The Mantle

The Mantle, among other names, was the underworld located beneath Indratera. It spanned like the veins and bones of the world, reaching far and deep, but also snaking up to several entrances on the surface. It was linked with The Locker, the bottom of the Indrateran seas where life thrived in the darkness. The Mantle was inhabited by varied cultures and unusual flora and fauna across a wide variety of colourful biomes. However, to a surface-dweller, the land would be eerily dark, with faint glows here and there. Much of the beauty and colour of the Mantle was only visible to those who evolved there; for the creatures and people of the deep were able to perceive infrared and ultraviolet light - this is why the dominant colours were red, violet, and pale green.
== Sentient Inhabitants ==
There were five broad groups of sentient races that inhabited the parts of the Mantle that lay beneath Rakkimar/Indratera. You can see their scientific info here, but here's a quick rundown of their culture below.
=== The Sylphs - Elegant Worshippers of Fungal Reincarnation & Decay ===
The Sylph people spoke the Zro language. They were lithe and slender, with bones full of air pockets. They bore black, purple or grey skin, pigmentless hair, red or gold eyes (characteristic of genetic albinism), and had some of the best night vision of any sentient species - including a tapetum lucidum, a high field of view, nictitating membranes, and vertical pupils. They could see infrared and ultraviolet light, too. They had curled tongues, meaning they often only spoke in retroflex consonants.
The Sylph people were very varied, although their notable cultural beliefs were a reverence for fungi (they provided food, shelter, material, represented budding life or creeping decay), a belief in a reincarnation cycle of people->fungi->people and occasionally some worship of water (without it, there is no life). Decay was a natural part of life that they tended to revere quite highly, too. To return to the earth was to return to one's rightful place (death was known as Âat /aiat/, meaning 'one is admitted (to whence they came). 
They were pretty cool with language too- Zro language had a special register which involved whispering all consonants, used for religious or hunting purposes, and they also made use of the elaborate and robust Sylph Sign Language to nonverbally communicate. Their sign language included short tactile phrases too (one could tap and draw them on parts of the body of a companion as to remain silent or subtle). Lastly, the Sylph people were generally the most numerous and most 'civilised' Mantle people alongside the Woora - that is, they spent the least time butchering one another, and instead focused on the joys of civilisation.
=== The Woora - Stout Insect-Taming Cave Craftsmen ===
The Woora, who mostly spoke the eponymous Woora language, were stout and stocky. They had greyish skin with purple hued undertones, and albinism (pigmentless hair, red eyes). They too could see ultraviolet and infrared light beyond that of a normal human. They were very dense-boned and had a high muscle density. Finally, both sexes bore whiskered facial hair and wiry body hair, which they used to navigate in the darkest of caves (like cat whiskers, feeling around for motion). 
The Woora evolved as insectivores and later came to domesticate insects, some of which were certainly quite giant! They were great at catching and eating the calorie-rich insects and the protein-plentiful fish that resided in caves and rockpools, so it was only natural they later reared these animals for goods like larval milk, royal jelly, exoskeletons, roe, scales, fishbones, chitin for tools and armour, poisons, accessories, and jewellery, as well taming them as beasts of burden or mounts. The Woora were a very resourceful and craftsmanlike people, known as the manufacturers of the Mantle world. Like the Sylphs, the Woora were not very warlike, preferring to craft when able and fight when necessary - but they were tough bastards, so don't think them pushovers!
=== The Chimerans - Feral 'Survival-of-the-Fittest' Polygamous Cannibals with Fierce Hierarchies ===
Chimerans were a very loose grouping of races, made up of various hyena-folk, lycanthropes, therians, ratfolk, and other mammalian hybrids, hence their name. Some settled into civilised life, but generally the Chimerans were formed of countless constantly warring feral tribes, who even within their own societies had fierce dominance hierarchies and established a pecking order, like many real world gregarious animals. They often had complex displays of aggression, submission, mating rituals, hunting tactics, and feeding customs. Many were polygynous and polyandrous; the top dog would attract multiple mates. As you can see, they sounded a right hoot. Oh, and they were no strangers to opportunistic cannibalism of other sentient species and even their own kind. They eschewed the bitter and deadly struggle of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. They had incredible teeth and claws, great senses of smell, decent vision (though they didn't have as wonderful a visual range as the Sylphs), and highly complicated rituals. They spoke the Rivenoq "monster language"
=== The Snakefolk - Kin-Bonded Burrowing Trophy Hunters ===
The Snakefolk were a broad group of humanoids with snake features, and sometimes other reptile characteristics too. They were cold-blooded and could see far into the infrared spectrum. with a very developed sense of sight and a great sense of smell, slit pupils, and various other hunting adaptations. They lived in burrows and underground cities, such as the cliff city of Mir Osod which had been burrowed into chalk rock. Snakefolk mostly spoke the Xuxxura language, which had evolved as their ancestral tongue, best adapted to their mouth physiology (mostly sibilants, no rounding, always voiceless because no vocal cords). Despite their menacing appearance and vicious hunting skills, they were very affectionate and loyal to their blood kin - but they were cold and cruel to anyone unrelated, showing incredibly strong genetic fitness instincts. In their burrows and homes, related snakefolk often slept in a large pile together to conserve body head. Snakefolk were also keen trophy hunters. They displayed their prize kills (or what was left of them) around their home, decorated themselves with them, and boasted about them. They believed themselves to be the apex predators of their ecosystem (and they were).
=== The Ikthyians - Amphibious Fish-People ===
One of the loosest conglomerations of races, the Ikthyians spoke the Eyaxu language, which was a simple language full of gulping implosives mimicking fish buccal gulps. The Ikthyians lived in the streams, rivers, and oceans of the great caverns of the Mantle, including the sea floor that made up a large portion of the underworld, thousands of metres below the surface. Some were amphibious and could breathe air and walk on land, where they mingled with the other groups above. Though given their habitat, they were both the most wildly varied and the ones you'd be least likely to bump into - it would be like a fish out of water, really. They held the infinite depths of the ocean in great regard, as well as sharing a worship of decay - at the bottom of the sea, decaying falling animals bring life and food, and one day all will follow their cycle. 
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== Various Names ==
There were different names for the Mantle, depending on who you asked, including different surface-dwellers too. Cultures only had names for the Mantle if they had been there, or interacted with its people a lot.
* In the Zrô language, it was called Enkâru meaning "the Mantle (of the earth)"; this name was borrowed into Euluska as Attaru.
* An alternate Euluska name was xuxurramarka, meaning "the land of whispers" for its eeriness.
* The Old Rakki and Darim referred to it by the name Tákjava (modern Rakki: taukiava) which meant 'Below'.
* others WIP
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== OLD STUFF WIP BELOW ==
The Mantle Labyrinth was a world located beneath the surface of the planet, far-reaching and obeying weird and unruly laws of space and time. It was practically its own world, but with tentative links to the world above.
== Names ==
* The Darim termed the land the Mörkret Undan, meaning 'dark below'. This gave rise to the common Faerunian name, the Underdark. 
* In the indigenous Woora tongue, it was Foorawarramurkoo, meaning 'place of land, sea, and stars'. 
* The Drowic name was Xîvu Incarû (SHEE-a-voo in-CAR-oo'o). The second word implied untouched land by mortal hands. 
* In the Undercommon creole, it was called Xevu (SHEE-voo).
* In Euluska it was called Xuxurramarka, the land of whispers
== Sub-Surface ==
While the term 'Upperdark' refers to the lower reaches of the surface world, such as the deepest sewers, caverns and dungeons, the Underdark lay beneath all of that. It obeyed different laws of physics entirely. The land could be varied - only some parts of it were similar to the classic conception of a huge cavern; though there was indeed no sun or moon, some areas had stars, great seas, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, jungles and islands. The dominant flora are fungi, and the native creatures were often quite scary for upperdwellers to encounter. 
== Places in the Underdark ==
The land was a huge place, and its geography often shifted, meaning that maps were often useless. Some specialised compasses gained prominence as being able to point to one city always, regardless of where the tunnels or rocks shifted. 
The largest sea was in the northeast, the near-endless Sea of Pity. Beyond it, there were the the Nowhere Islands, a desolate clustered landscape of tiny islands covered in shipwrecks and the feral souls of the damned. The further out one went from the centre, the more untamed the land became, and the more unpredictable the laws of physics became too. The Tribunal of Spiders was the hold of civilisation, but beyond their edge cities like Mir Vorghulis, there were the rocky lands of Incarû, the mists of Inferno, and the desolate Beyond. 
== The Day Cycle ==
The twilight subtly waxed and waned throughout a 24-hour period, meaning the day was divided into four sections - Waxlight, Highlight, Wanelight and Lowlight, each halved on some clocks. In some places where this was less obvious, the most significant marker of the passage of a day was temperature. Temperatures followed a rising and falling cycle like the surface, with colder nights and warmer days. Thus, an underdweller might use the phrase 'it's getting cold' to mean 'it's getting late', for instance. 
== Peoples ==
Underdark citizens referred to surface dwellers as Upperdwellers, and their languages as Uppercommon or by their names if they knew them. Upperdwellers were looked down upon by some, but usually, they were generally thought of as a little timid or wimpy compared to how danger-free their life sounded. 
== Surface Ventures ==
The only members of the surface world to have successfully made their mark in the Underdark were the Old Vreigardts and the Darim. 
The Vrei peoples began trading heavily with the peoples below starting in the -1800s for metal and other goods, but this trade dwindled by the 3rd century as the Lusken Empire conquered the land above. They deemed it too dangerous to try to liaise with the people below. Thus, there were large communities of people who had Vrei ancestry, speaking the old version of Limba Vrei that would be heard as antiquated or weirdly poetic by a modern Vreigardt person. On the other hand, the Darim entrance was more aggressive, as they led a military campaign that involved several short wars during the 1300s, 1400s and 1500s. These battles, solely with the Tribunal of Spiders, were often messy and solved nothing, but the Darim gained two cities down below - Sparrow's Landing and Dain's Bastion. Dain Axehelm was a commander in these wars and in fact fell at Guzuth Toth's first battle, but rose again at the Second Battle for Guzuth Toth. Many of the Darim spread throughout the Underdark, and settled and traded as they went. The Agents of Chaos partook in the third Darim-Drow war (1544-1552). It ended in a stalemate of sorts, both sides cutting their losses after the city of Guzuth Toth was blown up.
Some of the first known surface contact was during the First Skyndrar Venture into the Underdark in -1779, where some Rakki raiders, the Crew of the Wolf, ventured down into the Underdark from Pszczow (modern-day Malphur). It resulted in the Raven Schism in the city of Sylyntyr.
== Native Folk ==
Some of the native sentient races (but indeed, not all of them by any means) included drow, derro, duergar, svirfneblin, kuo-toa, molemen, ratfolk, beholderkin, ogres, gnolls, trolls, tieflings, and illithids. Some half- races caused by mingling of Vrei and Darim people with these races gave rise to other communities. Common beasts included kruthiks, flumphs, oytughs, and more. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls and other undead were present in the Underdark, but some were considered in a similar same way stray cats, wild dogs, or racoons would be - a mild annoyance, often found going through peoples' trash, stealing their food, etcc. Some were found even attempting to integrate as functioning members of society.
== Food and Flora ==
The dominant flora across the land were fungi, including huge phosphorescent mushrooms bigger than trees, and small toadstools used in cuisine, or creeping mould and everything in between. However, many other kinds of plants existed, including large roots and tubers, kelp, large capers and seeds and much more. Underdark cuisine varied, but generally was based off of different kinds of mycoprotein as the main staple, flavoured heavily or cooked in different ways to give fun tastes to unique textures. Many mushroom types were used, from silken ones to small thin crunchy stems, to tough chewy chunks or crispy fluffy rolled-out mushroom dough used as bread. This was often supplemented with tough meat from tougher beasts, varied kinds of fish, or the meat of giant insects, as well as weird and unique fruit like kinds of berries. The most ubiquitous land covering was bramblegrass, not true grass but rather mushroom hyphae (roots) from the huge trees that covered large areas like our grass would. Some hyphae could be miles in radius from a single tree. Further into the wilderness, the land was often rocky or sandy, so a lack of mushrooms was a common sight too. 
== Languages in the Dark ==
There were many staples of communication.
* Woora / te reo woora - Wide-spread indigenous language with a million dialects spoken by all the folk of the land. 
** Koa' furrafulla moora koinga kia bana! 
* Drowic / Zrô ze rêo - The language of the only big empire, the Tribunal of Spiders. A harsh jagged tongue full of weird concepts and untranslatable ideas about power and truth. 
** Yûl aîat hashlat sûl ananh, eîr ax yul. 
* Darim - The hardy ancient language of the vikingr enclave of Kol Darim up above, spread down here by their successful military campaigns. 
** Leiðkur i ljósun, lokkum ok anvandi rósum, hvaer fjallar. 
* Old Vrei / Enje Vrei - The old form of the Vrei language of the native people of the Danderillon, spread down here by incredibly successful merchants all through the first millenium before the year 0. 
** Dobre zbrowię biały vęgorz z udryzi! 
* Undercommon / Tsjereho undha - A messy creole of all four languages above, spread throughout by centuries of trade. 
** Fidalaray undha theer roor koapp agga mailor klova eer otrot.
* Drowic Hunt / Vikhui ze rêo - A sign language popularised by animal hunters, trappers, bounty hunters, traders, assassins and many others. It was incredibly widespread and often learnt by the children of people of these professions.
== Upperpeople Maps ==
Some of the surface people tried to map the Underdark.
File:Underdark v2.png|The 'Lower Underdark', dating to the 1550s DR.
File:Underdark Upper.jpg|The 'Upper Underdark' unlabelled, dating to -1800DR
File:Nowhere, Underdark (No names).png|The 'Nowhere Islands' in the 1550s DR.
File:Labyrynth.jpg|A map of the city of Labyrynth in 1512.
File:Sylyntyre.png|A map of the city of Sylyntyr in the -1800s DR.
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