Hig

The Hig (Zean: Wound) is a cave, or more accurately a cave system, located in the center of the southern Zean shore. In the year 112 BU, it was the location of the last large battle between Nata-Got tribe (Zean: People of the Spider) and the Enevir (Zean: Anti-Change) uprising.

Location

The Wound is located almost exactly in the middle of Zean southern shoreline. The territory is not contested by any large tribe, with several stable settlements built in vicinity.

Name

The Wound was named as such after the Enevir leadership and their remaining troops were slaughtered inside the main cave chamber. Their last-ditch effort to hide was unsuccessful, and together with their comrades, they were unceremoniously beheaded and left inside to rot. The tides in the following days are told to have been red with blood of the fallen, painting the cave walls in a thin layer of crimson.

Description

There are three entrances to the Hig, about 5 meter in diameter and located several dozen meters from each other on a rocky beach. They lead to separate 30-50-meter tunnels which converge into a large chamber. The chamber is almost pyramid shaped, with length and width between 100 and 120 meters and a 30-meter-high ceiling. This portion of the cave is fairly well known by the locals and regularly submerged by a tide. It is relatively flat as well, allowing most of the water to evacuate back through the entrance. The rest of the water flows into several wells in the slightly risen back of the chamber. The wells lead to an interconnected network of tunnels, majority of which remains constantly under water. Only the most fearless and experienced dare to venture there, as both actual dangers of cave exploration and the superstition around the Hig are well known to the locals.

Superstition

The cave is rarely visited by anyone else than thrill-seekers or people wanting to pay respects to the victims of Enevir. A small shrine is set up near the middle cave entrance, on a platform high enough to remain untouched by the tides. While the ancestral and spiritual worship is not popular in general Zean population, those living near the Hig often leave offerings not only to the innocent, but also to those slain inside. Sporadic bones are still found in the main chamber’s sandy floor and burned on the altar outside. Local stories teaching children to behave often revolve around the idea of bloody ghosts kidnapping them. While laughing at the stories themselves, the adults still approach the cave with hesitation. Every year or two there is a story of someone either disappearing from the trip to the shore or hearing screams and voices from inside the Wound. Both contribute to wild rumors popping up every now and then, with the most popular being that the Enevir survivors, now horribly Changed themselves, lurk in the tunnels beyond the main chamber.