work enough. Artificers and enchanters are already experimenting. The price of conventional gemstones in the region is falling. Anyone who bonds with a shard for extended periods may begin developing something that looks like a dragonmark.