Alivast Underdark

Alivast Underdark fan art by @RasilaTommi

## Background

The Alivast Underdark is an extension of the Underdark that exists below the continent of Alivast as a series of winding caves that go in all directions, with several gargantuan caves serving as places for the more sentient races to live and compete for resources.

The Underdark in Alivast is difficult to get into, at least from the perspective of above-grounders, due to the lack of natural cave systems that lead to it. The only rumored way in or out coming from an old Orun Temple that exists west of the city, which leads to an enormous ocean of brackish, red water after a considerable drop. A suitable craft is needed to find one's way to the more inhabited parts of the underdark.

The Underdark is a truly wild and extremely dangerous place, due to centuries of being undisturbed by the surface world and the necessities of living in eternal, unbroken darkness. Ambush predators abound, terrible tremorsensing creatures burrow under the ground, and the sentient races fight bitterly for resources. However, if you look in the right places, there are places of beauty among the darkness.

The Unexpectables made their way into the Underdark to pursue a person at the behest of Solly, who was last seen chasing Euphoria Grimtongue.

## Named Locations

### Blood Ocean

An enormous lake or sea of red, brackish water that awaits anyone who enters the Underdark from the Sunken Temple of Orun. It is filled with white-colored fish and other creatures that appear to be blind.

### Mushroom Forest

An expansive forest of enormous bioluminescent mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. It's most notable feature is the Bioshroom, which towers over all others... and also it's most grisly feature is the existence of *Cordyceps*-like Mushrooms that infect and hijack creatures of any kind, living or dead, use their bodies to get on top of rocks, where they drop and cease all function.

#### The Bioshroom

The largest mushroom in the mushroom forest. It is the home of the Svirfneblin, where they can live in relative peace, far away from the Drow and Neogi below in between the gills of the great mushroom that they revere. It connects to the cave ceiling.

### The Citadel

An enormous stone structure carved into the rock of a cave wall. It is the home of the Drow, who guard it jealously.

### The Undersun

A place where few in the underdark dare tread, due to the existence of the Great Eyed One, who turns those who trespass upon his domain to stone. It is the only place in the underdark where Above-Ground Common is spoken freely, though only by the Great Eyed One himself and Jerry. Unlike the rest of the Underdark, the realm of the Undersun is explicitly neutral territory, with permanent petrification awaiting anyone who starts fights within it's domain. It is also the only place in the Underdark where plants have enough light to grow.

## Named Individuals and Creatures

* **Haran** - Drow Scholar and Sorceror who defected from the Citadel to both study the Bioshroom and to instruct the Svirfneblin in defending themselves through magic.
* **Orby** - An Isopod Task took to while in the underdark, and tasked with waving a torch to possibly signal to other sentients. He did his duty well, though it was misinterpreted as a challenge for the throne of the Svirfneblin.
* **Orby-Too** - A second Isopod Task took to in place of Orby.
* **"The Great Eyed One"** - A mysterious, tyrannical being who lives in and around The Undersun. It is known for its wisdom and for being learned on a great many things.
* **Jerry -** HELLO!

## Trivia

* The Alivast Underdark was made intentionally difficult by MontyGlu after the party complained about Tracadia... allegedly.