The Taint

The Taint is the southernmost borough of The Reek, which is best known as the birthplace of the tyrannical Bradar Codlacke—Eden’s first and only emperor—and for its eerie Taintian Fog. Sandwiched between the riverlands of Laké in the west, the last remnants of the once-vast Forest of Fears in the east, and the imposing Sea of Tears in the south, The Taint is a place mostly defined by what it is not. And that, in fact, is how it got it’s name.

T’ain’t this, and t’ain’t that. It’s The Taint.

History & Notoreity

Founded during The Second Age by descendants of Sadie Winters’ seven dwarven paramours, The Taint is notable for being one of two Reekian settlements which exist outside the massive Reekian Wall (the other being ancient Bekiskapan city of Nova Meskera). The dwarves were granted the land by Neverlandian leader Peter Pan, in exchange for their ancestors’ assistance in the push towards the unification of Wonderland. And yet, the dwarves’ settlement was soon annexed by Wonderland’s northern neighbors in The Reek, who have ever since used it as a buffer zone between themselves and Wonderland—a disposable place and a disposable people that the United Kingdom’s armies would have to go through first during any invasion, before they even reached the barrier of the Wall.

Geography & Climate

The Taint is located at the mouth of the Kensingjour River, where it empties into the Sea of Tears. The climate is moist and mild year-round, albeit a bit drier in the summer. Taintian fog, well-known throughout Eden for its distinct pink hue, is near omnipresent—leading to to the place’s perpetual “noirish” look.

The fog, which made it quite hard for Codlacke’s imperial troops to keep the peace during The Fourth Age, is the subject of many urban myths and legends. Purported to be rich with the magic of The River Without End, the fog is said to have enabled the pure of heart and any seeking asylum from imperial injustice to disappear at will on the streets of The Taint—reappearing in the safe haven of their choice and leaving their pursuers scratching their heads.

This sounds an awful lot like Veil Pulling to us, but reports of this activity remain unconfirmed. And that’s understandable, given that no one wants the secrets of safety in this place to reach the ears of future tyrants.