In the southwest of Thrane, on the shores of Lake Brey, crouches a squalid, lonely village called Valiron. Standing as it does on the main highway, one might expect it to grow into a thriving community of trade and travel.
It has not, and likely never will. For Valiron stands not only in the shadow of the great Landrise Ridge but also in the shadow of a profanity conducted in the name of all that is good and holy. It stands at the edge of Valin Field, one of the most vile and bloody battlefields of the early Last War. Here a thousand innocents died by holy fire; here the earth drank blood and madness in equal measure. And here the skin of Eberron has broken, bleeding pain and horror from sources never meant to touch the world of mortals.
Valin Field at War
In 895, the Thrane border stood some miles farther north-northeast than it does today. The territories below the Landrise belonged to Breland, including a thriving town called Valin. There was nothing particularly special about the land on which Valin stood; it was fertile, but not unusually rich. The fishing on nearby Lake Brey was sufficient to provide sustenance, but not profit.
No, the land had but one distinction, and its inhabitants weren’t even aware of it. It had once been the ancestral estate of the family Kemman, one of Breland’s nobility. Not many years after the formation of Galifar, however, the entire family was disgraced when several of its members were caught agitating for Breland to declare independence from the relatively youthful kingdom. The entire family was stripped of lands and title and exiled. All this would have been lost to history, too unimportant even to qualify as a footnote, except that the family passed its sense of resentment and entitlement down through the generations, building upon grandparents’ tales until the Kemmans had cast themselves as the innocent victims of a brutal regime. When the alliance between Thrane and Breland disintegrated around 910, and Thrane laid claim to much of northern Breland, it was Lord Vladimar Kronen, direct descendant of the exiled Kemmans, who commanded the invading forces.
Kronen had long been a devoted, if unyielding, servant of the Silver Flame—or so he believed. His ambition, his innate cruelty, and his lust for power had long since left him open to the Shadow in the Flame, the demon imprisoned within the Silver Flame itself. Ambition built upon pride, pride built upon cruelty, and the demon’s whispers built upon it all. Though lucid, Lord Kronen was insane by the time he was ordered to take Brelish lands—lands that included his ancestral holdings. Kronen took this edict as a sign from the Silver Flame itself.
The citizens of Valin never stood a chance. Their few defenders were swiftly overrun by the Knights of Thrane, and those who died by the sword or the lance were the fortunate ones. At Kronen’s orders, the survivors were rounded up, impaled, and burned, their bodies scattered across the surrounding fields in symbols of great occult significance that Kronen believed were honoring the Silver Flame. Ash and boiling blood spilled over the fields; screams drowned out the crackling of flames and the shrieks of crows in the sky, come to feast on the body.
Legends disagree on the reason for what happened next. Did the ghosts of the dying call down vengeance on their attackers? Did the land itself rebel against the horrors committed upon it? Did the Silver Flame punish those who committed such atrocities in its name? Whatever the cause, the carrion birds and scavengers—crows and vultures, dogs and wolves—turned talons and jaws not upon the bodies, but upon the soldiers of Thrane. To the last individual, everyone who followed Kronen’s mad orders was ripped apart and consumed. Of Kronen himself, no trace was found, except for his emblem of the Silver Flame, scored and defaced by the raking of a thousand claws.
Valin Field Today
The land around the murdered town of Valin has yet to recover. It is a field of horror and nightmare, as though the agony of the dead has seeped into the bones of Eberron itself.
Despite the legends that swiftly spread regarding the hazards of the region, it seemed a magnet for conflict. Multiple battles were waged across this field, usually between Thrane and Breland, but sometimes involving Aundair. Every soldier in those battles seemed driven, gripped in a fever of bloodlust, and few soldiers survived these encounters. Today, few areas other than the Mournland itself can match the reputation for the horrific that clings to Valin Field. Its presence is a constant embarrassment to Thrane, which has made numerous attempts to cleanse the region without success. The village of Valiron, which contains descendants of those few citizens of Valin who escaped Kronen’s purge, keeps a constant wary eye on the field at all times.
Except where noted, the entirety of Valin Field is considered to be covered in light undergrowth (DMG 87). Appropriate encounters for Valin Field include predatory and scavenging animals (normal and dire), vermin (normal and giant), deathshriekersMM3, ghasts, ghosts, ghouls, living spells (primarily evocation and necromancy), ragewalkersMM3, skeletons, spectres, swarms, wraiths, zombies, and even Lord Vladimar Kronen himself (CE male ghoul [formerly human] fighter 5/cleric [Shadow in the Flame] 4).
The Bloody Shore
Although Lake Brey is normal everywhere else, a haven for fishermen and boaters, the water turns dark where it nears Valin Field. The tide and the waves leave a bloody stain where they wash over the shore. Plants rot and fish lie dying. Anyone who comes into contact with the water in this location for more than 1 round risks contracting ghoul fever (MM 118), just as if he or she had been injured by a ghoul. Anyone who eats a plant or animal from this portion of the lake contracts ghoul fever with no save allowed. Even the nighttime vapors of the shore are dangerous; anyone who spends a full night within 100 feet of the shore takes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage (Fortitude DC 14 negates).
The Bones of Valin
These burned-out husks and timbers are all that remain of the once-proud town of Valin. Though the wood is blackened and almost a hundred years old, it is still painfully hot to the touch (dealing 1 hit point of fire damage per round of contact). Characters within the ruins can still hear the weeping and screaming of the town’s citizens, a cacophony that bestows a –10 penalty on Listen checks and a –4 penalty on Concentration checks. Wraiths, spectres, and other incorporeal undead haunt the Bones of Valin.
The Hunter's Trail
This faint trail was once a hunters’ path, used to stalk deer and other game. Today, those who would make use of the trail are themselves the hunted. Animals congregate on the trail when humanoids are in the region, launching attack after attack no matter how suicidal. Ghosts sometimes line the road as well, watching for passersby. The road is considered clear and flat terrain for movement purposes.
The Orchard of Affliction
This faint trail was once a hunters’ path, used to stalk deer and other game. Today, those who would make use of the trail are themselves the hunted. Animals congregate on the trail when humanoids are in the region, launching attack after attack no matter how suicidal. Ghosts sometimes line the road as well, watching for passersby. The road is considered clear and flat terrain for movement purposes.