Keboldi

This is the mythical underground realm of the verdanne. There is little exchange between this subterranean place and the surface world. In fact, most Verdanne and Aorlisians largely are unaware of each other's existence.

The People

The verdanne are a green-skinned, tellurian people from a subterranean realm of eternal twilight called Keboldi. If a verdanne comes to live among surface people, and eats surface peoples’ food, he slowly loses his green pigmentation. This is always risky, because about half of verdanne cannot metabolize human food, and soon die of food-poisoning or starvation. Verdanne whom survive this period may interbreed with surface humans, and some notable Aorlisian families have some verdanne ancestry. Verdanne are well adapted to the extreme temperatures and poor air conditions underground. They suffer no adverse reactions to living in darkness or being cut off from the sun. Their height, weight, and lifespans are comparable to those of surface humans.
Verdanne social class is similar to that of the surface world, with peasantry, nobles, and royalty. Keboldi culture’s other major social groups include a merchant class and a seafaring class adapted to naval life on underground lakes, rivers, and seas.
Keboldi language is an ancient form of Caedlorian, although it has differentiated itself over the centuries. They have a native religion that seems to resolve on household deities and Pagan-like beliefs, and they have no clear priesthood. Each family head performs any required rituals.
Keboldi culture seems similar to rural, peasant life on the surface world, with similar clothing and attitudes. It is different in that their world has no seasons, and their lives are built around individual crops and livestock cycles. Their livestock appears to be green hued goats, sheep, and cattle. Their agriculture is built around mushrooms, with a variety of myceliam adapted into a wide range of food.

Sharing the Planet

Access points between Keboldi habitats and the surface world are scattered throughout Aorlis. Their underground settlements are interconnected with extensive erdstalls, an ancient network of tunnels that crisscross the underworld beneath Aorlis, its surrounding countries, and even under the seas and oceans. The verdanne landscape is gently lighted with phosphorescent fungi that lines the ceilings of their caverns.

Known Access Points

Halls of Sorrow—This nearly forgotten erdstall is in Woemagne Barony, Cloudbridge County, in the Kingdom of Gwyfned. It ranges under the mountains for over a hundred miles and leads to an abandoned underground city. This deep, subterranean structure is still habitable, but no one knows who built it or where they went. Shadow people haunt these remains, and they will react aggressively to intruders.

Grotto of Deadly Delight—In Saint Gilleana’s, Burlam, this is a deep sea cave that is tall enough for rowing or paddling ships into. Its waters are preternaturally clear, and the underwater cave floor is lined with pebbles and sand. Even at high tide, there is plenty of headway for air. There are multiple legends of treasures hidden deep within, and bizarre, semi-aquatic creatures that hunt within. One legend asserts there is a hidden Keboldi port within, and another claims it is the hiding place of Medwin, Queen of Tears.

Cave of Ancients—Hidden in the Nharag mountains of northern Draas, there lies an extensive cave complex. There is stone-age wall art deep within. It is awe-inspiring, naturalistic, and full of wonder. Deeper yet is a subterranean road to Keboldi, and/or a telfarri lair.

Reaver’s Cove—This sea cave on the coast of Kinnen Barony, West Spurr Earldom, in the Sovereign Principality of Eldris. It has a generous beach and hosts the Free Reaver’s main storage house and shipyard. A maze of jagged underwater rocks protects it from the sea, and only the Reavers know the correct course and combination to navigate it successfully—all other ships are scuttled and sunk. Pirate ghosts are thick here, and they are not shy about manifesting and to attack mortals. Far deeper in the cave, still accessible by watercraft, is a little known Keboldi trading port.

Via Chthonas—This erdstall is in Darval Barony, Dolek County, in the Kingdom of Gwyfned. It is believed to extend all the way to Civis Noir, or to the poisonous, underground ocean realm of the Telfarri named Ulth. Along the way, this tunnel passes through some astounding chambers and ruins that could be sourced back to fairies, gnomides, or verdanne. This tunnel’s entrance long ago caved in.

Via Keboldi—This erdstall is said to extend beneath the mountains all the way to Keboldi, the realm of the subterranean Verdanne, or to the realm of Vigg the Mushroom King. This erdstall entrance is in Mons Tarl Barony, Urgholt County, in the Kingdom of Gwyfned, but it is well hidden from prying eyes by angles in the landscape, and it only may be seen at certain times of day.

Via Tenebrai—This erdstall is in Belltide Barony, Gwyfned County, in the Kingdom of Gwyfned. This subterranean highway extends under Gwyfned City, and it intersects with this region’s other great erdstalls. It is protected by a mysterious figure called the Duke of Vile Darkness, though nothing beyond that is known. There are access points to this feature under several Gwyfned basements, but locals keep them sealed.