Minor Settlements

Minor Settlements are settlements of populations or established outposts that are smaller in size than the larger settlements of Aefenglom and Dorchacht. Due to the spread of the Cwyld, at this time, there are only a couple of known Minor Settlements.

## The Underground

### Cwyld Level

None

The Underground, known to its citizens only as “the city”, is a settlement far beneath the earth, located north of Aefenglom. Originally established as refugees fleeing the Cwyld, the Underground was not discovered until the Mirrorbound entered a dream state in which they were able to enter the city.

Characters can reach it by using a **teleport at the Northern Outpost**, and then traveling to the site and entering the tunnels.

### History

The Underground was established long ago, at a time when it was believed the Cwyld would consume the world and destroy all that was around it. Where the Underground lies, the Cwyld did, in fact, destroy all life around it and as a result, its residents fled beneath the surface of the earth. The Underground citizens referred to their city as “the city”, believing that theirs is the only one that remains standing.

Shortly after the Mirrorbound arrived, a dream state was invoked wherein some of the Mirrorbound were able to travel to and witness the Underground, as well as interact with the locals there. That they hailed from a place *above* ground was met with disbelief -- many dismissed it as a joke, unable to comprehend that anything above the ground has survived at all, never mind an entire thriving city.

Ambassadors chosen out of the Mirrorbound were eventually sent to the Underground outside of the dream, along with Theodore and Sowilo from the Coven, and one of the two returned Wilders who led the way. Because the Matriach of the city believed the Mirrorbound’s arrival to be foretold through the dreamwalk, they were allowed into the city.

### Present Day

Currently, the Mirrorbound remain the only people from above ground who are allowed into the Underground. Negotiations are being held at present to establish trade and a deeper connection with Aefenglom, but nothing official has been formally agreed upon yet.

The Underground citizens are now more used to seeing the Mirrorbound, so they’ll receive less scrutiny than before -- but the sight of them is still considered a novelty, and especially the younger children may remain curious. It should be noted that the Matriarch herself distinctly avoids referencing Aefenglom or life above-ground, and many of the citizens will state that they are satisfied with the life they’ve built, as well as the security of the Underground and its healing moss preventing any risk of infection.

**Most notably, the moons’ influences do not reach the Underground** due to how far below the earth the city is and how carefully it’s been sealed off. Characters who are there on the full moons will notice that Monsters don’t undergo changes, and if they’re Monsters themselves, they also won’t be affected by the Moon so long as they’re underground.

### Demographics

Like Aefenglom, there’s a mixture of Monsters, Witches, and non magic-practicing humans. Monsters tend to be quite tall or bulky, possessing obvious physical strength, while Witches and humans tend to be shorter than in Aefenglom. They all mingle on the streets together, with no immediately obvious class difference.

Being Underground has some influence on the type of Monsters that are prevalent: Nagas, Vampires, and Arachnes are most common, followed by Pucas and Turnskins (especially nocturnal Turnskin). Fauns and Fae are rarer, though not considered an unusual sight. Despite their affinity to nature, Fauns in the Underground have adapted, taking pride in their raising of giant wormipedes and farming of edible white lake kelp and cave crickets. **Only Dragons are not ever seen Underground**.

### Culture

The Underground has developed their own culture and traditions, distinct but occasionally overlapping with that of Geardagas as a whole.

Strength is especially valued. The stronger the Monster or more powerful the Witch, the higher their rank in society, and the closer they live to the central and largest spires of stone. Rules and traditions are upheld by the city’s **Matriarch** and her advisors. The Matriarch is deferred to in all cases, and her Bondmate -- always a Witch -- takes their rightful role as Headmistress or Headmaster of the Academy alongside her. If characters ask how a Matriarch is chosen, they might hear a description that sounds like the title is won in something of a cage match.

Regarding Bonds, **Monster-Witch Bonded pairs are the be-all-end-all**, and often wear matching wrist-guards or pendants proudly. Monster-Monster pairs get snide comments about how you have to team up to find a good Witch, and Witch-Witch pairs will get odd looks and assume you both have a very strong Monster partner somewhere. Characters who pass through without an obvious partner may be propositioned or courted as a potential bondmate.

There also appears to be a greater divide between Monster and Witch roles, with many believing, for example, that Witches require a Monster bond for protection while Monsters are rarely seen frequenting studies or the library, the citizens feeling that reading more of a “Witch thing”. It’s not taboo or forbidden, exactly -- just seen as an oddity if they find a studious Monster poking around some books.

#### Graduation Day/New Year

The Underground does not have 'Litha' as Aefenglomites know it, but come the 21st of Iuneril, they do have a major celebration. They simply call it the New Year, or Graduation Day, depending on what festivities are asked about, because the three days serve as both. At this time of year, with more magic in the air, **the algae and crystals glow much brighter**, cycling naturally through different colors that cast beautiful rainbows across the imposing stone structures. This display is how they mark the start of a new year, and it coincides with the graduation of young Monsters from the Arena and Witches from the Academy. The New Year is a time to celebrate Bonding, partying, and showing off one's skills in the hopes of attracting a new Bondmate or romantic partner. **Tensions can also rise high as rivalries are settled**, and small brawls in the streets are common; the guards don't interfere, again, unless things get too dangerous. They're content to let citizens work out their own issues.

Small fights are also a tried and true tradition to show off one's abilities around this time of year. It serves multiple purposes: attracting a Bondmate, establishing a place in the unspoken hierarchy of the city, and working out problems with others. Monsters are more likely to start brawls than Witches, though it isn't wholly uncommon to bear witness to two rival Witches throwing spells at each other in an alleyway over their grievances. They're more likely to be stopped, as magic can be quite destructive.

Primarily intended for the graduating classes of Monsters and Witches, the exhibitions are an official stage set for their coming-of-age. Exhibitions come in two flavors:

* For Monsters, their yearly exhibition fights occur at the Arena and take place all through the three days of the New Year, and young Monsters battle each other til first blood to the cheers and jeers of citizens (and more importantly, Witches) come to watch. The longer the battle, the more impressive it is. Generally, the fights result in bruises, small cuts, and little else, but rivals for the same Witch might take it farther on purpose before they're wrenched away from each other by the teachers.
* For Witches, they give solo or duet shows of their flashier and more impressive magical skills in the courtyard of the Academy, with many citizens coming to watch and take stock of the new generation.

### Ecology

The most prevalent creature in the Underground are the wormipedes: massive worms with dozens of stubby fleshy legs, and a velvety-multicolored hide. Non-aggressive and content to feed on algae, **many have been tamed within the city to be ridden about exactly like horses** -- saddle and all. In the caverns, big silk-wrapped bundles are stuck to the walls, which are the wormipedes’ eggs. If their young are threatened, the worms will quickly shoot jets of viscous slime, a quick drying adhesive, that can slow and trap even the strongest adult. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, you better hope someone can wrench you free -- the worms seem content to eat algae, until they've caught prey. Each worm has a long, hooked, chitinous blade concealed within its fleshy jaws to tear and shred, and a nightmarish round mouth full of multiple rows of teeth.

Other signs of life are minimal, but not absent. There are short, tough little tufts of grass growing from the thin soil, bone white in color, having long abandoned photosynthesis and chlorophyll, glowing algae, and small, skittering insects -- beetles, grubs and worms. The occasional albino rat, much larger and louder than rats have any right to be, can be a threat, as well as large bats. Ruffled and capped fungi growing on the wet rock like parasites, some as large as a grown man while blind, slimy cave fish wriggle around in the still waters of the lake.

And finally, there are some **burrowing hyenas** that serve the role of pets or working dogs for the Underground citizens, responsible awhile back for some stolen items above-ground at the Northern Outpost.

### Locations

The Underground is divided up into three locations of import: The Tunnels, the Crystal Cavern, and the City. The City is actually larger than what traversing the deep tunnels might initially suggest, and contains a thriving economy, complete with a marketplace, schools, and celebrations.

#### The Tunnels

The openings to the Crystal Cavern are all covered with sheets of that same gray-green moss; some wider tunnels obviously see more use than other, narrower ones, and the footpath of many Underground denizens is easy enough to trace, the stone worn smooth. Guards are stationed at all of these entrances.

The path to the velvet wormipede cavern is one of the frequented tunnels: they're raised as livestock, all at once food, transportation, and producers of silk and hide for clothing. Another well-worn tunnel leads upward to an agricultural center, though, and still more lead out into the wild. Mirrorbound are warned, but not hindered, before they leave for anywhere other than the farms or the livestock cavern; dangers abound in the Underground.

These dangerous areas are known as **the Wild Underground** and show signs of lesser use. A mile out from the city, Cwyld runs in thick black veins through the stone walls, infecting the sparse plants and many creatures that live out there. Infected and uninfected creatures both are highly dangerous to explorers, including stone-burrowing moles with wicked teeth and claws that can cut through metal like butter, vicious white wasps that carry lethal venom, and berserker vampire bats that survive on the blood of other animals and people alike. Some infected fungi give off blindingly-bright flashes when disturbed, while others will cause rashes and blisters on contact.

As well, **the nomad tribes** roam the less-civilized tunnels and caverns. These are small bands of usually Monsters of different types in mixed groups, though some can be found dragging humans along with them. Nearly all of them are some degree of feral, and plenty bear Cwyld infections in different stages of seriousness. They don't stop to ask questions before they'll attack anyone, including each other, in hopes of robbing them blind and leaving them for dead.

#### The Crystal Cavern

The tunnels all lead to the same place: a massive chamber hewn out of the stone by time, and the drip-drip of water from the ceiling into the central lake. Perhaps you came out toward the bottom, and the ceiling is a thousand feet above you, or maybe you came out toward the top, and the lake is a thousand feet below. There are a hundred or more holes in the sloping stone walls that lead to more tunnels, and something like natural steps down from most of them. In a way, it resembles a beehive, this room acting as a central hub of sorts. Here, the first signs of life can be seen, such as small patches of grass and a few insects.

At the bottom of the lake, where it feeds into an underground stream that leads down another wide tunnel, there are a few small rowboats, some missing oars. These boats can be used to travel the rest of the way into the Underground’s city.

**Those entering must be sure they have no marks of infection.** The boats will take them to the curtain of grayish green moss that dangles down into the water, stretched across the wide tunnel exit like a membrane. It parts on its own as the boats pass, **but it will not allow passage to anyone who is infected**, only reach out long, tough tendrils to try and envelope the victim, the touch of it burning acid-bright where it is harmless for those uninfected.

#### The City

Mirrorbound, as guests of the Matriarch, are given nearly free run of the city, allowed to explore such locations as the marketplace, the library, the shops, the schools (the Arena for Monsters and the Academy for Witches), and the tunnels and caverns outside the protective moss barriers. **The only places they (and most locals) are expressly barred from are the Matriarch's audience hall, the upper level of the library, and the guards' barracks**.

##### The Marketplace

The marketplace rings the entire city, and stalls spill onto the streets of the inner city as well in a lazy sprawl. There are some shops with actual buildings, but they're fewer and more expensive: alchemy and apothecary shops, a couple of restaurants, a weapons shop or two, nice clothing shops. Most, though, are independent merchants who set up and take down their stalls every day and night. Any number of Underground-sourced foods, clothing, weapons, trinkets, and more can be found at the stalls; they barter, or exchange chips of precious metals and gems, but they'll take cune coins with fascination. The marketplaces are the liveliest areas of the city with Monsters and Witches alike, from all walks of life, mingling and sharing gossip and idle talk.

##### The Library

Located just off the courtyard from the Academy, the building is only two levels: one closed off at the top, guards keeping everyone out, and the rest is just one very tall floor ringed with a spiral of platforms and stairs to access the honeycomb-shaped shelves built into the walls. All their books are written on scrolls of silk, and the librarians bark at patrons to be delicate with them, some are very old.

If one has endless time, the scrolls can offer a look at life Underground: historical accounts of past Matriarchs, brave warriors and battles against nomadic tribes or hideous beasts, their history as they know it, scrolls on offensive and defensive magic for Witches, fighting techniques for Monsters, information on their unique flora and creatures that can be found outside the city, and even plenty of fiction -- sword and sorcery novels all set in the tunnels and the city. It's just a bit difficult to find what, specifically, you're looking for, because if there's any kind of organization, it only makes sense to the deep-dwelling denizens. Simple translation spells are also required since their system of writing is quite different to the common system in Aefenglom; even then, it may not be accurate on older scrolls.

##### The Arena

A massive sunken ring with stone benches for spectators ringing the whole of it. Here, young Monsters learn combat skills, with and without weapons, and how to harness their unique physiologies in the dangerous world of the Underground.

##### The Academy

The tallest stone spire building in the city, young Witches learn magic here from a young age. It isn't exactly the same as magic taught at the Coven, but many concepts are similar -- barriers, evocation, enchantments meant for weapons or shields, healing, most of the magic they're taught at this younger age is for combat, protection or practical purposes. They only learn more frivolous magics after graduation.

## Northern Outpost

### Cwyld Level

Moderate

Established by the Wilders -- led by Rilla Sparks -- the Northern Outpost is not an official city settlement, but it does have a number of cabins where Wilders and others who are surveying the area may stay in for a period of weeks to months at a time. The outpost is nestled between two large spires of stone, with a cliff face at the back of it, allowing it to be protected on all three sides to defend from animals and Shades. There is a stream within walking distance to provide water. **Characters can reach this area via the Aefenglom Coven teleporter**.

Here, the forest is sparse and thin, and the terrain grows more uneven, rockier and hilly, with drier soil and hardy, sun-bleached grass instead of moss and leaf litter. Several natural rock formations can be spotted in the distance, growing larger as the group gets nearer. The trees here are few and far between, shorter and sturdier, casting only small circles of shade on the baked landscape. Wildflowers dot the grass in every color of the rainbow in the areas that remain uninfected. A low degree of Cwyld infection can be found here, turning the grasses overgrown, dry and brittle, and the sparse trees gnarled and blackened.

### The Ruins

The most significant discovery at the Northern Outpost are the Ruins, located south of the main Outpost settlement. A long-abandoned settlement, the Ruins consist of clusters of shells of burned out houses and buildings, a dried up well, and the crumbling remnants of a wall -- reminiscent of the Bright Wall, but much, much smaller, only about eight or nine feet high at its tallest point. There is no magic left in it nor any people in the ruined town. There haven't been for years and years, judging from the mossy overgrowth and state of disrepair. Some signs of the former inhabitants can still be found in the houses: skeletons, rotted scraps of clothing, bones charred and picked clean by animals, children’s toys, axes hung on walls.

The Ruins were originally haunted at night by the spirits of those who died; however, the area was cleansed and exorcised shortly after its discovery and is now free of any roaming spirits. Characters especially sensitive to the dead or spiritual residue, though, might sense that there was once a presence in the area.

**Most significantly, a sort of thick, somewhat mucous-y grayish-green moss** grows in flat sheets over most of the ruins. It isn't infected by the Cwyld; in fact, the areas where it grows seem to be free from it. Previously never seen by the Wilders, this is not unlike the moss that grows in the Underground -- and the Coven and Wilders have both taken an interest in studying the moss and its healing properties. **The moss can be safely eaten**. It has an earthy flavor and gives a pleasant caffeine-like buzz and burst of energy. Consuming it will assist with healing infection.

Outside the remnants of the wall, there are years-overgrown gardens, and perfectly good potatoes, asparagus, and raspberries can be found still growing, hardy and perennial even without human hands to tend to them. These people lived a more simple life than those in relatively-modern Aefenglom, as there isn't any magitech to be found, but somehow, they made themselves a home out here in the middle of nowhere.