The Black Rain is a supernatural force created by Koba-li through the black leystone. By absorbing the evils of the Epicenter into a hollow leystone, Koba-li created a dark power which appears as a thick black liquid. With the Black Rain, he sought to destroy Ulthold and would succeed in doing so. While the Black Rain is wholly under Koba-li’s control, it still possesses its own consciousness.
Abilities
Worldly Corruption: The Black Rain can corrupt anything it comes in contact with. This corruption distorts magical energies and stains non-living material black. Living things will instead become sick from the Black Rain’s effects and eventually die. The only way to curb this sickness is through the presence of magic. This creates an “Alma” for the infected individual that can be trained to avoid the sickening effects of the Black Rain.
Spontaneous Undead Creation: The Black Rain can corrupt dead bodies and make them into a special variety of undead. Each undead possesses an Alma with complete subservience to Koba-li. Later discovered by Murmur and Cerberus, the Black Rain is capable of creating Scarred creatures without the presence of a body, instead requiring some variety of creation magic.
Black Rain in Light Scar
The Black Rain is currently restricted to the planet Jereia. Even without Koba-li, the Black Rain persists in two locations: Altevo’s Scar and the Dark Sea.
In Altevo’s Scar, the black rain remains dormant. It exists as a blockade to travel and a bastion of untapped power. Unfortunately, few have what is needed to take advantage of that power. Especially without drawing the attention of its creators.
The Dark Sea is an extremely chaotic expanse containing many lost islands, the roughest waters imaginable, and a never-ending rainstorm. The Black Rain has made the magic in these seas extremely volatile, being the only place with naturally occurring elementally imbued hurricanes and water spouts. These treacherous waters have marked the boundaries of the Four Seas with few safe openings between them.
Black Rain in Second World
The Black Rain is a defining characteristic of Second World. As the dimension was collapsing, the Black Rain was introduced to replace its core element, spreading throughout the entire dimension. Lacking magic energies, Second World hosts the Black Rain in a gaseous form. Effects of the Black Rain are lessened in this form but still become dangerous through prolonged exposure. While life has adapted to it, the Black Rain is still the predominant cause of death within this dimension. Symptoms of the Black Rain are known as “Drifter’s Corruption.”
Judgement
Though all living things in the Second World have adapted to the Black Rain, Judgements are still a lingering side effect of its malevolent nature. Any sapient creature affected by the Black Rain has visions of their greatest struggles manifested to haunt them. As Drifter’s Corruption worsens, Judgement becomes more persistent and invasive. Eventually, it becomes extreme enough to start affecting the real world. Usually, the death of the host comes soon after.
Trivia
- The name of “Alma” comes from an Orc warrior who pursued Koba-li on the Epicenter, known as Alma Zor. As an ultimate form of disrespect to their name, Koba-li would make Alma Zor the first victim of the Black Rain. He’d steal their name as a label for the strange powers the Black Rain gave any undead affected by it.