The Lands Below
Geography
The Lands Below is the name given to a subterranean underworld of tunnels and caverns that run deep underneath the ground. It is unknown exactly how large the Lands Below are, but it is theorized by some above-ground scholars that the tunnels and caverns run across the entirety of Edradus. The geography of the Lands Below is, as stated, cavernous. The caverns can vary wildly in size, from being so small that only insects can live in them to being the size of countries and continents. The exact nature of the caves can heavily vary as well, with some being like lakes or oceans and others being like massive fungal forests.
Fauna & Flora
The flora of the Lands Below consists of a variety of plants that do not need sunlight to grow, such as fungi, some mosses, lichen, and a variety of specially adapted plants. Plants vary wildly in size, with some forming bridges over ravines with their roots and others being infinitesimally small in comparison. The most well-known plants in the Lands Below would be the bioluminescent fungi that form forests for the myconids to live.
The fauna is unknowable in its variation. The creatures vary from insects both gargantuan and tiny, bats, a variety of cave-dwelling mammals, fish, land-octopi, bulletes, purple worms, and many more beasts. A species of dragons, known as deep dragons, are reputed to make their homes in the caves of the Lands Below. In addition, a number of more humanoid sentient life can be found in the Lands Below. These include the duergar, deep gnomes, drow, kuo-toa, myconids, quaggoths, derro, mindflayers, and many others.
History
The history of the Lands Below is shrouded in mystery. It is unknown if it was a natural occurrence in the world or if they were created by a god or spellcaster. What is known is that long ago, in Era 0, a number of surface-dwelling people migrated to the Lands Below, these being what would become the deep gnomes, duergar, and drow. It is also known that these people became their own distinct subraces after prolonged exposure to the environmental conditions, psionic influences, and cultures of other races who lived there. The common elements of other subterranean cultures bled into the culture of these migratory races, creating strange hybrid cultures.
The Lands Below is known for the rampant slavery and general evil influences found deep in the subterranean cities. The factor that led to this becoming a staple of the subterranean cultures, however, was the race of the illithids. The illithids, or mindflayers, had lived in the Lands Below for millennia before the surface migrations occurred. They used the races native to the area, such as the kuo-toa, for slave labour, livestock, and ceremorphosis to grow their colonies. The mindflayers' psychic might bled into the very fabric of these beings and the entirety of the Lands Below, making it a hotbed of psionicists and psionic activities. The mindflayers have used every sentient race in the Lands Below as slaves at one point, making slavery a normality there that the other races picked up as a result.
Type
Underground / Subterranean
Included Locations
Characters in Location
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