Eryphia

### The Beginning

In the dawn of time, when men had just arrived in Helmia, a huge majority of them chose to live above ground. The resources were rich, transport was easy, trade was growing and civilizations were forming. The records for this ancient period are mostly lost and the remaining documents are very vague. However there is a legend that survived and was found by modern historians. This is the deciphered version of the document left by the ancient civilizations.

#### The Legend

Somewhere close to Illerya a small tribe called Eryphia decided they would go down under where no man had ever stepped foot. Nobody really knows where exactly they started digging or what their motivation was in this journey. As the whole tribe went underground with a limited amount of supplies, people expected them to come back above ground to resupply sometime. A few weeks passed and people didn't think much of it. After a few months had passed, someone realized that the tribe never came back up above ground. They should have starved underground as there is nothing much to eat there. A search party was sent down the mines but came back empty handed. As the people assumed the tribe was dead, they held a ceremony for the passing of the tribe. Some time passed after this ceremony and people forgot about this tribe. However, the tribe never actually died.

#### First Journey Of The Tribe

As the tribe went underground, they had enough supplies for a month maximum. The men were very motivated in the first two weeks. Everyone had high morale and were sure that they would find a place to settle underground. After 14 days passed, some people started to spread worries. They had to still go up to resupply and going back above ground would take some time. Their leader told them to continue mining and exploring. After another week passed, lots of people were scared and were really worried. They told the leader they wanted to go back up. The tribe only had about a week worth of food left. It would take a week to travel back up, so it was now or never. The leader however was convinced they were really close to something. Many discussions and challenges came toward the leader, but he managed to control his men and keep mining. When it was clear they were running out of supplies, they ordered a strict diet of only 1 small meal for each person. This would give them an extra week. The men were exhausted and needed a break, but their leader ordered them to continue. As they reached the last meal. Someone shouted at the leader and blamed him for leading everyone to their death. Being underground and under stress for so long had made everyone's mind blurry and grumpy. The leader tried to solve this problem without violence but the man was getting angrier by the minute. Right as he was about to pull his sword out, one of the miners shouted "I found something!". Everyone rushed to see what it was. It was a small opening, a crack. There was light on the other side. They enlarged the crack and couldn't believe what they saw. A humongous cave with greenery and animals they had never seen before. There were vines coming down from the ceiling that had some weird orange fruit on them. As everyone was starving, they immediately started eating the fruit. It was delicious. As they examined the place more, they realized the cave looked like what their leader was aiming to find. The man that had previously challenged the leader, apologized. The fruit they were eating were glowing, so there was some light in the cave. It wasn't enough to see everything though. So the leader put his men to work to find something to burn. They quickly found coal nearby and used it to make torches. They explored the cave and planned on what to do next.

#### Life In The Cave

The Eryphians were happy with their humble life in the cave. Their tribe was not very big and the resources of the cave was plentiful. They more they stayed in their cave, the more they started to appreciate mother nature. Nature was providing them with everything they needed, it let them live peacefully and in stability. They made it their goal to not live *in* the cave but *with* the cave. They built their homes in what they called "The Roots" of the cave. The Roots were similar to the roots of a plant, at least in how they looked. The cave was a big opening in the underground, and it's roots were lots of small natural openings that were going inside the walls and ground. These networks all connected to each other and served as an efficient way to get around. The Eryphians used these roots as streets, to build their homes in. They would light the streets up with the torches they made from the coal they found in the cave and the wood they brought with them. They made the entrances of their homes inside these streets and used the openings as places to put their personal belongings. Each family got made their own home in these openings and so historians count this as the official beginning of the underground town of Eryphia. There was a thriving economy in Eryphia as citizens bought and sold food, tools, clothes and other valuables. They set a marketplace in the middle of their cave and connected all the streets to it. They made farms with the seeds they brought from above ground, the light from the glow berries were enough to grow the plants. All was going well until they discovered a big problem, they were running short on wood and didn't have any means to get more...

#### Problems Require Solutions

The citizens requested a council meeting be arranged, for the shortage on wood was detrimental. The council quickly gathered and sat around the table (later named Tessarion's Stand). There were 6 council members, all chosen for their personal skills and contributions to Eryphia.

#### Council Members

There was Kyrox, he was nicknamed Kyrox The Wise for his wisdom and knowledge. People would often come to him for advice. There was Andemyr, he was the leader of the local barracks. Andemyr was a very strong and handy man. Furthermore, there was Siona. She was Eryphia's best healer. The fourth member was Jaedar. He was the brother of Andemyr and was an architect among a few other things. The fifth member was Cecia, she was elected by the citizens to represent their view. Lastly, there was Arphax The Expeditioner. He was the tribe's leader before they settled in Eryphia and was at that time, still the most influential member of the council. A lot of people looked up to him and respected him.

#### Problems Require Solutions

Cecia immediately started speaking, "Our people need wood to construct the city and make tools, and most importantly, to cook food and stay warm". Andemyr suggested to her that his men could try to dig up the tunnel they originally dug to come in the cave. The tunnel had previously collapsed and was filled with stones. Kyrox told him, "That tunnel is not stable and is very dangerous to be in, it could collapse again while your men are in there!" Siona said that it was dangerous but the fastest way. The council members started arguing with each other, all of them sticking to their own idea. "Silence!" pleaded Arphax, loudly. The room fell silent, "Andemyr, how many men in the town are fit to mine?" Andemyr replied; "24, excluding me and the other council members." "I want you to get them all ready." said Arphax. "Right away!" replied Andemyr. Kyrox' eyes met Arphax' eyes, "What's the plan Arphax?" he asked. "We are digging a new staircase all the way to the surface" said Arphax. Someone outside the door gasped, "Who's there?" asked Cecia. She went to open the door, they hard the person that was there, running away. "It's probably one of the curious kids again" said Siona. "Andemyr is gathering all his men, so he probably took the guards too." Said Jaedar, who hadn't said much in the meeting yet. "We need all our manpower to go up again", said Arphax. Cecia offered to go and tell the blacksmith to make as money torches and pickaxes as he could, the council agreed. "we should end the meeting now and prepare for the task ahead" said Arphax. The council agreed and they all exited the room.

### The Council Has Decided

The council members went to the town square which was also the marketplace. They asked some people nearby to gather everyone here. In a few minutes, the whole tribe, except the babies, were there. The council members got up on the podium so that everyone could see them. People were talking to each other and you could hear that the rumours had already spread. The people were talking about going back up. Kyrox began, "Everyone, silence please! We have an announcement to make. The council has decided that we wil be digging a new staircase going all the way back upto the surface." The crowd started talking again. "Silence please!" pleaded Kyrox again. "We will be taking men from the barracks and all other miners to make this tunnel, wood is a crucial resource and it would be hard to survive without it.", "Jaeder will make the plans and Andemyr will lead the group. We need everyone else to continue doing whatever they normally do, we need the farmers to supply food as well as the blacksmith making tools." Arphax stepped up as Kyrox went back among his fellow council members, "Nice speech", Jaeder winked at him. "Didn't know Kyrox The Wise could give speeches too." Kyrox whispered, "You flatter me." Arphax, meanwhile, was telling the crowd that the trip was not supposed to be dangerous and that they would try to not come into contact with any other people above ground. Spending time in this beautiful cave made the people not want to go back up and they for sure didn't want others to know about Eryphia either.

#### The Gateway

As the Eryphians made their way up to the surface, they didn't encounter many problems. It was when they reached the surface, that the problems started to arise. The sunlight was very bright, so bright infact that the Eryphians, who lived underground for so long, couldn't look outside without hurting their eyes. It took them a few hours to be able to walk on the surface without their eyes fighting the light. They were very cautious however. They went to the forest in small groups to lower the chance of getting spotted. Andemyr and his team were designing a stone "lid" that they could put on their mine to cover up the entrance. The council had a meeting when the miners first reached the surface, to decide what to do next. They didn't want to go to the surface to cut trees everytime they needed wood, it was simply too risky. The final decision was that they would get seeds from some small trees and try to grow them in the cave. The cave, had its own ecosystem. It was mostly rocky but there were parts where the glowing berries that hang from the vines coming from the roof, shined enough light to grow some plants. In these sections, lots of local animals would come to meet. The eastermost part of the cave had the biggest part of the greenery in the cave. It also had a small waterfall, with water being supplied from deep inside the earth. This was crucial to life in the cave and was the main spot for animals to come and drink water. The most common animal found in the cave were red lizards. Their body, shaped like the letter "T". Their head looked like the ending of "T" and the rest of their body was a straight line. They were quite small, but numerous. The locals named these lizards, "Badenars". The Badenars were friendly creatures, they didn't seem to be scared of the humans that lived there. Some Eryphians adopted Badenars as pets, they weren't really cuddly but could keep their owner company. As time passed, the trees started growing, some short and others tall.