Nightmare's Heart
At the southern reaches of the Overgrowth, where the heavy spore cloud clings to the air most days and nights, the plants evolve before your eyes. Thick bramble, incredibly varied plant life, and brush ranging four to eight feet tall crowd the terrain in every direction. No tall trees grow here; those exist only in the northern mountains beyond the Bleeding Depths. The rapidly growing, mutating plants seem to radiate from a single source at the center, changing on a daily basis in ways that defy natural explanation.
Nightmare's Heart is a holy land for the Church of Darwin, a place where evolution is not theory but visible reality. The faithful make pilgrimages here knowing the journey is fatal. The spore cloud causes incredibly vivid nightmares and terminal illness even through protective gear. Reports describe a pulse-like vibration in the earth, interpreted by some as prophetic vision and by others as simply the first sign that the infection has taken root. Every pilgrim who comes here knows it will kill them. They come anyway, driven by the conviction that understanding requires sacrifice.
At the center lies a recently excavated pre-Fall commercial bioengineering laboratory, buried for generations under layers of rich loam and recovered by Church of Darwin followers who are methodically digging it free. The discovery has sent waves through the Darwinist community; the laboratory may shed light on the organic nature of the Infection carried within all surviving Strains. The full nature of what the lab contains, and what it means for the Infection's origins, remains unknown. The site never lacks devoted attendees willing to trade their lives for the answer.
Nightmare's Heart is a holy land for the Church of Darwin, a place where evolution is not theory but visible reality. The faithful make pilgrimages here knowing the journey is fatal. The spore cloud causes incredibly vivid nightmares and terminal illness even through protective gear. Reports describe a pulse-like vibration in the earth, interpreted by some as prophetic vision and by others as simply the first sign that the infection has taken root. Every pilgrim who comes here knows it will kill them. They come anyway, driven by the conviction that understanding requires sacrifice.
At the center lies a recently excavated pre-Fall commercial bioengineering laboratory, buried for generations under layers of rich loam and recovered by Church of Darwin followers who are methodically digging it free. The discovery has sent waves through the Darwinist community; the laboratory may shed light on the organic nature of the Infection carried within all surviving Strains. The full nature of what the lab contains, and what it means for the Infection's origins, remains unknown. The site never lacks devoted attendees willing to trade their lives for the answer.
Geography
Nightmare's Heart occupies the southern reaches of the Overgrowth, blanketed by a heavy spore cloud that clings to the air most days and nights. The terrain is thick bramble and incredibly varied plant life, with brush ranging four to eight feet tall. No tall trees grow here; those exist only in the northern mountains beyond the Bleeding Depths. The rapidly growing, mutating plants seem to radiate from a single source at the center, where a pre-Fall commercial bioengineering laboratory is being excavated from beneath layers of rich loam. The environment causes terminal illness even through protective gear, and reports of a pulse-like vibration in the earth add to the site's reputation as both sacred and lethal.
