Underground Locations

Here we have a series of known underground locations in the world of Giantstep.

A

### Abandoned Cathedral

The Abandoned Cathedral of Nosso Lar used to be the oldest church dedicated to the Azanese Old Faith built in the far away province of Nosso Lar. It served as the holiest ground in the region, as well as the place where the kings of Nosso Lar celebrated their weddings. They also built very deep catacombs, filled with statues of emperors, kings and heroes of the Azanese Empire, while also creating funerary chambers for those of noble blood who wished to be buried there. However, the eventual takeover of the region by the Blind Bastard saw the place desecrated, with all rich paintings, statues and treasure accumulated sacked. The building now serves as a powder keg, holding weapons and gunpowder. Rumors are abound of some of the deeper levels not having been discovered yet, as the nosso lar decided to hide them by creating fake halls and concealed rooms.

### Alien Crater

At the center of the Desert of the Weriest, rumors tell that there lies the fallen star that brought the Star People to the world of Giantstep. Those few who have visited the region saw a massive crater, carved directly into stone, filled with debris and sand. Many suggest that the star is buried deep underground, and that the star people still have access to it, possibly with technological wonders from their own world. However, this has not been confirmed, as talking about their past is taboo for the star people, and will not share any of their secrets with outsiders.

### Ashen Deep

The Ashen Deep is a series of volcanic underwater caves and tunnels in the Provonost Island. Below the tallest peak of the island, the Provonost Volcano, the constant seismic activity has caused the formation of magmatic caverns, sunk below many meters of deep, ashen water. The okhostian undead, especially those who have had experience with mining before, have developed a love for exploring this deep underground. Due to the extremely hazardous environment (deep underwater pressure, magmatic heat, polluted waters…) nothing living can actually enter the caverns, but the undead kill their time exploring the many levels, which are said to be full of natural wonders like gemstones and valuable minerals.

B

### Ben'zo'varr

The city of Ben'zo'varr (or Benzovarr as known by outsiders) is one of the biggest and most influential of the Drow City States. Built after the end of the end of the first of the ancient wars between Azan and the Western Elven Empire, it was designed to reinforce the empire’s grasp over the southwestern side of the Scimitarian continent. As such, Ben'zo'varr has always had a great deal of connection with the populations to its south, in particular with those in the Cornfloor Peninsula. While never becoming a city as populous as other drow underground cities, they compensated with a considerable skill in trade and diplomacy, as well as the selling of quartz and other rare minerals and gemstones. The attempts of Ben'zo'varr of gaining supremacy over the rest of the drow cities were, just as the other cities’ attempts, futile in the end, and thus they accepted the breaking of the Drow Confederation. The people of Ben'zo'varr are loyal followers of the Spider Queen, which is shown by the many temples and icons to the Spinner Goddess.

### Bimbusus Bombus Hive Community

The Bimbusus Bombus Hive Community is a conglomerate of bombus hives at the edge between the Ettin-Range and the lands of Sidarí. Located within a foothill between two small mountains at the edge of the range, this population is the closest thing the bombus have to a capital city, as it is the biggest concentration of bombus in the world. It was formed naturally due to the presence of a great deal of flower fields and fruit trees nearby. While the local sidarians wanted to turn the flower fields into agricultural land, the bombus managed to reach a compromise through the selling of bombus honey and high quality wax. This allowed the bombus’ community to grow, and nowadays it includes a dozen or so hives living in the same space. The size of this population is about a small human city, with walls, towers and other buildings built out of pure wax. Beneath the ground, however, the bombus store great quantities of honey for the winter, as well as other fruits and produces from the nearby human populations. They also keep the queens and their larvae underground, with specially built chambers designed to keep adequate temperatures for the larvae’s development. After the flood of alchemical creatures in Sidarí, the bombus expanded the tunnels to make room for the human populations nearby, safe from the alchemical beasts within the wax walls. The humans stayed within the Bimbusus Bombus for a couple of years until they could retake their old lands, and nowadays, it is not rare to see human communities living within the city.

### Black Prison Catacombs

See the Black Prison Islands

 Eastern Island

### Boirti'O (Chambers of the Lustrous)

The Caves of Boirti’O, also called the Chambers of the Lustrous, are a massive cavernous system, famous due to being one of the only places where one can reliably find Crystalid Destroyers. The cave was first discovered in 2.181 ABE by drow prospectors, who first thought it would be a great source of mineral wealth, but due to the political instability at the time, they were denied the resources and manpower to do so. The cave became a local attraction, explored by both speleologists, treasure hunters and even religious pilgrims that linked this cave to the birth of an azanese saint. The cave houses many branch leading into various chambers filled with either crystal structures or volcanic rocks like granite. But the main route leading straight to the deepest region is a constantly widening cavity many describe as “an underground tree and the chambers being its fruits”. Some of the caverns contain geodes while others have accumulated pockets of water, which can for small waterfalls and stalactites. At the deepest part of the cave, one can find the main chamber, a massive area covered with crystal pillars all around. It contains immense wealth worth in the most exotic and rare minerals the world has ever known, but it is also the place where the Crystalid Destroyers live, making it an incredibly dangerous area. Outside of the crystalid destroyers themselves, there are other crystalline entities that can end up attacking any being made out of flesh that ends up exploring the caves. The dangers of the deepest cavern combined with the potential riches have resulted in the “Ritual of Liberation”, a yearly slave mining experiment organized by the local nobility. They will bring 81 slaves and 9 willing chosen to lead them for a "gift for salvation" to the main chambers, with the objective of getting as many riches as possible and then come out back alive. The nobles will then bet about who survives or dies, and who will bring more riches. Survival is rare, but when it happens, the chosen will be given a boon, often their freedom and part of the profits if they are slaves or some other demand if they are free.

### Bori'bir-Sii

The underground drow city of Bori’bir-sii was built during the ending days of the Drow Confederation. The instability of the region during those days had forced many drow out of their homes, and the discovery of veins of nickel and diamonds in the area made it a very attractive prospect for the many outcasts caused by the turmoil. Bori’bir-sii grew rapidly, causing an explosion of slums, all seeking to find treasures underground. However, after the initial decades after its founding, the drow discovered that the mines were not as plentiful as originally thought, leaving many veins and tunnels abandoned. The city survived, as by that point it had grown enough to sustain itself, and the mines, while not as profitable, were able to sustain the remaining population. About two centuries ago, the increasing volcanic activity has caused many tunnels and even some parts of the city to either cave in or become inaccessible, which has reduced even further the population. Many drow see this as a sign of divine will, and some are even are converting to the Ash Goddess or the Cog God.

### Brassmen Archaeological Expedition

South of the Great Peninsula of Cemak I, the land holds remnants of the ancient civilizations of the Brassmen from Qadash. First discovered by the Archeological Society of Azan, the ruins looked like an underground clockwork city built, hidden beneath a valley. However, the exploration of the site was complex and dangerous, due to the many threats in the region. With the aid of the mercenary band of the Golden Skulls and other minor warbands, the archeologists discovered many lost treasures and pieces of technology, many of which they couldn’t fully understand. The biggest discovery of the expedition was the enchanted airship made out of brass, on which the scholars still use in their travels to this day.

### Brimstone Deep

The Brimstone Deep is a series of volcanic caverns in the Mukrahost Island. Due to a fortuitous natural phenomenon, the magmatic tubes that connect the underground with the surface have a spiral structure, which causes a great deal of erosion during the rains, creating massive ramps incredibly slanted, all while many geodes and crystal spikes block the way down. If one can manage to arrive to the depths, they will find a sea of natural volcanic glass and diamonds. However, all of these are covered under dangerous levels of murky water, having been mixed with volcanic soot. This also makes moving around it incredibly risky, as the dark waters block anyone from seeing what one is standing on at the time, and sinking even deeper is an ever-present threat.

### Broken Horn Fortress

The Broken Horn Fortress is a long abandoned dwarven hall located in the Domain of Dovnoth, within the Witchelven Empire. Back in ancient times, it served as the capital for the Kingdom of the Iron Bull, and many believe they had ties to the old human civilization of Xaiolthu, though by the time Azan expanded around through that area, the kingdom was already a shadow of its former self. The land remained under their governance as azanese vassals and eventually it was absorbed as part of the empire proper, but the dwarves of the Iron Bull were left mostly alone to govern themselves, only paying the bi-yearly tithe to the empire. The sudden appearance of the Witchelven Empire was a big blow to the dwarves in the region, who were some of the first to receive the attacks of the witchelven. Due to the witchelven’s initial lack of siege weaponry, they isolated the hall as much as possible, and then infiltrated it, spreading multiple virulent diseases before launching an assault that eradicated the hall. Morwenna herself took the fortress and renamed it the “Broken Horn”, as a final insult from the witchelven to the old and proud dwarves of the Iron Bull. The land was also the location of the infamous Battle of the Broken Horn, where the witchelven and their succubae allies broke the back of the azanese army, causing untold destruction around the empire for years.

### Burnt Hyperborean Royal Palace

The Hyperborean Royal Palace of Hiroria used to be the seat of power of the ancient Kingdom of Old Hyperborea. One of the oldest castles in the world, the edifice had been prepared for war from its inception, and during its lifespan saw many battles, especially against the snow elves. The castle was fortified against siege and assault, with many secret tunnels and passages allowing the hyperborean warriors to move around the invaders, as well as holding a great deal of resources to outlast any besieger. However, at the end of the Great Hyperborean War, the zemylander coalition managed to take the castle after a long and bloody battle, and it was razed to the ground along the rest of the city. Nowadays, the only remnants of the castle are a couple of ruins and towers still standing, while the undergrounds of the castle have been covered by the rubble and the snow. Many treasure hunters still search the ruins for any bit of past hyperborean glory they can sell at the local market.

### Buru'dus'sii

The underground city of Buru’dus’sii is a drow city between the Aeriash and the Driniash volcanoes. It is well known for the lava flows that travel some areas of the city, liquid enough and with a low enough viscosity to never coagulate too fast, forming rivers that illuminate the entire city. The inhabitants of Buru’dus’sii have become experts in dealing with the lava and the volcanic activity, serving as volcanologists for other cities, as well as crafting items made out of lava, as well as to deal with lava. The inhabitants of Buru’dus’sii are near universally followers of the drow Volcano God, and they have built many temples out of volcanic rock.

### Burundugnus Hall

Burundugnus Hall used to be one of the most important dwarven cities within the Western Elven Empire. While not big in sheer size, the reserves of gold and emeralds in it made it quite rich and powerful within the empire, and it was one of the big dwarven cities in the world. However, due to this power, it was one of the earliest and most important targets of infiltration for the drow before their uprising. The dwarves had many drow servants and slaves, which made the betrayal much more effective. As punishment for the many centuries of mistreatment of the drow, the once mighty dwarves were put to work in the mines in the same terrible conditions the drow had to endure. However, by the time the war against Azan was ending, Burundugnus Hall suffered a series of plagues that killed near the entirety of the dwarven population. This caused many areas to be sealed off for fear of the disease, and the place was eventually fully abandoned. Nowadays, it is considered a cursed place, despite many demands of some mining groups that are demanding the nearby cities the funds to reopen the hall again, seeking to restart the gold mine.

C

### Cave of Bones

The Cave of Bones is a deep cavern in the Corteau Canyon. It is believed to have been formed millions of years ago from the gathering of dead sea life, as all the rock walls in the tunnels have incrusted on them fossils of ancient marine sea life. Many experts have explored the cavern, discovering ancient extinct species each time, though the tunnels are particularly treacherous, and on many occasions the floor has collapsed under the explorers’ feet. The Nerim consider the place sacred grounds, and they will often go to search for wooly scorpions, as they nest in some of the fissures. Some groups of Nerim use the hunting of the wooly scorpions as coming of age rituals, and hunting them in the Cave of Bones is seeing as a particularly honorable hunt.

### Cave of the Wise Men

The Cave of the Wise Men is a natural cavern south of the Great Tower of Heliotrope. The cave is used by many wizard masters as training grounds for their apprentices. The strange crystals in the cave are said to bring clarity of thought, and as such, they use it as a place where they can learn to draw upon arcane energies. It is also protected by many magical wards, in case the young wizards lose control of their powers, dampening magical effects towards the outside. Many wizards also explore the depths of the cave in search for particular gemstones, since they can use them as magical tools and jewelry.

### Chapel of Skulls

The Chapel of Skulls is a massive cave that has been used for centuries as a makeshift temple in honor of the Dragongod Phorsiussarx. Located at the shores of the Lake of Wolves, the many halls are covered by the skulls of the cultists, who wished to be buried there near their deity. During the Wars of Heaven, the Chapel of Skulls was severely damaged by the gnoll, destroying many of the works of art in there, and desecrating some of the freshest tombs. After the gnoll victory over the dragongod, the Nameless ordered the rebuilding of the Chapel of Skulls, this time using gnoll skulls to replace the human bones destroyed during the conflict. The sheer amount of dead gnoll during the conflicts has completely filled some of the tunnels and caverns. Many of the dragonspawn gnolls consider this place as sacred grounds.

### Clockwork Underground

The Clockwork Underground is a massive archaeological excavation in the lands south of the Great Peninsula of Cemak I. The discovery of the Clockwork Underground is unique in that, rather than the remnants of a city or a town, it seems to be a massive mechanism, which has been covered in ground and debris over the millennia. The amount of interconnecting pieces scattered all around makes experts think that the Clockwork in question was near as tall as a small mountain, which baffles and terrifies them about the possible uses of a machine like that. Many of the walls of the underground are purely mechanical, having survived the debris and the sediments, but having eroded and rusted over the millennia.

### Cui-Shoin Aether Caves

The Cui-Shoin Aether Caves is a natural mine which holds the biggest reserves of aether in all of Changrila. The rarity of the substance in question makes it so that the god-emperor is the sole proprietary of the mines. It is believed that, millions of years ago, an aether meteorite fell in the area, becoming buried underground under hundreds of meters of rock and rubble. The naturally liquid properties of quintessence made it sink deeper into the earth, creating cavities and hollows where aether accumulates. However, the Cui-Shoin caves are incredibly treacherous, and most of the time, they can only be accessed to by a handful of miners at a time, seeing as the tunnels and fissures are incredibly thin.

### Cursed Uun Chapel

The Great Temple of Uun was one of the biggest temples in the ancient Merfolk Empire, within the provincial capital of the old Kingdom of Akuwamaden. The chapel was built with hundreds of underground catacombs, serving for both the resting places for the local nobility and priesthood and to deposit the many pieces of art and offering to the deity. After the Curse of Uun, however, the Great Temple fell into disrepair, with its ancient mural works stained by the god’s careless vandalism, marked in burning liquid dark gold. Nowadays, the place is filled with the tortured souls of the priesthood of Uun, twisted into horrific forms, and not allowed the reprieve of death. The area has been abandoned since the last expedition made during the years after the fall of the Merfolk Empire, and while many believe the massive treasures of Uun are still there, no one really dares to take their chances robbing the cruel god.

D

### Da Boom Caves

Da Boom Caves is the name of a series of natural caverns occupied by a nest of common goblins in the captaincy of Tofromor, in the Changrila Empire. The local populations talk about the strange goblins in the caverns, having seemingly been living there from centuries and centuries. No one remembers where the name comes from, but the goblins living in the network of karst caves of this region are unusually pacifist, slow to breed, and friendly with outsiders. Some see them as wise and knowledgeable, and some have been seen in the local towns as soothsayers and fortunetellers, claiming to be able to see the future and solve the problems of money and love. Others believe they just say stuff that gets them attention, not risking themselves in raids by instead scamming and tricking local fools.

### Da Stikki Caves

Da Stikki Caves are a series of natural caverns in the Changrila Empire. The goblins here have converted to worshipping Gogotha thanks to the influence of the nearby nascent breach. The less that is said about this cave network the better.

### Dark Tower of Kirian

The Dark Tower of Kirian is one of the many magic towers spread around the Avangar Empire. The tower was well known for being one of the first magical towers built in the Avangar Empire. However, after an incident of magical mishap and poor foundations due to its construction in the middle of the elyrian swamp, the tower was swallowed into the earth, leaving a massive hole in the swamp. The gap in the earth that it left has attracted many dark wizards in search of all the trinkets and magical items, as well as to test their own magical skills.

### Death Blossom's Nest

The Death Blossoms’ Nests are a series of caves that the great Death Blossom spiders from the Cocoon Islands. The caves are natural karstic caves, and have a very labyrinthine shape, with hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites, with plenty of natural ponds and water currents. The darkness of the caves and their humidity attracts plenty of life, often small fishes, insects and bats. This also makes it the best place for the newborn death blossoms to grow in, as they will have plenty of prey to feed upon without the risk of bigger critters at the surface. The death blossoms will fight with each other for the control of the tunnels, and these fights can be to the death, with the loser feeding the winner’s spawn. Once the young spiders are born, they will begin making their own webs between the crevices and the columns, and they will stay there until they are big enough to venture into the open. Some wizards have tried to study the death blossoms’ natural habitat by venturing into the caves, but the darkness combined with the meters upon meters of spider webs and the violent death blossoms make it particularly dangerous.

### Deep Garbage Cave

The Deep Garbage Cave is a natural formation created from the waste that forms the islands of the Great Garbage Patch. Due to the fact that the heavier rubbishes tend to sink, some of the explorers have expanded the natural caves in search for the more valuable remnants, which can be a hazardous task due to the many poisons and gasses that one can find in the dark. The walls are made out of many residual products from the ludenite industries, with the threat that that implies. There are also many still unidentified fauna and flora in the deep, which have learned to live from eating anything edible in their tunnels, including curious explorers.

### Drezels Iron Mine

The Drezels Iron Mines is the biggest mine in the Zapalovach Republic. Located in the mountains of the Beneficence Island, it employs a great deal of the population nearby, as the iron exports are highly profitable both in local and foreign markets. While most of the mine is in the open, some of the richer veins with purer iron are underground, and the zapalovach have built great tunnels to get to those areas. Reaching this area is quite risky, and many miners lose their lives every year trying to reach the veins.

### Dummkopf's Cave

The Cave of Dummkopf is a massive underground system of salt caverns in the middle of the Salt Flats, in the Gökmavi Khaganate. It was formed by the underground water currents filtering during the scant rains and slowly carving their way through the ground by millennia. It was initially discovered by a dwarven explorer in the area, who fell fortuitously and ended up into one of the higher levels of the cave. The gökmavi have studied a lot the caverns of the cave, and many of them also believe the spirits of the land live at the deepest levels of the caverns.

### Dungeon of Evil

The Dungeon of Evil is the current name of an old burrow in the Gospidog Hill. It used to be a seemingly normal communal burrow, holding multiple families at once, located in the middle of a small plateau. However, during a night in which Mg’umba shone bright red, the burrow was invaded by a group of evil cultists. These cultists turned out to be corrupted gnomes, somehow turned to evil by some foul magic. They slit the throats of all inhabitants of the burrow, and dedicated their sacrifices to their unknown dark gods. They quickly set out to enslave as many hobbits and other sentient groups to fortify their new home, turning it into a bastion. The surprise of this incident caused a relative lack of haste to respond to it, and by the time the local forces of hobbits, gnomes and humans gathered together to take down the cultists, they had created powerful spells to protect them from any attack from the outside. Nowadays, the region is completely blocked, with the local forces still trying to break the magical defenses of the gnome cultists, while they, in turn, launch as many raids as possible for sacrifices to strengthen their dark magic.

E

### Einebeene Zidazzi Hive

The Einebeene Zidazzi Hive is one of the last Zidazzi Hives in their own holdings, now part of the Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi. The Einebeene Hive was located near the mountains, near areas with great amounts of flowers and fruit trees. At the time, it was a small hive compare to others to the south, a border population near the mountains. After Hibila the Terrible conquered the lands and near exterminated the zidazzi, the Einebeene Hive found itself very far from the fights, and was thus used as a refugee center for many zidazzi. Most of them were queenless zidazzi, while others were young queens who had lost their hive and were leading their colony to safer grounds. The Einebeene Hive was massively reinforced during those days, expanding both a massive double wall of wax and an underground to keep the growing population protected from the mountain cold. After many of the zidazzi crossed into the Ettin-Range, the hive returned to a size closer to the original, and nowadays, it is one of the biggest zidazzi hives within their old lands. Like other zidazzi hives near the mountains, they accumulate great amounts of honey to dump into the Honey River, keeping the badgassi from assaulting the hive for the sweet prize. The Einebeene zidazzi are also much more bellicose than others within the Ettin-Range and the lands of Sidarí, as attacks from bands of badgassi are frequent enough, since they cannot launch proper punitive expeditions to the south, least the badgassi decide to destroy the hive once and for all.

F

### Forgotten Fortress

The Forgotten Fortress is a major fortification built in the Cardammon Plateau. It was constructed during the days before the Battle of Empires by the azanese and the elven armies, preparing for the arrival of the khenomeri. The fortification was built in scant months, and in many ways, construction actually continued during the battle, as the attacks of the khenomeric armies of wizards and golems would batter the walls time and time again. The catastrophic end of the Battle of Empires and the cursing of the land saw the fortress abandoned since then, filled with the bodies of the dead warriors, many of which still unburied. The underground of the fortress is said to still held ancient weapons and items, many of them of holy or magical nature, an incredible boon if the rumors are true. Rumors also tell that the screams of the fighters still linger, some still continuing to fight with each other to this day, some seeking the living in rage and despair.

### Forgulholme

The Forgulholme Hall is an ancient underground dwarven population located in the Baalps. The loyalties of Forgulholme changed from Azan to the Western Elven Empire all the time, seeing that the Baalps used to be a border between the two empires’ areas of influence. However, this division also split the population between different factions, which led to a very violent infighting. During the ancient wars between Azan and the Western Elven Empire, the fights between the pro-azan and pro-WEE caused great destruction in the region, which inevitably lead to the underground being burned to cinders, with the population leaving to other dwarven halls around the world. The few attempts of repopulating it were initially successful, but the fear of the witchelven and the drow sabotaged caused the hall to be abandoned again. Nowadays, much of the riches of the old hall have been pillaged over and over again, leaving nothing but a hideout for bandits and cultists.

### Furlaniyan Karstic Caves

See Fûrlaniya

G

### Giant's Mouth Cave

In the Valley of the Fallen Giants, right between two great mountains, there lies a massive half-buried skull, believed to be part of the skeleton of a particularly colossal giant. The skull is partially hidden by ground and vegetation, but one can still distinct the shape of the teeth at the opening of the cave, being bigger than tree trunks. The open jaws serve as the entrance to the cave, in which parts of the body of the fallen giant can still be seen, even after an eternity has passed. There are also many mural paintings of ancient humans, who saw this place as sacred grounds, telling stories of worship and legends of the ancient of old.

### Gogothan Burrow

The Gogothan Burrow is an old hobbit burrow near the border between Thereby and the Land of the Fake Humans. This particular burrow is under the control of gnome cultists, worshipers of the demon lord Gogotha. They managed to kick out the old hobbit inhabitants of the burrow and turned it into a temple for Gogotha, from which they launch their raids to the nearby lands. It is also called the “Dungeon of Evil” by the nearby populations, which causes many to mistake it for the “Dungeon of Evil” to the north, followers of Mg’umba.

### Gordungus Hall

The Gordungus Hall used to be an ordinary dwarven hall in the Scabbard Range, at the heart of the Western Elven Empire. The history of the hall was nothing out of the ordinary until the days before the Drow Uprising. Weeks before the Drow Uprising, all communication between the hall and the rest of the empire ceased without any reason or explanation. Before the authorities of the empire sent emissaries to the population to know what was going on, the uprising of the drow happened, plunging the empire into chaos. The war came and went, and by the beginning of the Drow Confederacy, the authorities began an investigation about what exactly had happened to the Gordungus Hall. They realized that, during the years of war, not a single update about the population had been received by any drow authority, not a single individual from Gordungus Hall had been reported to participate in the war, and all the explorers and refugees who had gone there seeking refuge found the massive brass doors of the hall sealed shut. By the time the drow managed to force their way into the hall, they found that it had been abandoned to the last dwarf. There was no destruction or any sign of fighting, the buildings and mining equipment had seemingly been abandoned and left to rot. The drow authorities launched a massive investigation, and found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. In the end, they decided the most prudent course of action was sealing the hall again, forbidding anyone to enter. The land is now considered curse, and many stories whisper the possible fate of the people from Gordungus.

### Great Alegnawigan Burrow

The Great Alegnawigan Burrow is the biggest of the seguerial burrows in the Seguerial Hordas. The Alegnawigan dynasty was by far the biggest and most powerful of the seguerial colonies that ever existed, and due to their absolute dominion over the underground, they were able to create some of the most elaborate underground architecture in the world, rivalling and in many cases surpassing the works of the dwarves and the drow. These massive spaces are filled with incredibly complex pillars with reliefs of their history and their myths, serving as areas where trade and culture could have a space to flourish, all while being hidden from the rest of the world. However, after the fall of the Alegnawigan and the invasion of the gnoll, these massive spaces have been left to rot, both due to the lack of maintenance and the constant fighting between the different seguerial colonies. Still, many speculate that the alegnawigans have gathered a great deal of valuable treasures from the underground.

### Great Arcanum Mine

The Great Arcanum Mine was established back when the zemylanders first began extracting the mineral arcanum. The Realm of Steel quickly discovered massive veins of arcanum, and soon enough the land had been covered in mining tunnels and ritual towers, as the extraction of arcanum needs a great deal of magical ritual. However, due to the massive concentration of arcanum and the level of magical ritual in the area, the distorting effects of the mineral caused massive distortions in reality, which made the tunnels a death trap for anyone who dared to go in there. Once the people in charge realized that there was no way to mine safely, as the rifts in reality were growing bigger and more wild by the day, the Great Arcanum Mine was left abandoned. To this day, the effects of the arcanum still resonate within the land, creating areas where the veil of reality is so thin beings unnatural can cross in an out without issue, though they can never be too far from the rifts themselves.

### Great Imperial Cementery

The Great Imperial Cementery is the personal burial grounds of the god-emperors of Changrila. Located in the province of Hounshu, the resting place was chosen after the imperial astromancers located a particular stellar phenomena right above the area, which the emperor interpreted as a sign of the gods. At first, the emperors planned the construction of a massive temple to the gods of the Faith of the Divine Light, but the project dragged on for so long that multiple emperors lived and died before its completion. Their desire to be buried there started a trend, and soon enough the location became a massive burial ground. Many of them chose to be buried with part of their treasures, as well as with many works of art. In particular, the burial of thousands of statues representing the most loyal followers of the emperors has forced the construction of massive sealed underground sanctuaries, about as big as temples, where the terracotta figures guard their lord for all time. The place is also highly guarded by the changrilese army, who consider being stationed near the Great Imperial Cementery a great honor.

### Great Limestone Caves

The Great Limestone Caves are a series of natural caverns found near the river mouth of the Iebrum River, in the Kingdom of Poker. This natural cave has formed due to the filtration of rain dissolving the limestone, creating massive rooms connected vertically with each other going deep underground. The cave has some of the biggest rock formations in all Littlestep, with massive stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones. Deep within the caverns is rumored to be a massive underground lake, though due to the narrowness of some of the passages to the deeper areas, it has not yet confirmed.

### Great Morigrad

This massive coastal fort was once the capital of Kinnog back when it was a dwarven kingdom. Several large sea caves were expanded and fortified to form a large, partially enclosed harbor, while mines and vaults extend nearly a kilometer below the surface. It has occasionally been partially occupied since the fall of Kinnog, particularly by drow, but these days, harpy infestations block the main entrances, while some of the lesser entrance ways are used by smugglers and bandits.

### Grorrduff Hall

The Grorrduff Hall was one of the biggest dwarven halls within the core territories of the Azan Empire. Located near a mine of marble, the local dwarves supplied most of the marble for the nearby provinces, and the population grew quite wealthy because of that. However, the waste of the marble production slowly tainted the nearby water sources, to the point it became unsafe for consumption. What’s worse, the sources of water of the Grorrduff Hall became connected to those polluted with marble dust. The risks of consuming the poisoned water, combined with the lack of safe drinkable water, forced the population to swiftly evacuate to other dwarven populations. Nowadays, the marble mines are still in use, but the Grorrduff Hall has been relegated as a dumping ground for the waste of the mines.

### Gurdurstormehnn

The Gurdurstormehnn Hall is an abandoned dwarven hall located in the Baalp Mountains. Built for the extraction of coal, the geologists thought that the caloric power of the region’s mineral coal was quite high, and initially attracted many dwarves to the region. However, after a couple of decades, the quality of the coal decreased significantly, to the point there was a very real risk of having to leave the place. Seeking to increase the profitability of the mine, they dug and dug desperately to try to find richer and more valuable veins, which they finally did. However, in their hurry to find something valuable, the dwarves left aside some of the usual safety measures. It is unknown the events that led to the initial conflagration, but whatever the case, it caused a massive coal-seam fire, which spread all throughout the underground. The fire is still burning to this day, and Gurdurstormehnn is long abandoned, as the heat and the toxic fumes made it uninhabitable.

H

### Helmgrud Hall

The Helmgrud Hall is an ancient dwarven hall built above an ancient mine of tin and copper, oddly well suited for the production of bronze. Due to the shape of the mineral veins, the hall grew horizontally, something unusual for a dwarven hold. While it was said to be one of the most important dwarven halls back in ancient times, the exhaustion of the most profitable veins has led only the most treacherous still active, not being profitable anymore. Eventually, the population began moving to other regions, leaving it practically abandoned. Both the dwarves and the azanese keep an eye on the hall, in case of it getting occupied by goblins or bandits as a lair. Some parts of the hall are still used, either as storage or for dwarven religious ceremonies. Some azanese nobles also pay a hefty sum to explore the depths of the hall, seeking the aid of the local dwarves to watch the abandoned ruins.

### Hjulkfor

See the Fungest

I

J

K

### Kinug Cave

The Kinug Cave is one of the biggest and deepest caves within the Kinga Badlands. Like many of the caverns within the badlands, it holds a great deal of water, accumulated from ancient times. The Kinga people know the Kinug Cave as the biggest of its kind, and by extension, the biggest hunting ground for land sharks in the land. Many kinga travel a great distance to partake in the hunt, but only the most expert and ancient of kinga are allowed to travel inside the cave. Indeed, the kinga consider the Kinug Cave as sacred, and over the generations, they have built a shrine to the Goddess of the Water, which serves as both praying grounds and neutral ground for discussions of the utmost importance between kinga elders. The kinga offer great tribute to the great statue of the Goddess of the Water within the cave, near the waters where the land sharks live.

### Kuri'tas-Sii

The drow city of Kuri'tas-Sii is one of the more secretive of all of the drow populations within Scimitarian. Very few it is known about their origins, but what we know is that it was founded by followers of the drow volcano god, Infernus, seeking a place where they could commute with their divinity. The underground lands of Kuri'tas-Sii flow smoothly through natural canals, granting the underground a very red illumination while also keeping the temperatures high, but the magma is liquid enough to not clog and cause a flood of lava. The drow here practice a great deal of rituals in appraisal to the volcano god, and many of the sculptures and temples in there are built by solidified lava, given shape through the skilled work of their artisans and wizards. In the deeper areas of Kuri'tas-Sii, some of the drow wizards sought to commute deeper with their god, and in the process they became summoners, learning to bring forth and control fire demons and lava elementals, exerting a surprisingly high level of control over them.

L

### Lapislazuli Cave

The Lapislazuli Cave of the Grass Marquisate is the biggest mine of rare stones of the Empire of Elanxa. Discovered by accident by a farmer chasing down a missing goat, the farmer ended up entering a small cavern filled to the brim with rare minerals: emeralds, rubies, opals, jades… Once the farmer told the discovery to his lord, he was rewarded with two whole pigs and told to never go back there on the pain of death. The mine was then open and explored, discovering massive amounts of rare gemstones and minerals, particularly lapis lazulies. Eventually the mine ended up in the hands of the elanxan emperors, who protect the mine with great zeal, and only the most loyal and well paid members of the army are allowed to guarded. And with good reason, as some say that a couple of hours exploring the depths of the cave can turn a pauper into a king.

### Lustrus Breach

See Succubus Breaches

M

### Mer'itas'sii

The Mer’itas’sii caves are a series of deep magma caverns, formed by the seismic activity of the Mer’itas’sii volcanoes. The magma has managed to form certain bubbles of livable spaces, which are used by the local drow to form a small city, though even drow know that any major city built near a volcano is doomed to disaster, so only a few hundred drow live in the area, mining the softest volcanic rock. This Lolthite drow city was built beneath a seasonal lake, which fills during autumn and winter and it slowly filters down during the rest of the year, creating tall waterfalls that can go hundreds of meters tall, with some areas forming natural underground lakes above the volcanic basalt and obsidian. The combination of magma and water need to be watched over with care, least the growing steam increase the humidity too much and cause a fungal outbreak. The drow have created canals to move most of the water into dams, allowing them drinkable water, but pillars of steam are common. The locals amuse themselves with the few visitors they have by making them believe that contact between magma and water can result in the complete explosion of the mountain, and seeing their reaction every time they hear a steam pillar going upwards.

### Mikk Burrow Hole

The Mikk Burrow Hole is an ancient underground burrow in the Seguerial Hordas. It used to belong to the Mikk dynasty, one of the better known colonies before the arrival of the Alegnawigans, though its disappearance is surrounded in mystery. What we do know is that they were very skilled underground builders, crafting incredibly resilient burrows that were very easy to defend from outside invaders. The disappearance of their old rulers led to a massive fight for control over their remnants, which only ended after the Alegnawigans took it over as one more of their domains. Nowadays, it is filled with wild gnoll and hyenagnoll, as the constant infighting after the fall of the Alegnawigans restarted the old grudges for control, leaving a ton of bodies who became fed for the invaders.

### Moonlit Grotto

The Moonlit Grotto is a series of caves and caverns hidden by natural waterfalls and walls of growing vines, which served during many centuries as the home of multiple colony of drow. The grotto allowed them for an easy defense against the witchelven raids, often allowing them to enter the darker levels and ambushing them, until the witchelven lost all interest and left. The rise of the Witchelven Empire forced the Moonlit Grotto, as well as many of the isolated drow colonies in the region to bunker down. Unlike many others, the Moonlit Grotto actually managed to resist during many decades, even after serious attacks, and they rejected any offer of joining the forces of the witchelven. The Moonlit Grotto finally fell during the opening of the Gomorrah Breach, as it launched a torrent of succubae and other demons right within the depths, destroying every surviving drow left.

### Mossovian Underground

See Mossovy

N

O

### Old Dugir Ruins

The city of Dugir was one of the richest cities in the Kingdom of Nogar. The city had become a bustling trade city, filled with some of the most modern financial services in the entire of Eastern Giantstep. This was done by some of the aristocratic families in Dugir, who had created banks and other similar institutions to support their enterprises. In particular, they were in charge of keeping safe some of the nogarese families’ riches, kept in safes deep within the city, and guarded by loyal soldiers and sentinels. The city’s sewers also doubled as the gateway to a labyrinthine sea of tunnels in which the nobles kept riches and secrets. However, the war against the gnoll hit Dugir and its population hard. Unable to slow down the advance of the invaders, and not wanting to leave their riches behind, many noble families staged a last defense within the underground, seeking to push them back for long enough to hope for reinforcements. Reinforcements that never came, as Dugir was left well within gnoll-occupied territory, and the sewers filled with the bodies of the dead and hyenagnolls hunting in the dark. Many still believe that most of these safes are still intact, with only the dry bones of their old owners left behind.

### Old Nogar Ruins

The city of Nogar is one of the oldest populated centers in the world. While never as populous such as Khoraqualumum or other centers in eastern Gianstep, it allowed it to have a deep and rich history throughout the centuries. The importance of Nogar even gave the ancient kingdom its name, even if it stopped being the capital after the taking over by the Khenomeric Empire and afterwards. During the growth of the city, the population used some of the underground stone quarries behind it, which forced the nogarese to reinforce the underground with massive catacombs and sewers, which ended up growing into massive tunnel networks far beyond the city’s ability to follow or control. This became a problem for crime, as many groups ended up taking refuge within the labyrinthine structure, necessitating a great deal of vigilance to keep them in check. The invasion of the gnoll led to a massive battle to save the old heart of the kingdom, a battle which was eventually lost. The civilians who couldn’t run away before had to take their chances in the underground, reportedly fighting the gnoll for years afterwards. Nowadays, the fate of the people of Old Nogar is still a mystery, but many believe some of them have become part of the surviving human gangs and savages who managed to survive after the gnoll came and went.

### Old Oroborodoros

The Old Oroborodoros used to be an ancient drow population in northern Scimitarian. In an area predominantly populated by humans and sea elves, the drow were rare this far north, and as such, they concentrated around a couple of underground cities, like Oroborodoros. They lived of mining tin and iron to sell to the nearby populations, having to dig very deep to reach the difficult veins in the area. The population of Oroborodoros suffered a massive upheaval during the days before the great Drow Uprising, as many drow were sent northwards to guarantee the success of the revolt over areas where Azan had a bigger grasp of power. However, the forces within Oroborodoros were not enough to succeed on their own, and the local azanese forces were able to quickly drive them back to the underground. While the drow forces were rescued by reinforcements of the south, the murder of Celia II resulted in the crumbling of the drow forces in the north, who quickly fell into disarray and retreated to the south, leaving Oroborodoros to be conquered by the human population. The expulsion of the drow from Oroborodoros resulted in the abandonment of the city, as humans seldom live underground. Nowadays, Oroborodoros has been stripped bare of anything of value, with the only things left in there being the iron and tin veins, too deep for humans to safely go for. In recent years, the local lords have been discussing giving permission to dwarven settlers to establish there so the mining economy could be restarted.

### Opal Caves

The Opal Caves of Aihgtheguani are a series of natural caverns connected with each other, sprawling a wide arrange of caves that have proven to be interconnected through the underground. It was discovered by a servalala explorer, who quickly made a fortune through trade with opals and other rare stones. After a while, he became the ruler of a small fiefdom, controlling the land through the profits of the opal caves, becoming one of the most powerful servalala in the region. The tale of Aihgtenguani the First is well known in the Zulutaur Steppes, and nowadays, the extraction of the opals and the exploration of further tunnels is the responsibility of Aihgtheguani’s descendants. The local town holds the local miners, and also many traders who are interested in the purchase of the minerals, as the mine is close nearby to many trade routes. The Aihgtheguani have hired dozens of ecrkoecknoi as explorers, as many of the tunnels can only be accessed to by swimming through the inundated canals.

### Org-Iii Den

The Org-Iii Den is one of the deep underground bases that the witchelven use as bases for either raiding or attracting unsuspecting victims for their dungeons. The closeness to the Changrila Empire actually make it a very important military outpost for the Witchelven Empire, as it is both the main supplying base for witchelven raids, as well as a fortress against changrilese counterattacks. The succubae summoned there sometimes cause trouble for Daligrad and Kalydon, as many witchelven who attack those regions often bring their spoils all the way back to the south, far from any retaliation. The frequency of succubae summoning and dark rituals develop within the halls of the fort makes many believe that it will be the center of a future nascent breach.

P

Q

### Qadash Ruins

See Qadash

R

### Royal Merfolk Summer Palace

The Royal Merfolk Summer Palace was a monumental construction built by the merfolk royal house in the island of Leng. It is said that at one point, one of the merfolk princesses wished to create the biggest botanical garden in the world, beginning the construction of a small retreat in the island. However, over the years, the palace was expanded more and more, to the point of it being considered one of the biggest palaces in the world by the time of the Curse of Uun. It was a ziggurat-like structure, maintained by beautiful arches with all sorts of beautiful stones grafted into them, and covered by vibrant flowers and vines. The outside gardens were also covered by vegetation brought all around the world, which include sections of forests of all places. The underground of the palace was dedicated to keeping seeds of the rarest plants around, and were also used to produce wine from some of the fruits from far away lands, being considered a treat exclusive to royalty and as tribute to Uun itself. After the Curse of Uun, however, the place became a ghost of its former self, with the people in charge of the castle being devoured forever by the plants that they guarded, forever being digested without any chance of escape or release. The plants themselves have become alive, and now hunt any trespassers with the same ferocity as hunting animals.

### Royal Tomb of Kra-Kahn

The Royal Tomb of Kra-Kahn is a funerary mausoleum built in the lands of the Gökmavi Khaganate. The Kra-Kahn was the leader of the Red Horde during the 25th century, and was widely known at the time for being a very spiritual man, even within the already pious people of the Red Horde. As a member of the Cult of Blinding Light, his praise of the Nameless King led him to begin building a massive temple, which was only barely finished before his death. However, other practitioners of the Cult of the Blinding Light saw the construction as a break with the more ascetic interpretation of their faith, especially since the temple had grown too ostentatious for the priests’ liking. Instead, at the request of his heir, he was buried within the temple, which became known as the Royal Tomb of Kra-Kahn. The mausoleum eventually became accepted by the priests, and nowadays it also serves as a temple to the Nameless King. The massive structure also holds the tombs of many other royals, high priests and warriors of note, who were buried in the catacombs of the temple.

### Ruins of Fsamel

The ruins of the ancient drow city of Fsamel are located near the city of Vydra, in the province of the Rigde, in the Kingdom of Copper. The history of how the drow reached Zemyland is one shrouded in mystery due to lack of proper registers, but we do know that the city of Fsamel used to be the biggest drow center in Zemyland. After Fsamel was razed by unknown parties ages ago, the surviving drow fled to the surface and mixed in with the Hyperboreans, leaving very few pure drow in Zemyland, with most of them having mixed with hyperboreans of snow elves. The causes for Fsamel’s fall are poorly understood, and their descendants do not talk about it much, either due to superstition about their past or because they have genuinely lost that knowledge. The ruins themselves have been sacked time and time again by many of the zemylander armies that have reached this place, and there is very little of interest there left safe for archaeologists studying the past of the continent.

### Runaan Underground

The Runaan Underground refers to two underground areas in the Ashland Desert. The first is the volcanic caverns of the Runaan, a result of the constant volcanic and seismic activity in the area, creating a labyrinthine series of underground caves and tunnels. These serve as the main habitat of the runaan, as well as a fully developed ecosystem, all independent from the light of the sun. The massive mineral wealth of the underground has historically attracted many of the nations to this region, but due to the inhospitable nature of the underground for anyone outside of the runaan and the harshness of the Ashland Desert above, few attempts have actually been successful in the long run.

This led to the second structure named the Runaan Underground, the tunnels that both the Kingdom of Ketlovia and the Khenomeric Empire tried to establish to cross and control the region. The ketlovians were the first to attempt to create a permanent outpost in the region, long before the werewolf curse happened. Back in those days, the ketlovians tried to take advantage of a series of natural tunnels that seemingly crossed from one point of the desert to the other, attempting to reach what is now known as Setlovia. They had to artificially connect several tunnels with each other, mining the land for many years to connect them, and this work ended up connecting them with some of the natural caverns where the runaan live. The potential prizes of the underground, however, were not enough to maintain the enormous costs of the project and the defense of the caravans from the locals, and it was left abandoned. After the Khenomeric Empire took over the Kingdom of Ketlovia, but even though they reinforced and increased the number of tunnels connecting one side of the desert with the other, the sheer expenses of this made it so that the khenomeri abandoned the land, with only certain outpost standing to claim a minimum of control.

S

### Salus'oh'um

The city of Salus'oh'um was a drow population located in what is now know as the hargen of Zalabstra, in the Witchelven Empire. It was one of the drow undergrounds located east of the Azan Empire, located through an ancient canyon created by a long dry river. This allowed the drow to build their city around the shade of the canyon, which meant they were one of the few drow at the time to live as much above ground as underground. They even built a massive statue dedicated to the Spider Queen, in the shape of a elf-like figure who created a series of complex shadow forms with her arms and web-like cloth when the suns hit it from different sides. However, during the rise of Morwenna, the drow from Salus’oh’um refused to pledge their service to the prophet of the Succubus Queen, and thus a short war started between the two. While the canyon offered a good defensive position, the violent assaults of the witchelven quickly overwhelmed the defenders, and Salus’oh’um was emptied of life, with very few survivors escaping the massacre. The statue to the Spider Queen broke during the battle, and now blocks the main entrance to the underground, with the cracked pieces scattered all through the ruins.

### Silverwhite Caverns

The Silverwhite Caverns are a series of natural caverns located in the Princedom of Platinum. They are natural mines of marble, known in all Zemyland for being a strange shinning white hue which can turn into a light blue when properly treated. This silverwhite marble is incredibly sought after by zemylander nobility, as in the last decades, there has been a building spree between the royalty and the high nobility to build the most ostentatious palaces they can, often hiring innovative architects and engineers to produce unique pieces of art. The Silverwhite Caverns, as the only known location of this valuable mineral, generates a great deal of fortune for the populations around, all organized by a half-drow hyperborean noble who gain the favor of the platinum nobility. Mining in the caverns is quite dangerous, however, since the mineral in question can only be obtained from the deeper layers of the mine, as the marble from the upper ones do not generate the same blueish shine the deeper ones do.

### Skeet Burrow Hole

The Mikk Burrow Hole is an ancient underground burrow in the Seguerial Hordas. The Mikk were a particularly bellicose dynasty, particularly apt at lightning strikes and terror tactics in the underground. However, this situation left them with even fewer allies than the usual seguerial colony, and what was worse, many colonies that would usually not want anything to do with each other gladly allied together in the attempts to take them down. This ended up in a massive battle where the Skeet dynasty was completely obliterated, all queens and males executed to keep the bloodline from surviving. Nowadays, the Skeet Burrow Hole is considered an ominous place, filled with the skeletons of the Skeet soldier, nailed to the wall as a reminder of the defeat of the colony. It has also become a very dangerous nest for gnoll, since the area is free of seguerials, there is nothing but lack of food that keeps the gnoll population there from growing.

### Stalactite Labyrinth

The Stalactite Labyrinth is a series of natural caves south of the Blue Lakes in Littlestep. The caves have formed over millions of years, generating massive marble stalagmites, stalactites and other rock formations. The narrow and winding paths go deep into the ground, as the caves end up draining the rains into its lower levels, generating massive underground lakes that are said to contain incredibly pure water. This mineral water is said to have healing properties, as well as calming the mind and soul, but the extremely narrow tunnels make accessing it highly difficult. Some companies of fairies and other diminutive species are charged from time to time to carry small amounts of water from the deep, which is sold to the local nobility at an exorbitant price.

### Stikki Boom Fortress

The Stikki Boom Fortress is a fortification built on top of a series of caverns and underground burrows occupied by a local nest of goblins, who have lived in the area for many decades by now. The caves and underground lairs is part of the karstic network of tunnels in the area, with many areas having been marked by the water currents during the season of heavy rains. The goblins occupying the caves are particularly pacifist, being both slow to breed and friendly with outsiders. They live from hunting and foraging, as well as trading with the local human populations. They are particularly adept at manufacturing fireworks, often selling them for very cheap, though their quality is below that of human pyrotechnists.

T

### Temple of the Inverted Mountain

The largest of the three remaining SonQo temples, and definitely the most ominous, even before the centipede plague. It was built in an isolated patch of mountains, over top of a maze of underground ruins from an unknown culture, though perhaps the same as the one who created the Endless Crypt. Once used by the monks as a place of intense meditation, its extensive tunnels and chambers are now home to the majority of the remaining mad monks. The surface buildings house dwarves, who have painted the Changrilese-style buildings a sinister black for unknown reasons.

### The Burrow

The Great Burrow of Buisvuit is said to be the first hobbit burrow ever constructed, or at the very least it is the oldest surviving hobbit burrow still in use. For many centuries, the leaders of the city of Buisvuit lived in the burrow, ever expanding it downwards, creating new rooms according to their needs. Due to this, it does not belong to a singular family, instead holding the families of the major of Buisvuit. The newer families have to dedicate a great deal of effort of expanding the chambers, leading to a labyrinthine structure, filled with many of the possession of the older leaders of the city. It has reached to the point of needing multiple entries with the surfaces as shortcuts, and even then, sometimes curious hobbits get lost exploring the burrow, and the elder hobbits need to launch expeditions to find them again.

### The Crystal Caves

The Crystal Caves are a series of natural underground caverns deep within the Glass Mountains. The unnatural properties of the mountains of glass makes it so the land is constantly changing, with glass growing, shrinking and breaking down. This has allowed for the creation of natural underground caverns, of constant changing shape and depth. The study of these caverns show that the underground glass caves is one of the most hostile environments in the entire world. The translucency of the glass makes the sun go through the mountain, accumulating the heat within the caverns, which can reach truly unbearable temperatures. The constant growth of the glass can suddenly change the route of the caverns or even block some tunnels entirely. The water from rain and snow end up filtering through the cracks, ending up flooding some of the caverns. And if the mountain grows too much, the weight of it all can sink the cave in the blink of an eye. There is little of interest within these caves for the common person, but many speculate that they are the key of understanding the nature of the Glass Mountains, as the source of the unnatural mineral may lay within the depths of the mountains.

### The Endless Crypt

The Endless Crypt is a strange funerary complex found in the southern part of the Cornfloor Peninsula. The surface part of the structure is just ruins now, nothing but a series of broken walls and cracked statues of unknown entities and gods, all covered by the jungle vegetation. Beneath the earth, on the other hand, is a completely different story. This massive tomb network from a now forgotten culture contains tens of thousands of bodies on slabs, shallow pools, and nooks carved into the tunnel walls. The bodies of the entombed are unusually well preserved, despite the jungle climate and the vermin. The bones, however, are a mystery in and of themselves, as despite them being humanoid, they do not seem to belong to any known sentient species living nowadays.

### The Lair of Thieves

The Lair of Thieves is the common name for a mozadizz underground within the Ettin-Range. The hideout dates from the days when the gökmavi began pushing the mozadizz from the Red Land Steppes into the Onyx Mountains, and has held multiple generations of mozadizz raiders. This small fortification is located in a near unreachable place above the mountains, definitively not something the gökmavi could reach by horse, and thus it was the perfect hiding place for the flying mothmen. The mozadizz then built a series of tunnels to hide their treasure and loot, hiding all of their treasure before moving elsewhere to sell it. The effectively impenetrable fortress is a highly sought after possession for many mozadizz bandit groups, who will fight each other for the privilege of using it, though most of the time they will share the loot. Due to the location, the Lair of Thieves has to be abandoned during winter, as the temperatures become too much for the mozadizz, who travel to more protected and less isolated areas. The race of who takes the fort first during the first ice melting of spring is a very contested clash between the mozadizz raiders and thieves.

### The Last Step

The Last Step is a natural cavern located in the Eldritch Jungle. It was discovered by sailors who crossed the Morllowin Inner Sea and the Fool’s Trap Inner Sea. Thinking that the cave was filled with treasure, they went deep within, where to their horror, they discovered the natural properties of the cave. The cave has a massive cliff at the bottom, seemingly without end. And unlike with the rest of the world’s edge, where one can get the sensation of advancing while not actually moving from the spot, the Last Step is the only place where one can truly fall from the step. It is said that the view of the underground cliff alone and the world outside the edge can drive someone into horrific madness. The paintings in the walls of the cavern suggest that it used to be a sacrificial place for the old civilizations living in the jungle in ancient times.

### The Laughing Caverns

The Laughing Caverns is a complex series of natural caverns near the Molchloch Lake, in the lands of the Bog Witch. With an entrance barely a gap into the ground and hidden by swamp vegetation, the Laughing Caverns is connected to a series of geysers very deep underground. The shape of the tunnels connecting the gas exits to the surface makes that, every time a geyser becomes active, it resonates throughout the caver in such a way that it sounds like a dying laughter. Due to this, locals believe the place is cursed, and so they keep their distance. This attitude is very prudent, as the concentrations of gasses also causes the air around it to become rancid and even toxic for some species, with frequent cadavers of dead wild animals who got too close to the toxic fumes for safety.

### The Lost Pyramid

Deep within the Eldritch Jungle, there lies a massive step pyramid, covered in thick jungle and eroded by millennia of rain and abandonment. Very few have actually reached the pyramid and came back to tell the tale, but those who did told tales of strange statues of unknown deities, cracked and broken by the elements. Even less have ventured into the depths of the pyramid, which is thought to have a deep system of tunnels, creating a maze to the depths. What lies in the deepest part of the maze, no one alive knows.

### The Tomb of Decency

The Tomb of Decency is the name the local populations give to a series of natural caverns between the lands of Dia’Ul and Drowchont. The darkness of the lands around them has turned the demonic presence to coalesce within the cave, as many of the more intelligent creatures learned to hide from the dark druids within the depths of its tunnels. The accumulation of demonic entities within thinned the veil of reality even further, strengthening the monsters inside while attracting new ones. The power of the entities in the caves forced the dark druids to seal the entries, as purging the demons was thought to be too costly. The Tomb of Decency is protected with a great deal of illusion spells, causing the uninitiated to flee in utter terror, with only powerful and experienced wizards and those with great determination capable of entry. Within the cave, they will find some of the darkest horrors that should not be in the mortal realm.

### The Tunnels of the Hopeless

The Tunnels of the Hopeless is the name of a series of natural caverns west of the Great End Peaks. The natural channels connect certain areas of the plains west of the mountains with areas much higher above in the middle of the range. Back in the day, these tunnels were used by bandits that raided the nearby towns and hid their treasures from the authorities. As the underground was quite irregular and dangerous to traverse, the authorities limited themselves to blocking the entrances, watching them by building outposts near them. However, during the fall of the Khenomeric Empire and the lands east to it, the massive amount of people trying to run away from the gnoll caused many to try to take their chances within the tunnels. With more and more people crossing the underground the closer the gnoll got, the tunnels became filled with abandoned possessions, as well as remnants of fighting, with many preying on the poor souls escaping. In the end, the gnoll eventually arrived to the caves, ending with the lives of those too slow to cross deeper into the mountains. The local inhabitants of the mountains now believe that the Tunnels of the Hopeless are curse, but they always keep their eyes on it, as from time to time, escaped slaves have managed to cross into the caves, exiting from their help into the frozen cold of the mountains.

### The Underground Windmill

The Underground Windmill is a complex underground structure within the lands of the Sea of Wheat. It consists of a series of massive sails that seemingly sprout vertically from the ground, measuring about 24 meters each into the sky, connected to a central axis that moves a complex mechanism, with many stone cogs transmitting the movement to the grinding stones. The mill itself is massive, and there is rarely enough wind in the lands to actually move the device, which makes many people think the underground windmill has more of a ceremonial function, rather than a practical one. The underground also spans quite a lot of distance deeper into the ground, with many of the locals believing this is the ancient home of the mythical Roggenmuhme.

### The Wet Caves

Da Wet Caves is the name of a massive major goblin nest in the region of Kinnog. The area is filled of hundreds of kilometers of natural limestone caves, cenotes, and lava tubes, some of which are partially filled with seawater. All of these form a series of networks, both naturally and through the goblin’s work, creating a natural fortress for the goblins, which can take refuge on the caves against attacks from the drow, ogres and other goblins. The network is also very resistant to siege, as the goblins can hunt crabs and other forms of sea life in some of the deeper caves, with halls so thin that only goblins can cross comfortably. Over time, however, the goblins here have become overpopulated, causing some to raid the surface dwellers or goblins in other cave networks. This also results in frequent fights for power.

U

### Underground Cannal

The Underground Cannal is a series of natural tunnels and caverns that cross through part of the Zulutaur Steppes. The caves channel the water from many different areas, creating an underground river big enough to fit small boats. This has made it a very interesting proposition for many travelers and merchants, as the scorching heat and most of the dangerous wildlife are not factors there, though a number of crocodiles do prefer hunting in there. The local populations have explored most of the caves and worked a great deal of lights in there, as well as repairing areas for the crafts. Vigilance in the darker and less transited regions is much less thorough, and so most travelers are recommended to get a guide that knows the tunnels to avoid ending in those.

### Urraga

See Dominion of the Bog Witch

V

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### Widow's Castle

The Castle of Lady Lu, also known as the Widow’s Castle, is a strange abandoned fortress within the jungles of Chakobsa. It was built by a powerful merchant from one of the cities in the Dirihadarir Desert, Lord Muharabarsidar, who thought he could create a trade route through the north, avoiding the desert by crossing the jungle. Despite the many warnings he received from his countrymen, he began the project of a series of fortifications that would defend the roads to the east, with the first fort being named after his wife. However, construction took a while, as they quickly realized they needed to build massive tunnels and chambers to store products, as well as food for the people manning the fort. While the construction was eventually done, Lord Muharabarsidar died from jungle fevers, never seeing the project come to fruition. Maddened with grief, his widow decided to continue the project, expanding her fortification despite everyone now clearly seeing it was a lost cause. Even when the builders and mercenaries decided to abandon her once the money ran out, she stayed in the fortification, keeping guard over her late husband’s folly. Nowadays, this castle has been swallowed by the vegetation, with some yagurans using it as a staging point for raids. These yagurans have also expanded upon the deeper parts of the castle, now filled with the bones of sacrifices and slaves that did not survive the travel deeper inland.

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### Zheng-Shii Silver Mines

The Zheng-Shii Silver Mines are the biggest mines of silver in the world, located in the province of Houshu within the Changrila Empire. These mines were discovered back when Changrila was still a part of the Azan Empire, and the immense value of them saw them being a constant target back during the Azanese Civil War. Nowadays, the imperial family keeps incredible care on the administration of the mines, as they are essential to the changrilese economy. Indeed, the amount and purity of the silver within the mines allows Changrila to have one of the most stable and accepted coins in the world, the changrilese “Wuju”, renowned for their high amount of silver. The mines sprawl deep underground, with many of the best wizards and geologists of the empire hired for the search and exploration of deeper veins, while also keeping the entire structure from collapsing. Indeed, the exploitation of the mines has been so prolonged in time that many fear that the mines will run out of precious metal at any point, though for now it does not seem to be the case any time soon.