The Deep Paths
A massive cave system spanning the entire breadth of The Shattered Continent, The Deep Paths contain everything from tight, labyrinthine tunnels to caverns big enough to contain entire cities. Rumors persist of vast underground oceans and jungles filled with great beasts and the remnants of long forgotten empires; the promise of ancient treasure has kept adventurers braving the dangers of The Deep Paths for untold generations.
Geography and Climate
The Deeps are Far too vast and varied to be easily summarized, but it has several distinct layers and a number of biomes or microclimates which are relatively common to encounter no matter where you are delving.
The Shallows
While some do not consider it to be a true part of the deeps, The Shallows are the first region which will be encountered by anyone delving into The Deep Paths. Typically fairly barren, the shallows usually strongly resemble the surface caves that they connect to and gradually open up and become more labyrinthine the further down one goes. Relatively safe compared to the proper deeps, the occasional wandering monster is all that explorers are likely to encounter in this region; and many connections to The Shallows are discovered when one of these wandering monsters makes its way out into connecting surface caves and occasionally all the way into the lands beyond.
The Drowned Lands
While there have always been sections of flooded tunnels in The Deeps, The Cataclysm sundered the continent and opened great fissures in the earth, exposing immense sections of The Deep Paths to the oceans and lakes above them. Water rushed in and filled huge spans of the tunnels with water, fragmenting much of The Deeps into isolated sections broken up by these drowned lands.
Crystal Forests
Some of the most mysterious and beautiful areas of The Deep Paths, enormous crystals cover every surface, from small clusters of pointed crystals to crystal pillars broad enough to build a house on and long enough to span vast crevasses. These crystals are magically conductive and the very air in these regions is charged with power, with magical discharges forming beautiful but incredibly deadly 'weather' within larger caverns.
Fungal growths
More than simple forests of giant mushrooms, every part of these regions have been consumed by the fungal growths; the very ground is composed of living mycelium, the stalks of mushrooms rise like columns all the way to the roof, and clouds of spores form fill the air. While some of the mushrooms are benign, edible, or even contain beneficial properties, others are far more deadly. Even experienced travellers can have trouble telling if a spore cloud is safe or toxic, acidic enough to melt flesh from bone, or explosively flammable. Explosive puffballs acting like living landmines, carnivorous and occasionally mobile fungi, and other deadly threats hide alongside beautiful luminescent growths, carpets of mycelium soft enough to use as beds, and spore clouds with magical healing properties.
Subterranean Oceans
Deep beneath the surface of the earth lie massive oceans and lakes spanning many miles and reaching deep into the earth, caverns with calm, mirrorlike water stretching far out of sight, undisturbed and placid until some massive and unknown creature breaks the surface as a reminder of the deadly nature of The Deeps.
History
The various civilizations which have made The Deep Paths home were mostly spared the predations of the serpentfolk, who had only pushed into the very first levels by the time of The Cataclysm. Totally isolated from the world above, these civilizations have existed since times untold and were stable and largely unchanged outside of conflict with one another until the cataclysm due to the static and unchanging nature of The Deep Paths. The cataclysm shattered this stability, shattering and fragmenting The Deeps as massive fissures opened up and the oceans poured in, creating massive spans of flooded tunnels and leaving the rest broken into isolated islands or continents.
In the last two millennia, the civilizations of The Deep Paths have changed more than they had for eons before, expanding, warring, and rebuilding from the destruction caused by the Cataclysm. Entire nations have merged or been destroyed, new ones have sprung up, and existing nations have spread into new regions of The Deeps. All of this change has occurred completely out of sight of the surface nations, and while adventurers still venture into the deeps they have barely scratched the surface of what lies below.
hobgoblins introduced?The Underways
essentially underground roads, well mapped and relatively safe underground paths that allowed travellers to pass under lakes, mountains, and other obstacles and hazards. broken and fragmented by the cataclysm and most knowledge of them was lost.
Denizens of The Deep Paths
Hobgoblins
newcomers during reign of serpentfolk, began wars of expansion with existing powers
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