Oxherd isn't a place, not in the way most settlements are. It exists as a resonance, a fractured echo within the Heartwood Peaks. Legend speaks of a civilization, the Lumina, who harnessed the very essence of starlight, weaving it into their architecture, their tools, and even their lives. They vanished abruptly, leaving behind only these stone fragments, these… whispers.
The most peculiar aspect of Oxherd is the temporal distortion. Time flows differently here, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, creating pockets of accelerated growth and stagnant decay. A single day can feel like a week, or a week can vanish in the blink of an eye. The cause remains unknown, attributed to the Lumina’s experiments, to the restless energy of the Heartwood itself.
Those who’ve attempted to map Oxherd have invariably met with failure. The landscape shifts, the paths vanish, and the very ground seems to resist being fixed on a chart. Yet, scattered throughout the peaks are the remnants of the Cartographers of Lost Light – intricate, obsidian tablets etched with spiraling geometries and constellations that don’t align with any known celestial map. These tablets aren’t merely records; they're keys, according to the few who’ve dared to study them. It's rumored that they depict the Lumina's understanding of starlight manipulation, but deciphering them is a maddening process.
The most frequent encounter isn't with hostile creatures, but with 'Echoes' – shimmering, translucent figures that seem to be fragments of the Lumina themselves. They don’t speak in audible words, but their presence is overwhelming, loaded with a profound sadness and a yearning for something lost. Some believe they are guardians, protecting the secrets of Oxherd, while others argue they are simply trapped, reliving their final moments.
At the heart of Oxherd lies the Heartwood Peaks, a range of mountains perpetually shrouded in a strange, violet mist. The mist isn’t merely atmospheric; it’s saturated with energy, the residual power of the Lumina. The peaks themselves are composed of a unique quartz-like stone that reacts to starlight, pulsating with a faint, internal glow. Locals, or 'Stone Singers' as they’re known, claim to be able to ‘tune’ themselves to the Heartwood’s pulse, gaining glimpses of the past or, perhaps, navigating the temporal distortions.
It is believed that a specific alignment of the stars, known as the ‘Lumina Convergence,’ holds the key to stabilizing the temporal anomalies and potentially even revealing the fate of the Lumina. However, the Convergence occurs only once every thousand years, and the last one happened centuries ago.