Cavern of Earth

The Cavern of Earth, also known as the Earth Cave and Terra Cavern, is a location from the original Final Fantasy. It is located south of Melmond, at the "Devil's Tail", and the Warriors of Light must come here to find the source of the earth's rot.
The first floor of the cave offers many branching paths away from the center starting point. The bend to the west of the entrance ladder is particularly dangerous as it forces repetitive battles at every single step, but the ladder to the next floor is a short walk east. The next three levels take some time to traverse through, as they are comprised of many small rooms and contain more powerful enemies. After defeating the Vampire and returning with the Earth Rod, the player can access the next two floors which hold even harder enemies.
== Story ==
thumb|left|The Crystal Room in the Cavern of Earth.
The Warriors of Light descend through the cave and defeat a vampire residing on the third basement level, who seems to be the cause of the problem. However, this fails to stop the rotting of the earth. Later, they speak with the wise and ancient sage Sadda who lives in a cave to the west. Sadda gives them a rod with which they can move an obstacle at the back of the Vampire's chamber. They return with the rod and expose a secret passage, revealing two deeper floors into the cave.
Here, they find and defeat the Lich, the Fiend of Earth who is leeching power off from the Earth Crystal, and rid the earth of its rotting, the first purification of the Crystals.
==Quests==
===Level grinding===
In pre-Pixel Remaster releases, the left passageway immediately upon entering the dungeon is filled with fixed encounters where every step sends them into a battle with at least one Hill Gigas and up to three Lizards. If the player is sufficiently leveled, they can kill the enemy party in a couple rounds, earning several hundred EXP and approximately a thousand gil every battle. This is a good place to level grind early on. In Pixel Remaster these fixed encounters are replaced by a pair roving NPCs that only respawn upon re-entering the map, making this method ineffective.
== Treasure ==
Item 	Location
1,975 gil 	B1
795 gil 	B1
Antidote 	B1
Potion 	B1
880 gil 	B1
330 gil 	B2
Coral Sword 	B2
Tent 	B2
5,000 gil 	B2
Leather Shield	B2
575 gil 	B2
Sleeping Bag 	B3
3,400 gil 	B3
Gold Needle 	B3
3,400 gil 	B3
1,020 gil 	B3
Star Ruby 	B3
Staff 	B4
3,400 gil 	B4
1,520 gil 	B4
5,450 gil 	B4
1,455 gil 	B4
Tent 	B4
Mythril Shield	B4
1,250 gil 	B4
== Encounters ==
right|thumb|Battle background.
right|thumb|Lich battle background.
The Cavern of Earth is part of a large encounter region is shares with the Giant's Cave, Melmond, and the Sage's Cave depending on the release. In non-Pixel Remaster releases it is bordered by the Marsh Cave encounter region to the southeast, while a small strip of land to the southwest default to the southern Cornelia encounter set.
Encounters 	Encounters 	Areas
Pixel Remaster	Other releases	Areas
* [90/1000] Ghoul x2
* [90/1000] Shadow x3
* [90/1000] Lesser Tiger x2
* [80/1000] Tarantula x4
* [60/1000] Ghast x2, Ghoul x3
* [60/1000] Shadow x7
* [60/1000] Ogre Chief x1, Ogre x2
* [60/1000] Hyenadon x2, Ogre x3
* [60/1000] Warg Wolf x4
* [60/1000] Lesser Tiger x3
* [60/1000] Black Widow x2, Tarantula x3
* [60/1000] Black Widow x1, Tarantula x4
* [60/1000] Tarantula x6
* [40/1000] Warg Wolf x8
* [40/1000] Black Widow x2, Tarantula x6
* [30/1000] Ghast x4, Ghoul x5	
* [24/64] Shadow x3-7
* [12/64] Ghoul x2-5, Ghast x0-4
* [12/64] Ogre Chief, Ogre x1-2
* [6/64] Ogre x1-3, Hyenadon x0-2
* [6/64] Warg Wolf x4-8
* [3/64] Lesser Tiger x1-3
* [1/64] Tarantula x3-6, Black Widow x0-2	Surrounding region
* [70/1000] Anaconda x2
* [70/1000] Minotaur x2
* [70/1000] Minotaur x1
* [70/1000] Cobra x3
* [70/1000] Ogre Chief x1, Ogre x2
* [70/1000] Ogre Chief x1
* [70/1000] Gargoyle x3
* [70/1000] Tarantula x3
* [70/1000] Mummy x3
* [70/1000] Mummy x2
* [60/1000] Anaconda x4
* [60/1000] Gargoyle x5
* [50/1000] Cobra x5
* [50/1000] Black Widow x2, Tarantula x4
* [50/1000] Tarantula x6
* [30/1000] Black Widow x2, Tarantula x6
* [Fixed] Lizard x3, Hill Gigas x2
* [Fixed] Earth Elemental x1	
* [24/64] Anaconda x2-6
* [12/64] Minotaur x1-2
* [12/64] Cobra x3-7
* [6/64] Ogre Chief x1-4, Ogre x0-2
* [6/64] Gargoyle x3-8
* [3/64] Tarantula x3-6, Black Widow x0-2
* [1/64] Mummy x2-5
* [Fixed] Earth Elemental x1
* [Fixed] Hill Gigas x1-2, Lizard x0-3	B1
* [80/1000] Minotaur x1
* [80/1000] Troll x1
* [80/1000] Hill Gigas x2
* [80/1000] Hill Gigas x1
* [70/1000] Cobra x7
* [70/1000] Minotaur x2
* [70/1000] Ogre x1, Ogre Chief x3
* [60/1000] Gargoyle x5
* [60/1000] Ogre Chief x1, Ogre x2
* [60/1000] Warg Wolf x2, Werewolf x2
* [60/1000] Tarantula x4
* [60/1000] Minotaur x1, Troll x2
* [50/1000] Cobra x5
* [50/1000] Warg Wolf x3, Werewolf x3
* [40/1000] Tarantula x6
* [30/1000] Gargoyle x8
* [Fixed] Earth Elemental x1	
* [12/64] Cobra x3-7
* [12/64] Minotaur x1-2
* [12/64] Gargoyle x3-8
* [12/64] Ogre Chief x1-4, Ogre x0-2
* [6/64] Werewolf x2-5, Warg Wolf x0-5
* [6/64] Tarantula x4-8
* [3/64] Troll x1-2, Minotaur x0-1
* [1/64] Hill Gigas x1-2
* [Fixed] Earth Elemental x1	B2
* [80/1000] Piscodemon x3
* [80/1000] Piscodemon x2
* [80/1000] Cockatrice x2
* [80/1000] Ochre Jelly x2
* [70/1000] Ogre x1, Ogre Chief x3
* [70/1000] Ghast x2, Wight x2
* [70/1000] Wraith x3
* [70/1000] Cockatrice x4
* [70/1000] Mummy x4
* [70/1000] Mummy x3
* [70/1000] Tarantula x2, Ochre Jelly x2
* [50/1000] Ogre x2, Ogre Chief x4
* [50/1000] Ghast x3, Wight x3
* [50/1000] Wraith x5
* [20/1000] Warg Wolf x4, Werewolf x5
* [20/1000] Warg Wolf x5, Werewolf x4
* [Fixed] Earth Elemental x1
* [Boss] Vampire x1	
* [12/64] Werewolf x2-5, Warg Wolf x0-5
* [12/64] Ogre Chief x1-4, Ogre x0-2
* [12/64] Piscodemon x2-4
* [12/64] Wight x2-5, Ghast x2-5
* [6/64] Wraith x2-6
* [6/64] Cockatrice x2-6
* [3/64] Mummy x2-5
* [1/64] Ochre Jelly x2-5, Tarantula x0-5
* [Fixed] Earth Elemental x1
* [Boss] Vampire x1	B3
* [100/1000] Wraith x2
* [100/1000] Troll x2
* [100/1000] Troll x1
* [90/1000] Piscodemon x3
* [80/1000] Piscodemon x4
* [80/1000] Wraith x4
* [80/1000] Wraith x3
* [80/1000] Cockatrice x4
* [50/1000] Cockatrice x6
* [30/1000] Werewolf x3, Goblin Guard x5
* [20/1000] Ghast x4, Wight x5
* [20/1000] Ghast x5, Wight x4
* [20/1000] Lizard x2, Werewolf x2, Goblin Guard x3, Hill Gigas x2
* [Fixed] Hyenadon x2, Ogre Chief x1, Ogre Mage x1
* [Fixed] Sphinx x2	
* [12/64] Piscodemon x2-4
* [12/64] Wight x2-5, Ghast x2-5
* [12/64] Wraith x2-6
* [12/64] Troll x1-2
* [9/64] Goblin Guard x0-5, Werewolf x1-3, Hill Gigas x0-2, Lizard x0-2
* [6/64] Cockatrice x2-6
* [1/64] Ochre Jelly x2-5, Tarantula x0-5
* [Fixed] Ogre Mage x1, Ogre Chief x1, Hyenadon x0-2
* [Fixed] Sphinx x1-2	B4
* [160/1000] Troll x1
* [80/1000] Troll x2
* [80/1000] Wraith x2
* [70/1000] Wraith x4
* [70/1000] Minotaur x1, Troll x2
* [70/1000] Hill Gigas x2
* [70/1000] Hill Gigas x1
* [70/1000] Mummy x4
* [60/1000] Mummy x5
* [60/1000] Tarantula x3, Ochre Jelly x3
* [60/1000] Earth Elemental x1
* [50/1000] Wraith x6
* [50/1000] Tarantula x6
* [30/1000] Tarantula x8
* [20/1000] Tarantula x4, Ochre Jelly x5
* [Boss] Lich x1	
* [12/64] Troll x1-2
* [12/64] Wraith x2-6
* [12/64] Tarantula x4-8
* [12/64] Troll x1-2, Minotaur x0-1
* [6/64] Hill Gigas x1-2
* [6/64] Mummy x2-5
* [3/64] Ochre Jelly x2-5, Tarantula x0-5
* [1/64] Earth Elemental x1
* [Boss] Lich x1	B5
== Musical themes ==
The background music for the Cavern of Earth is "Gurgu Volcano".
== Other appearances ==
=== Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy ===
In the Confessions of the Creator Scenario, a Teleport Stone can be found at the Devil's Tail, and is named after the Cavern of Earth. Instead of the dungeon, the Chasm in the Rotting Land Gateway is located in the middle of the mountains. The player's first objective in the storyline is to head here and rescue the mured moogle.
After rescuing him and eventually being directed to the Lands of Discord, the mured moogle reveals himself as Cid of the Lufaine and reveals the circumstances that lead to him becoming a moogle and being sealed in the gateway. When Chaos became Feral Chaos and killed all the summoned warriors, Cid took on the form of a moogle to enter World B and sealed himself and Cosmos in the depths of the Chasm in the Rotting Land gateway to protect the goddess from Feral Chaos's wrath. The time being sealed caused Cid to lose many of his memories, which he began to recover once the player rescued him.
The Reports reveal that the Chasm in the Rotting Land is where Cid stayed during the cycles of war and conducted his studies and experiments. Here he created the Warrior of Light by infusing a manikin with his own memories, but when it did not show a will of its own, he placed it among the warriors summoned by the gods to observe how it grew.
=== Final Fantasy Record Keeper ===
==== Cavern of Earth 1 ====
The Cavern of Earth 1 is unlocked by completing Vile Peaks, Part 2 in the Final Fantasy XIII realm. Completion of this dungeon unlocks Cavern of Earth 2.
==== Cavern of Earth 2 ====
The Cavern of Earth 2 is unlocked by completing Cavern of Earth 1. Completion of this dungeon unlocks Mount Gulg.
== Gallery ==
FF NES Cavern of Earth WM.png|Earth Cave on the World Map (NES).
Earthcavemap1.gif|Earth Cave, floor one (NES).
Earthcavemap2.gif|Earth Cave, floor two (NES).
FF NES - Cavern of Earth Third Floor.gif|Earth Cave, floor three (NES).
TerraCavernF4.GIF|Earth Cave, floor four (NES).
FF NES - Cavern of Earth Fifth Floor.gif|Earth Cave, floor five (NES).
EarthCave.gif|Earth Cave battle background (NES).
Terra Cavern World Map PS.png|Terra Cavern on the World Map (PS).
Terra Cavern PS.png|Terra Cavern (PS).
FF Cavern of Earth WM GBA.png|Cavern of Earth on the World Map (GBA).
FF Cavern of Earth GBA.png|Cavern of Earth (GBA).
FFI Earth Crystal Room GBA.png|Earth Crystal room (GBA).
FF1 3DS CaveEarth2.jpg|
FF1 3DS CaveEarth3.jpg|
FF1 3DS CaveEarth4.jpg|
FF1 3DS CaveEarth5.jpg|
D012 Chasm in the Rotting Land.png|The Chasm in the Rotting Land Gateway in World B in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
FFRK Cavern of Earth 1 JP FFI.png|The japanese dungeon image for Cavern of Earth 1 in Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
FFRK Cavern of Earth 2 JP FFI.png|The japanese dungeon image for Cavern of Earth 2 in Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
== Etymology ==
== Annotations ==
Category:Locations in Final Fantasy
Category:Caves
de:Terra-Höhle
es:Cueva de Tierra