The Great Grey Wastes: Unlike the wyldlands where magic can rage uncontrollably across the land, the Great Grey Wastes are its antithesis. The Wastes were formed during the 4th Age, when a cataclysmic battle happened between Mages and Demons. The result was the complete desolation of the land and the surrounding area. Now, strange creatures come stumbling out of the wastes on a terrifyingly regular basis. Furthermore, magic acts strangely or not at all in the Wastes, making teleporting from one side to the other impossible. The only way to cross the wastes is by flying over it, sailing around it, or by deep prayer and hope and crossing it on foot. Gods help you!

Strangely enough, there are small pockets of civilization in the Wastes. Grey Striders are massive beasts that roam the Wastes. Their backs are so massive that cities have been built on them. This is one of the few areas where magic works properly, creating a strange magicians utopia in this otherwise dreadful lands.

Vain’Estra considers itself an entity unto itself. Sitting on the back of a Greystryder, a massive beast that roams the Great Grey Wastes, sits the magical city of Vain’Estra. Ruled by the Phoenix Society, a collection of some of the most powerful mages and sorcerers known across the land, city is considered one of the premiere Colleges of magic across the Continent, and indeed the world.

Being built in the Great Grey Wastes has several advantages as the Wastes themselves tend to dissipate any magic that is cast around it. Although the Greystryders counteract this strange effect anything that goes awry can’t find itself off the roving city.

See Also: Recent Events

• The Phoenix Society - Rules Vain'Estra, a collection of some of the most powerful mages and sorcerers known across the land