The Morpheum
General
In the midst of the Shadow-Over Valley is a long ridge. The northeast end of the ridge widens a bit, with the appearance of the eye-end of a broken sewing needle. This "eye" on the ridge is a depression, a valley within the valley. There is limited access to this area, which may be the only reason anything survives in the rest of the Shadow-Over to this day. This foreboding ridge is known as the Morpheum. Things that were once there changed for the worse, and of those that enter, the few that return are never the better for it.
The Morpheum acts as a natural bowl, where any pollution, radiation, poisons or toxins tend to collect with no way to escape. To the people of the valley, with their limited understanding of science and medicine, all of these factors are lumped under the broad-spectrum definition of "infection," and the infection present in the Morpheum creates ravening monsters that could easily wipe out all the people of the valley if left unchecked.
The area is reported as being almost continuously blanketed in mist, though most observers can readily tell that it is not mundane fog. The murky air only allows visibility for a few hundred feet, at best. The background radiation levels (known as "tikki-tikki" by the locals) are uncomfortably high; persons without some form of resistance or protection should not expose themselves to the area for more than a few hours. Some areas within the Morpheum are reported to have dangerously high levels of radiation.
Despite all this, life thrives within the Morpheum, but every last bit of it is twisted and predatory, constantly embroiled in a fast-forward smash dance of evolutionary change. Every year, the creatures that slither, chitter and lumber out of the fog have some edge over their predecessors. They are the improved models. Many fear that if the dark secrets of the Morpheum are not uncovered and stopped, then one day a creature will emerge--Wendigo--that no man can stop, and he will devour every living thing that crosses his path. His spawn will then usher forth the second end of the world.
For the time being, the creatures within (known by some as Otshee Manitou or "Oh-Shit Manitou") are largely kept in check by two permanent militarized settlements at the primary egress points of the Morpheum. These settlements are known as Bastion Alpha and Bastion Omega. Some of these Otshee Manitou manage to escape the patrols of the Bastions, but fortunately their numbers are limited, and when removed from the infection present in the Morpheum, they are not nearly as fecund. This does not mean they are no longer dangerous; any traveler should keep a watchful eye out for mutated animals and be prepared to flee or fight should they cross one of these beasts on the loose.
