The cause of the massive concentration of Major Fractures around Yaralon is still unknown to all mortals, and it is not clear if it is known to any Immortals. There are many theories behind their spawning, and why it is so continuous. But one thing is known to the populace of Yaralon, and that is that they've been around longer than the first humans of the area. But the truth is, the corruption is far older than humans. Older than the Immortals themselves. The Shay were the first to discover the region, and sought to research more on the phenomenon. But with the fall of the Shay people, so fell the research they conducted.

When the first peoples of Eastern Idalos fled south, escaping the armies of Raskalarn and her Eternal Empire, the fractures were rediscovered. It was a strange and terrifying sensation for the new arrivals. Monsters weren't surprising, for the beasts of the lands that would become the Eternal Empire, and the horrifying peoples in Raskalarn's armies, had jaded the nomads. What was surprising were the distortions in the sky, in the air, in the ground, even in the seas, distortions that one could walk through to enter an entirely unknown world, filled with strange rocks, gems, monsters, and phenomena.

At first, these were heavily avoided, seemingly just another danger in the land, especially after the first few people entered them and never came back. It was soon observed that these fractures were not permanent, some closing forever, and new ones spawning elsewhere, and there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them. It wasn't until Hedrick the Olde, the first known mage of the lands, one of the founders of the First Company, stepped into a fracture, that changed everything.

Upon stepping through the fracture, along with some of his companions, other First Company members, he knew what had happened. He was in Emea, a world spoken of through stories passed down by ancestors. It was the world that Hedrick visited in his dreams, a world filled with beasts that seemed to hunt him specifically while there. He knew it was a real place, but wasn't sure how one got there outside of sleeping, transporting their consciousness to this strange realm. But now he'd found a doorway.

While there, they saw beasts that couldn't possibly exist, fought them, and even saw one massive being that appeared humanoid. It had no proper face yet Hedrick knew it could see them. He made no moves against this being, for it made none against his group of warriors. As they left, Hedrick ordered them to gather several of the strange stones and gemstones that were found in there. Hedrick studied these, discovering that they affected his magic in strange and unexpected ways. And so, Hedrick's research into the wells and fractures began, testing his magic against them, finding ways to alter the unusual items, and searching for new ones, as it seemed there were so many types.

Hedrick spread his findings throughout the First Company, preaching about their importance, not only to mages, but the way of life for all beings. They could be used to create the most amazing of tools and weapons, to help build their city and defend it. And so, the Yari appreciation for the fractures grew. Throughout the coming arcs, more and more warriors and mages entered the fractures. Some never returned, others empty handed, but those that returned with wells found themselves much richer than before. The wells were sought by the mages, both combat oriented and craft minded types, and they paid handsomely for them. A single mage in a mercenary company or crafting guild was a massive boon to business, but a mage with a trove of wells was something else entirely. Eventually, this created a small industry of trade, primarily with the Eternal Empire, for they respected magic and coin enough to truly give a good price.

Effects on the Land, Sea, and Air

The effects of the Fractured Corruption on the lands was made heavily self evident as the Yari people spread throughout Idalos, and found that not all lands were as full of horrors as their own. From this evidence, from the words of Hedrick the Olde, it seemed obvious that the fractures were what twisted, poisoned, and corrupted everything about the Yaralon region.

The most obvious sign of the fractures presence is the broken sky, as the locals refer to it. The fractures twist the reality within the sky. Splotches of the sky are obscured by the fractures, making navigation through the land and sea in the region that much more difficult. During the Dry Season, the life giving sunlight can't pass through the holes in reality. This creates shaded spots in areas that would normally have access to sunlight, just another one of the difficulties when it comes to attempting to grow crops. And the sunlight that passes near to, but not into, the fractures has a tendency to be changed. Sometimes this is benign, with changes in color, shines with a sound, or appearing to be solid. Other times, the sunlight burns what it touches, mutates it, cuts like a blade when someone walks into it. And since Major Fractures shut and more spawn, it is an unpredictable phenomenon.

During the Rainy Seasons, the fractures' effects are felt more prominently. The storm clouds and winds are made more severe and unpredictable as they swirl in and around the fractures. This creates massive tornadoes, acid rain, toxic wind, spilling their effects over the general populace. But this is nothing new. Every person in Yaralon has experienced these at least once, and every Yari knows someone who has died from them. It's a part of life.

The ground isn't exempt from the effects. Fractures are just as likely to spawn in the ground, as they are in the sky, though they aren't always as easy to see. Those close enough to the surface may form sinkholes that sucks in everything into Emea. Others get in the water table, poisoning it, making all but the tempered flora and tempered fauna can survive. Rocks and minerals are changed by the corruption, some gaining new, unexpected properties, others losing those that make them special.

The northern part of the Crescent Sea is just as full of major fractures. These change currents, create toxic zones, form whirlpools, and swallow ships whole. There are more than a few stories of ships accidentally sailing into Emea, never to be heard from again. These are among the many reasons why the Yaralon harbor is the toughest in the world to reach, why only the most experienced, grizzled, and lucky sailors can maintain trade routes.

While humans and other races have only been in the Yaralon region for roughly 600 arcs, the flora and fauna have had a lot longer to adapt to the corruptions. This has led the local wildlife to change drastically in order to survive. Plants have learned to survive on more than the water, soil, minerals, sunlight. Animals have learned to consume things other than meat or plant life, things that no one would normally think could be eaten, or consumed in other ways. Plants have been seen thriving on nothing but sound, creatures consuming shadows of living creatures. Reality is much more unrealistic in these lands. And these plants and animals are called Tempered by the Yari people, for they too, have thrived and adapted, to survive in the harshest landscape on Idalos.