Woespawn

"Woespawn" is the word for a large magical rift through which monsters of Haelfaun may enter the world. It is also the word for the general class of creatures born from such rifts. In other words, woespawn (monsters) are born from woespawn (rifts).

The plural of woespawn is "woespawn."

Woespawn, the Rift:
A woespawn may appear anywhere in Landfall, at any time, seemingly at random. The event is not truly random, however. Woespawn may be triggered by a build-up of woe in an area, such as a spot where many woe-infested totems were buried long ago; the site of rampant, careless spellcasting; or the site of a single, massive magical spell. For example, during the Myriad, reckless ziraduun congregated in some major cities, and now those cities are so thoroughly polluted with woe that they are haunted ruins, rife with woespawn.

In Book 1, Mikoa triggers a massive woespawn by touching the Snow Anchor.

Woespawn are not permanent. They eventually fizzle out and close. Depending on the amount of woe in the area, a woespawn may last as little as a few hours to as much as hundreds of years. Creatures born from a woespawn have an instinctive sense of when the spawn is about to close, and they instinctively return to the spawn shortly before it closes.

Woespawn vary in size and scope, depending on the amount of woe in the area. The rift itself is invisible in the flesh -- there is no "black doorway" or other obvious sign. It is simply an area, as small as a shoe or as big as many city blocks, within which monsters may manifest. A small woespawn may only be big enough to spawn a single one of the lowest minions of Haelfaun, such as a single poisonous snake. A large woespawn may spawn an entire army of thousands of ga'arg. Usually, it is something in between -- such as a raiding party of ga'arg or perhaps a single ghuul.

All of Haelfaun may, in fact, be a single vast, 2000 year-old woespawn.

It is unclear how, exactly, monsters emerge from the rift. They tend to appear in places where no one is looking, catching people in the area by surprise. Most woespawn appear in overgrown wilderness, but sometimes they appear inside a kin settlement, such as a castle, to devastating effect. Although walls may stop a ga'arg who has already spawned outside, they are useless at preventing new ga'arg from spawning inside. The best way to prevent this from happening is to avoid using wizrada in populated areas. (Hence, wizrada is outlawed entirely)

Once a woespawn closes, there is a chance it may open again at any time. That spot, in Landfall, is now a "weak spot," sensitive and vulnerable to woe. Known locations of woespawn are usually abandoned and avoided by all kin, left to decay into haunted wilderness or ruins.

No kin has ever "entered" a woespawn rift while it was closing, in the way that woespawn monsters do. So nobody knows what is on the "other side" of the rift. Individual monsters returning to a rift in one place, however, have been spotted emerging from rifts in far distant places -- days, months, or even years later. Woespawn, therefore, appear to be interconnected on the "other side," and "time" (as we know it) passes differently there. This would mean the "other side" is somehow outside the River of Ages, similar to a fae dell. During the Myriad, some ziraduun theorized a connection between woespawn and fae dells, but this was never verified.

Woespawn, the Monsters:
A creature born from a woespawn rift is also called a "woespawn." It is the generic term for all such creatures, or for a group of them.

The lowest woespawn are certain animals and insects who are associated with the Forgotten Gods -- such as poisonous snakes, vultures, and maggots.

Ga'arg are the most common genuinely threatening woespawn. They come in many shapes and sizes, and they are the aimless, brutal, animal armies of Hate. A single ga'arg can usually overwhelm and kill any individual, regardless of the individual's equipment and training.

Ghuul are highly-advanced ga'arg who have pledged to one of the Forgotten Gods and taken on a new, more deadly form. A single ghuul can wipe out everyone inside a castle in a single night.

There are hints of woespawn even more powerful and fearsome than ghuul, but these are currently unknown.