Darklands

The Darklands are a world unto themselves beneath the surface of the Hidden Realm. The Dwarves expanded into the Darklands rather cautiously, preferring to fortify their own fortresses in the Mountains and squabble over wealth and politics. It was not without good reason however. There were monsters roaming the expanding network of subterranean tunnels, entire civilizations and cultures, none of which wanted to be disturbed. After the Convergence of the Asterisms, the Darklands exploded with new creatures, most of which were hostile. The cities that remained connected to the surface collapsed the tunnels into the Darklands, leaving them disconnected from the underworld. There are still ways to enter it, but it is far too dangerous for most to dare.

Civilizations

Ysoki Life

The Ysoki, or otherwise known as Ratfolk, are native to the Darklands. They often have friendly trade with the Dwarves and Gnomes, and thusly learned and copied Dwarven ingenuity for harvesting resources from the underground. As such, they have become the second largest supplier of Carbauxine, a common but valuable natural gas that is found in the Darklands. The Dwarves use it in their mining, but their own stores have begun to run dry. And whereas they tend to remain within their own fortresses in the World's Core Mountains, the Ratfolk are far more willing to expand across the Realm. They have Darklands civilizations located in ever major (and sometimes minor) city in the Realm, trading with the surface as well as through relatively safe tunnels in the Darklands. Transporting the resources is legal, however the import and export of these resources is often illegal due to safety regulations. This leads to a confusing alliance between legal Darklands merchant guilds known for their impeccable traversal and knowledge of the dangerous region, and illegal smugglers who operate to get the resources into and out of Darklands cities, both Dwarven and Ysoki alike.

Merchant Explorers

The Merchant Guilds think of themselves as explorers in the dark, forgotten, subterranean world beneath the dirt that surface dwellers traverse above them. They make their money both exploring new tunnels and caves to attempt to find new passages (which is quite often as Cave Worms are constantly changing the terrain and adding new networks of tunnels) to sell their log books, as well as by transporting resources (mostly Carbauxine) between cities.

Merchant Guilds

There are many Merchant Guilds operating in the Hidden Realm. In general, each region will have one operating Guild that manages a monopoly over the region. They tend to not look too kindly on another Guild attempting to install a Guild location in already established territory. Veland has 3 Guilds, operating in the West, North, and East. Central Veland is split between the three as fair game, although there are constant corporate wars in central Darklands to try to establish dominance in the World Core Mountains. Southern Veland beneath the Swamp of Kalambur is unclaimed as the region is too dangerous for any Guild members to transport regularly through the area. The Guilds are Highforge in the East, Sunstars in the North, and Goldsearchers in the West.

Highforge

Sunstars

Goldsearchers

Welcome to the Family

The smugglers tend to operate as a mafia. Unlike the merchant guilds, who expand the knowledge and map of the Darklands, the smugglers keep their knowledge of secret passages into and out of surface cities and Darklands cities intensely secretive. The "families" are incredibly territorial, always trying to gain the upper hand in their city beneath the surface. It will always be a never-ending battle however, as there's always going to be disorganized gangs attempting to undercut the exorbitant prices that the "families" charge, until they themselves become organized and build their own "family".

Smuggler Families

There are too many smuggler families in the Darklands to count, both disorganized and organized. A few notable organized families in Andsall are the Portera family, the Gazzara family, and Natoli family. There are several gangs all trying to vie for power as well, undercutting the families, but the families try to stamp out these upstarts. There was a recent mob war between the three families over some Carbauxine and Gun factories in the Shortsnout district of UnderAndsall. Only in recent months has it died down.

Portera Family

"Crazy" Cleo Portera runs the Portera family.

Gazzara Family

Doriano "The Mouse" Gazzara runs the Gazzara Family.

Natoli Family

The Don of the Natoli Family is Remington "Bulldog" Natoli.