Map15 - Deep Calls

## Deep Calls

Deep Calls is the fifth level of Hedon Bloodrite, being part of the same map cluster as Besieged. Located in the opposite direction of the north-western Minotaur Town, the Dwarf Town is yet another fairly inaccessible Underworld ruin dating from a forgotten age. It was built by ancient Dwarves in order to carry out archaeological studies of a set of particularly interesting submerged elven ruins. The discovery of an Underwater Vault located deep inside these forgotten vestiges attracted the attention of the Psi Demons, which suggests that the Demons have played a significant role in driving the town's inhabitants away in order to secure the Vault for themselves. Eventually, a group of Cultists moved into the upper part of the Dwarf Town, establishing themselves in the crumbling buildings and living their everyday lives inside the icy caverns while completely unaware of their role as guard dogs to an Underwater Vault they would never know existed.

Nithriel herself holds an interest in this location, her own agents having infiltrated the ranks of the local Cultists. While she was corrupting Lith in order to facilitate her invasion of Valc, the mental channel she established with the orc caused some of their memories to merge, the Witch write about memories of the submerged ruins that she never had in her diaries. This later allowed Chieftain Zura to discover an important lead for her investigation of the Corruption, with the underwater ruins appearing to be its origin.

Zan is tasked with moving in and investigating the ruins with the help of High Priest Jaromir and an Earth Mother Ward. If the player manages to clear out the demonic ambush in the icy caverns leading up to the Dwarf Town's side entrance before Jaromir moves out, his men will survive and attack the Cultists inside, causing them to retreat in the Upper Square and barricade it. Otherwise, the dwarves will perish in the ambush and Jaromir will only be able to secure the entrance and Gearworks, leaving the task of taking on the unsuspecting Cultists to Zan alone.

## Dwarf Town & Facilities

### Main Street

The general layout of the Dwarf Town indicates that it was built after a rigorous urban plan. As seen in the eastern collapsed tunnels leading up to the portal and market outside of town, the Main Street is an important central element that once connected the area with the central regions of the empire. It not only facilitates logistics but also draws the hierarchy and layout around which the buildings are organized.

A guard house, a bank and a carpenter shop are facing the central path of the Main Street, although the carpenter shop has its entrance barred. The Main Street also connects directly to the Archaeology Operations building in the center and the Gearworks facility and Docks towards the eastern end. The presence of a large gate at the eastern end of town suggests that the Main Street led further inside at some point, but the tunnels beyond have either frozen over or collapsed.

A much narrower pair of staircases link the Main Street to the Upper Square above from two sides of the Main Street plaza.

### Upper Square

Located to the north-west, the Upper Square is one of the Dwarf Town's centers, hosting the entrance to the tavern as well as the inn and bar which connect directly to the market square just outside of the town's main gate.

The buildings are placed in an orderly fashion, having a common front shaped in clear cut geometry around a central stone garden. Although the facade is unitary, the house interiors within serve their own purpose and are built with different materials.

The passage of time and the presence of the Cultists have eroded the history of this place significantly, though, with the west side having been heavily damaged and used by the new inhabitants to create a makeshift chapel.

The Upper Square currently serves as a gathering place for the Cultists, who are using the abandoned buildings as personal quarters (especially the inn and sculptor's house) despite the damaged walls allowing cold drafts to flow unhindered. A destroyed wall at the back of the sculptor's house gapes and exposes the Sewage complex behind the town.

### Sewage

The common areas are almost entirely surrounded by various facilities and technical spaces positioned discretely outside the town's inner walls. Built to provide the underground town with heat, running water, ventilation and sewage treatment, the complex system of pipes and chambers is an integral part of the Dwarven Village and are an impressive technological feat in their own right.

The Sewage area has degraded with time, many of the primary pipes having burst or been clogged by mossy overgrowth. A processing room lies at the lower part of the facility, connected to the town's side entrance through a tunnel secured by bulkhead doors.

### Gearworks

On the opposite side of the Sewage area, across the side entrance to the town, another set of bulkhead door tunnels leads to the Gearworks, the heart of the Dwarf Town's power-dependent facilities. Jaromir manages to turn the ancient machinery on, which lives up to the legendary name of dwarven engineering and proves capable of providing enough power for at least one of the town's main power lines. This allows further access to the special buildings like the archaeology facilities or the air refueling station by the Docks.

### Docks

The Docks are located at the eastern end of the Main Street, which is also used as an impromptu storage area. Although the metallic walkways have become corroded with time, the few remaining sections show that the Docks were not designed to harbor any vessels. A nearby air tank refueling station once again proves the genius of ancient dwarven engineers, who were once able to explore the deep waters using special diving suits. The facility also holds the controls for the main gate leading to the Underwater Caves.

### Archaeology Operations

Another rather impressive example of dwarven engineering lies at the very heart of the town. The Archaeology Operations facility features a main preparation chamber holding the divers' lockers followed by a series of airtight tunnels that extend underwater which lead further to the submerged sections of the Archaeology Station.

### Water Pumping

Designed to prevent the underwater facility from flooding, the Water Pumping area has miraculously remained functional throughout the ages, although a significant part of the complex has been filled with water. This didn't stop the Demons from moving in since they can use gating to teleport past such obstacles, as proven by the inaccessible water storage room which has been turned into another demonic chapel. Using the water pump to drain the water removes pressure from the nearby bulkhead door and allows one to venture deeper inside the Archaeology Station.

### Underwater Archaeology Station

The Underwater Archaeology Station is a large complex of submerged chambers built to allow the thorough study of particular ruins. The glass windows overlooking the surrounding flooded caves have withstood the test of time, preventing the already secure facility from being compromised by leakage. A pressurized chamber at the south-eastern end of the Station allows divers to access the main part of the elven ruins directly.

## Underwater Area

### Underwater Caves

With their icy walls ever shaped by the presence of the blue crystals, the Underwater Caves have likely shifted their topography along the ages, swallowing parts of the Dwarf Town as well as the nearby elven ruins in the process. The expansive caves can only reliably be explored with the help of a Diving Suit. Nithriel's Warlocks, on the other hand, bypass the need for a diving suit with their magics, which allows them to explore the caves in search of a way to break inside the Underwater Vault.

### Underwater Lab

Located remotely, to the east of the Dwarf Town, the Underwater Lab most likely served a different purpose back in its day. The presence of an autonomous power line suggests that it originally operated independently from the other facilities. It is very likely that the current clandestine lab operation is run by Nithriel's agents, as it is used to experiment on the corruption and its spawn, with an entire side section being allocated to the creation of Golems.

### Underwater Amphitheatre

Nothing incidates the rich history of the ruins like the presence of a sizable amphitheatre, just to the north of the main Ruins. The structure has been preserved surprisingly well to the point where even the reverb amplifying urns have remained mostly intact. The amphitheatre's presence also suggests that the caves haven't always been flooded despite various rumors suggesting that elves used to live underwater.

### Underwater Ruins

Shielded at the heart of the Underwater Caves, the ancient Ruins have been the object of desire for many scholars and archaeologists along the ages, as it provides an ample window of opportunity through which they can analyze the old culture of the elves in a scope beyond the odd temple and shrine scattered across the Underworld. The complex appears to have been a mix between a palace and temple and features important inscriptions as well as a few examples of elven crystal technology, especially in the locking mechanism found inside the Vault's antechamber.

### Underwater Vault

Located in the southern end of the Ruins, the Underwater Vault has remained sealed since the fall of the elven race to the demonic hordes. It has been kept in the secretive hands of the Psi Demons, its true purpose known only to a small handful, including Nithriel. The columns supporting this broad chamber are etched with crystal glyphs, signalling the strong connection between the Underworld's crystals and an incredibly advanced civilization that once knew all their secrets.

A number of vats are spread across the vault, containing various corrupt specimen, including the Seed of Corruption which is supposed to be the prime vector that spawned the dark living mass. When Zan gains access to the Vault, the Blue Baron contacts her in the form of an illusion, setting his minions upon her. Thankfully they fail to stop her from claiming the Seed, which she brings back to the Iron Division's base.