Frostfall Caves

"Never have i seen anything as beautiful as these caves. The walls, full of drawings and paintings of a lost civilization offer a heaven for a historian. The unique flora and fauna, unlike anywhere else have an unmatched beauty. Oh and the glowing crystals, sunstones and sulphur vents? You don"t need to be a professional in any field to appreciate their beauty. Its truly a wonderful place that i have not seen anywhere else in my lifetime'
Researcher Hans Magnusson, talking about the natural wonders and beauties of the frostfall caves

The Boreal Caves by Istvan Danyi

The Frostfall Caves are a huge network of caves on Voltarion Island, located at the base of the frostfall mountains. The Caves are known for their beautiful and luminous magical crystals, some of which have effects on biological matter and affect the flora and fauna, which is wildly different and alien from the usual ones of elladia.
Besides this, there have been numerous drawings and scribblings on the cave walls, depicting the same ancient civilization that the frostfall barrows seem to depict. The drawings are of a much more pleasant note however, and show the ancient race using resources from the caves to power some of their advanced technology.
In recent years however, the caves have also suffered from the same corruption plaguing the island and the rest of Elladia. There have been attacks on expedition members by strange entities who drove anyone who looked at them insane. The flora and fauna seem to be mutating into a more purple colour and those that already were of that colour are deepening it. Moreover, one can hear sinister voices coming from the deeper reaches of the cave. The expedition members must retain their unity in these trying times. They have to

Geography

The entrance of the caves by Gycinn

The Frostfall Caves are a giant network of caves located at the base of the Frostfall mountains. Dotted with beautiful luminous crystals and bioluminescent flora and fauna, it is a heaven for anyone who appreciates beauty and science. The Caves are rather wide and can accomodate dozens of people through their tunnels. Many creatures come to hibernate here in the winter, so care must be taken not to disturb them. The crystals are of many colours and except for the sunstones and voltarite stones, they all change colour according to the time of the day, which has been used as a makeshift clock by those in the caves.
It is suggested that these crystalline growths, particularly the sunstones, contribute to the growth and development of life in the caves. This is backed by the fact that areas with more dense cover of sunstones seem to be much more densely populated by flora and fauna. Already, there have been speculation on the usage of sunstones for growing food and for other non military purposes but for now, most scientists and expedition members stick to researching and marvelling the beauty of the caves

The Sulphur lakes

Sulphur Geysers by Andre Kosslick

"The Lakes, they are unlike anything i have ever seen. We could see certain bioluminescent creatures down there and from what we know so far, they are truly one of the most beautiful from Elladia. It seems as if the flora and fauna in the lakes is affected heavily by the hydrothermal vents and also the crystals growing underneath the water. If only it weren"t for the dangerous lifeforms there, we could have discovered so many secrets unknown to us"
Lara Sjostrom, a human scientist talking about the life in the sulphuric lakes of the frostfall caves in her diary

The Sulphur lakes of the frostfall caves are truly a wonder in the entire world of Elladia. These large lakes, located in some of the caves serve as spots of incredible biodiversity, the life inside of them being influenced by the hydrothermal vents and also underwater crystals that cause unique mutations in the aquatic animals. Amongst them, one can even find a mutated variant of the Voltarian shark, an aquatic predator which is the literal stuff of nightmares.
Currently, research on the lakes remains slow in progress due to the often violent nature of the lifeforms in them. Anyone standing close to the shore will probably most likely get eaten by a Voltarian shark, mauled to death by an aquatic bloodmaw and then eaten later or worse, dragged down by a polar kraken, never to be seen again.

Fauna & Flora

"The life here is truly beautiful and alien. I have never seen anything like them before. Purple coloured plants, giant bulls and even nightmarish monsters that hunt on their senses of sound, its all beautiful in its own right. A paradise for all people who are interested in science and in general, beauty".
Grosnar Krosnarus, a Horc researcher talking about the flora and fauna of the Caves

Bloodmaw by Alexander Levett

The Frostfall Caves contain some of the most diverse flora and fauna on Elladia. A theory has been proposed by Elladian scientists and it points out that the isolation coupled with the unique environment they live in might have played a part in the uniqueness of the flora and fauna. Besides the frost giants, trolls and ogres, various coloured plants, beetles, fungi and algae, there are three animals which are the most famous and well known amongst the expedition members.
1) The Cave Yak- The Cave Yak is probably the most iconic animal of the frostfall caves. These giant bovines provide a large supply of nutrition to the islands predators, and frost giants have recently been seen herding them for their milk and meat. They feed mostly upon the algae, fungi and other plants and flora that grow in the caves.

2) The Voltarian Cave shark- It baffled Elladian scientists at first. How can a shark be in a lake and moreover, one in a cave? To this day, the question remains unanswered but the fact is that Voltarion sharks are one of the deadliest aquatic predators on the island. It is known for violently dragging cave yaks and any other prey it can find into the waters by any means, before bloodily munching on every last bit of flesh and bone they have
3) The Bloodmaw- A nightmarish creature and one that strikes fear into the hearts of expeditioners, the bloodmaw is a foe to be reckoned with. It is a blind and carnivorous predator that relies on echolocation to hunt its prey. Due to its incredible agility and sharp claws, it is advised to rather evade the creature or at the very least, avoid open combat with it and dispatch it in a coordinated and stealthy manner. Despite its heightened senses except for sight and wildness in combat, it suffers very poorly when it comes to endurace and as such, careful use of tactics can easily dispatch one.

Natural Resources

The Cave contains many potential resources which could change civilization itself on Elladia in a century. Below are just some of them that have been discovered by the expeditioners

Sunstones

"The Sunstones are like little stars. They emit a form of radiation that we have never seen before on Elladia. It seems to encourage plant growth, and gives them different shades of colour from red to purple to blue. I have never found a more beautiful material in my life. Maybe, we could use this to combat future famines. But for now, i guess its better to marvel and truly realize their glory"
Lisara Velranas, An argonite researcher, writing in her diary about the sunstones and their effect

Sunstones by Kosa Zsolt

The sunstones are large crystalline and stone like growths in the frostfall caves. These stones are of a beautiful golden colour, and closer look shows them coruscating with luminous golden energy. Sunstones have been theorized to be the reason behind the rich and unique flora and fauna in the frostfall caves, by emitting a special kind of aura and radiation which encourages the growth of life in harsh areas. It has also been theorized that they are also responsible for the different shades of colour in the caves too.
There have already been speculation on their use for growing crops in harsh areas as well as growing food for armies during long campaigns. However, due to the restrictions placed upon the exploitation of resources for military purposes in the Polar research and exploration treaty, the latter point has to be discarded by both sides.

Voltarium

"The crystal samples i examined yesterday were something more than extraordinary. Coruscating with a deep purple and red energy, it seemed to hold great magical power. I decided to experiment with it a bit and my goodness, it seems to be the most volatile thing i have ever handled. I have to issue a safety warning to the boys to handle it carefully. This is energy in its purest and wildest form"
A research note made by Johan Svensson, a human scientist whilst experimenting with voltarite crystals

Voltarite stones by Kosa Zsolt

Life for a expedition member in the caves

For an expedition member, a life in the caves is a lucrative one indeed. Despite the fact that supply lines are stretched to their limit and beyond, a relief from the horrifying weather and climate of the outside world is a welcome sight indeed. Besides, the colourfulness of the caves as well as the numerous mystic secrets inside of them is of great interest to even the most unscientific of people and is a great morale booster to the soldiers and other expedition members .
Their usual day begins later than the people’s at the surface, considering that they live in a rather comfortable place in the island. After their usual assembly and breakfast, they start their different tasks for the day. Some collect rock and metal samples, others conduct experiments, others explore with the soldiers and some others hunt for food. For the soldiers, they don’t have much duties rather than patrolling or acting as the escort of the research personnel.
At midday, which is indicated in the caves by the golden glow of crystals, they take a break and come back to their camps for lunch. After this, they go to do their activities again until sundown, ( though some units also do continue their activities beyond that) before they conclude the events for the day and turn in field reports about their experiences and discoveries to the officers.
After this, a big dinner is hosted where everyone cracks jokes as they always do and someone gives a speech intended to boost the morale of the expeditionerd. After this, they bid each other goodbye and return to their quarters to rest for the night

The Cave paintings

“Caves and paintings! Name a more iconic duo than that. I challenge everyone here. Nothing can get more interesting than paintings in a cave already full of natural wonders”
Researcher Velrias Magnaran, talking about the paintings in the frostfall caves

Another intriguing and mysterious aspect of the caves are the drawings on their walls. They differ from the ones at the frostfall narrows however in that they depict a much more “pleasant” side of the ancient race. It shows them using some of the crystals in the caves for advanced technology. It also shows them conducting experiments on live specimens using these magical crystals to somehow infuse them with their magical materials
Elladian Scientists as usual, have left not even this free from their hands and are already discussing of ways of replicating what the ancient race did. However, much still needs to be done for the main focus for now is on the frostfall barrows

Type

Cave System

Location under

Voltarion Island