The Deepearth
The Deepearth is an immense cave system located far below the surface of Miurag. It has become its own ecosystem with innumerable microcosms, evolving interconnected cycles of life and natural phenomena which redistribute resources.
Geology and Resources
The Deepearth possesses most of the natural resources of a mountainous Surface region, though without trees, shaped over time by hot lava and water erosion.
Its present location lies beneath the Lonely Ones of the western continent, the longest and highest mountain chain on the Surface. Cliffs, caverns, chasms, waterways, and collapses of rock are continuous throughout. The tunnel systems themselves are an intricate labyrinth, a blend of naturally formed passages endlessly modified by the denizens.
The life cycles echo the Surface world without requiring sunlight, drawing most of the energy required from the world’s core. Growth which could be called plants are cultivated and harvested wild, and with these come the insects, small animals, and full spectrum of aquatic life which support the rise of sentient races and their complex systems.
However, the Deepearth does not come close to matching the immense size or diversity of the Surface, nor are there appreciable weather patterns or any oceans underground. The largest bodies of water are freshwater lakes.
Civil Landmarks
The grandest natural landmark of the Deepearth is the Great Cavern, the largest open space of the known Deepearth and current home to the Davrin Elves and their city of Sivaraus.
Other large caverns of note, from largest to smallest, include: the second Davrin city of Vuthra'Tern, the Stronghold of the Tragar Dwarves, the Conclave of the Elder Mind of the Ornilleth, and the Den of the Black Dragon.
Thousands of other smaller lairs exist but frequently change ownership, and none hold similar levels of influence.
History & Culture
Sentient races, settlements, languages, and trade systems existed in the Deepearth before the arrival of the Davrin Elves from the Surface. Since the Dark Elf entrenchment in the Great Cavern, the underground systems have seen both accelerated advancement and disruption/destruction of these natural systems.
The waterways are inhabited and tended by the amphibious Yutogul, one of two independent races of the Deepearth which uses a low level of magic and does not claim slave labor. The Shadow Drakes, the second race, have a long history of cooperation with the Yutogul, trading early warnings of threats for deep-water food the drakes cannot reach.
The Ketro and Pyte are magicless and make their existence either avoiding the Ornilleth, Davrin, and Tragar, or serving them as slaves.
The Tragar Dwarves consistently and viciously protect their freedom and isolation from all other races with their psionic abilities. With their mind-bending talents, they may claim sporadic crops of slaves among the Ketro and Pytes but tend to use them up much more quickly than either the Davrin or Ornilleth.
The grey Dwarves have never been able to compete with an Ornilleth Elder Mind in direct conflict. When these two races clash, the Tragar have always moved. This has not yet been tested with the Davrin, who currently have no strong motivation for attacking the Tragar Stronghold.
Quite recently in the Deepearth’s history, the Davrin Elves have proven to be a near-peer to the mindflayers. The conflicts between these two races have already begun to shape the underground in ways never seen before. The first significant change was among the Yutogul, who have long been favorite targets as hosts for procreation among the Elder Minds.
Since the arrival of the powerful magic commanded by the Dark Elves, the aquatic sentients have made treaties and favored agreements concerning precious water sources with the Davrin in exchange for greater protection from the Ornilleth. More Yutogul now tend to settle near the two Davrin cities, making them much more difficult for the mindflayers to find and abduct.
Meanwhile, long-lingering whispers suggest that there has always been only one To'vah Dragon in the Deepearth. The Black Dragon is said to be the same individual in all stories of the eternal dark, for no credible source has witnessed another of his kind in millennia.
