Lost Labyrinth
The Lost Labyrinth is what remains of a fallen civilization located within the Lost Mountains. This civilization was built atop and within the mountains, extending through the earth in all directions. Time has taken its toll and much of the over-city has collapsed into the undercity. The region is now an maze of ruins occupied by monsters, Sect, and a small population of adventurers that lost their way in the Labyrinth and decided to make a home for themselves in the Sanctum, one of the more intact structures of the region.
Geography
The Lost Labyrinth is primarily located in a mountenous valley in the northern portion of the Lost Mountains, though it extends out in many directions both above and below the ground. The ruins suggest that it was once a great civilization originally built on the surface of this valley until enough space had been mined out beneath it that what could be considred a second city was built beneath it. With much of the upper-city having collapsed into the under-city during the Age of Ice, destroying the vast majority of the structures in both parts of the city, it is difficult to glean much information of what this civilization looked like.
Ecosystem
The Lost Mountains are home to an assortment of creatures well-adapted to the cold and elevation, most of which are predators due to a lack of suitable vegetation. This makes traveling across the surface of the region very dangerous.
Traveling beneath the surface isn't much safe as portions of the under-city have collapsed into caverns even deeper in the earth, allowing creatures rarely seen near the surface to venture up into the ruins. Not all of these creatures are strictly predators as subterranean vegetation is more common in portions of the Lost Labyrinth isolated enough from the snowy landscape above, but they are very alien to those that dwell on or near the surface and pose a unfamiliar threat.
Ecosystem Cycles
The region does go through some warming and cooling throughout the year, but the elevation of the mountains results in snow being present the majority of the year. During the rare times that it does begin to melt, portions of the Labyrinth will become flooded, usually resulting in tunnels beneath the under-city filling and forcing its inhabitants into the Labyrinth.
Climate
Due to the elevation of the Labyrinth, the over-city and portions of the under-city directly beneath openings in the ceiling are covered in snow. Some regions are protected enough from the elements to trap some warmth and occasional vents bring heat from deeper in the earth.
Fauna & Flora
There is very little still living within this region. However, mountain-top predators can be encountered on the surface and the under-city is known to be home to several species of subterrainian creatures usually found deeper underground. Those that explore far enough have found several fungal forests, though these are usually avoided due to the bizarre wildlife usually contained within.
Natural Resources
Rare minerals are occasionally found in some of the side passages of the region, suggesting that this was once a resource rich region that was depleted through mining. The ruins do not seem to contain many of these raw materials, so it seems that they were not used by the civilization that filled the space left behind, suggesting that another civilization had claimed the vast majority of these resources.
History
Due to no known inhabitants of this city surviving into the Age of Reclamation and its advanced state of decay, how the city came to be may never be known, but it is believe to have been an civilization that existed outside of the technologically advanced civilizations of the Age of Ascension. The extent of its architecture suggests that it was a thriving civilization despite not having access to advanced technology. However, this limitation likely resulted in it being able to withstand the destruction of the War of Ashes and it fell into ruin. There are some that suggest there were a handful of survivors residing in the city after the War of Ashes, but they were forced to retreat further underground as the Age of Ice began.
Tourism
The closest thing to a tourist in this part of the world is an adventurer seeking to uncover the history of fallen civiliations. Unfortunetly, most of them don't live long enough in this part of the world as speculating about the past usually isn't sufficient to pay for food, supplies, and aid.
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Pretty thorough article. Thanks for sharing!
Haly, the Moonlight Bard
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