The Depths
“The Depths” is a catch-all term for the countless tunnels and caverns that weave through Emperor’s Peak. While most Highhelm citizens agree that the Depths are located beneath Stonebreach, citizens of the Depths, called Deeps, like to remind others that their home also includes the tunnels and caverns between the city’s three layers and even those in the areas beyond, not just the space beneath the mountain’s base. The tunnels and caverns occasionally change due to natural collapses, new diggings, and other phenomena, giving the Depths a transitional quality; the Depths of today may not be the Depths of tomorrow.
Just like the physical layout of the area, the power structure of the Depths is complex and ever-changing. From street to street and tunnel to tunnel, criminal elements and unscrupulous industry barons alike fight for, trade, and hoard power. Countercultural elements flourish with the distance from the traditional power structures of Highhelm; while some are strongly idealistic, others are simply invested in making their own mark on the city and its people.
This dynamic creates a strange tension with the legitimate operations that run out of the Depths. The district’s proximity to natural caverns makes it an appealing base for industry. Mining operations, animal husbandry, and other enterprises that rely on natural resources are common. These businesses work aboveboard, paying their taxes and operating according to the rules of the city, though they tend to look past illegal operations nearby so long as their profits aren’t unduly affected. Their employees must also follow the laws—at least while they’re at work.
While industry brings in workers from the upper levels of the city, plenty of locals labour alongside them. This leads to a number of entanglements between those who make an honest living and those who dabble in less savoury pastimes. Most avoid the tension entirely by adopting a “live and let live” attitude. The criminal guilds all follow an unspoken rule that violence should not touch anyone not involved in the city’s underworld.
Deeps are fiercely loyal to their community. The freedom they have, both from laws and the unwritten social rules that govern the rest of the city, is more important to them than the comparative safety other areas of Highhelm offer. Anyone—local or outsider—who seeks to disrupt this way of life or threatens residents of the Depths becomes a common enemy.
Demographics
The Depths are home to under one-eighth of Highhelm’s population, with around 4900 people (in both 4711 and 4723 AR). The
actual population may be higher—the sprawling nature of the area, plus its reputation as the section of choice for those with fewer ties to society, means it’s hard to get an exact number.
The population is around 73% dwarves. A community of lizardfolk (6%) has carved out a niche in the Depths, and a ratfolk den (4%) makes use of the tunnels on the fringes of the main populated area. Another 9% include a variety of other ancestries like elves, gnomes, halflings, and humans.
The Depths are also the place of refuge for those who might face distrust, including refugees from the Darklands. The remaining 8% of the district’s population is composed of caligni (dark folk), duergar, hobgoblins, kobolds, and other Darklands denizens.
Districts
While the Depths are expansive and house many scattered populations, these are some of the major neighbourhoods in this part of the city.
Artist’s Walk
This nearly mile-long tunnel of shaped stone that borders Deep Fork is home to some of the finest art in Highhelm. Imme Varongrüb has spent the last century and a half seeking out and commissioning the most skilled painters in the city. With her oversight, the tunnel walls are becoming a visual timeline of dwarven history, starting with the Quest for Sky.The Burrows
Highhelm’s hard-up residents make their homes far from the centre of the city, in a series of small caves known as the Burrows. Their cramped dwellings are without luxuries of any sort. The neighbourhood itself is nothing but a series of narrow, winding caverns that an outsider could easily get lost in. However, it’s rare for any to venture into the area.Deep Fork
Bounded by Kalingstaf Circle on one side and the Artist’s Walk on the other, Deep Fork is the most central neighbourhood of the Depths. It’s also the easiest to reach from Stonebreach. The main draw of the neighbourhood is its sanitized version of the free-thinking independence that’s the trademark of the Depths.Points of interest
Diomira's Drop
The Rapid River drops into the Depths from Stonebreach, skirts the edge of Deep Fork; wends through Artist’s Walk, and then plunges over 100 feet off an underground cliff. The waterfall has been a popular destination since it was discovered by the first clans in the Highhelm area. Its name was coined in the early –4600s AR, when a daring woman descended the cliff next to the waterfall without any climbing equipment. It’s said Diomira’s journey was an undertaking to win the hand of one of the finest blacksmiths of her day—Sadrilde Gleamspark. Sadrilde declared she would not consider any partner unless they brought her a whetstone handpicked from the base of the falls. Diomira thought it worth the risky climb. Her bravery won Sadrilde’s attention and her hand in marriage. The romance between the two was memorialized in song, and the ballad’s lyrics inspired the waterfall’s current name. Skeptics believe Diomira couldn’t have made the climb without at least a rope, since the rocks nearby are slippery from the waterfall’s spray. Certainly no one who has tried to recreate her descent has succeeded. Yet, every year, a few romantics like to try.The Fight Pits
The Blacknoon Thieves’ Guild supplements its funding (and sources potential recruits) from its fight pits. Anyone who can pay the entry fee of 1 silver piece can join the fight tournament of the day. Competitors who place in the top three take home part of the day’s purse.Folgrit's Kitchen
The dwarves of Highhelm have spent millennia shaping Emperor’s Peak to meet their needs. One of the earliest constructions was Folgrit’s Kitchen. Situated where the heat of the earth rises through a large fissure, Folgrit’s Kitchen was once the centre of many residents’ food preparation. Stoneworkers carved ovens into the rock and clans quarrelled over who might have access to the smokeless kitchens. Around –4500 AR, a colony of baker’s yeast was discovered on the stone ceilings above the ovens. The area became even more popular, and a loaf made with the yeast (known as Folgrit’s feast) became a status symbol during dinner parties and banquets. Around –2230 AR, the heat rising through the fissure began to wane, and the ovens fell out of use. The special yeast that used to cover the ceiling has retreated and now only grows on the walls of the fissure itself.The Gauntlet
The Blacknoon Thieves’ Guild isn’t open to just anyone. The group only takes the best of the best, and anyone wishing to join its ranks must run the Gauntlet, a maze of abandoned mine shafts that’s been thoroughly secured by trap master Inguhyld Gerhok.High Noon
The Blacknoon Thieves’ Guild doesn’t need a front for its operations given its reputation in the city; the tavern and restaurant run by the gang is a successful business on its own. It’s also the de facto headquarters of the guild, and members from the lowliest grunt to the head of the guild can be found in attendance at any time, day or night. High Noon is the place to go for a business meeting in the Depths. Doubly so if that business is illicit in nature—though as long as one doesn’t intend to bring the law down on the guild’s head, anyone is welcome. It’s also a common hangout among aspiring guild members and other criminals, who may come hoping for opportunities or to trade with an information broker.Kalingstaf Circle
Decades of careful manipulation have perfected the acoustics in Kalingstaf Circle, the premiere performance hall in Highhelm. Kalingstaf Circle is set in a natural cavern with rows of limestone terraces that cascade down from the entryway. Past generations added a stage at the front of the chamber and nurtured lichen and fungus growths along the walls and ceiling. The plant life cuts down on reverberation and muffles sounds from outside to keep the performers the centre of everyone’s attention. However, it’s the spectacular light shows that draw audiences to Kalingstaf Circle. The cavern is lined by magical lanterns that a skilled mage can instantaneously change in brightness and colour. Performers who are after a spectacle hire a practitioner of the magic arts for lighting effects that complement their act.The Messenger Tunnels
If you want to send information quickly from one end of Highhelm to the other, you need someone who knows their way around the messenger tunnels. It’s said a speedy runner can take a message from the tip of King’s Crown to the outskirts of the Depths in just a few minutes. However, knowledge of the tunnel system is a closely guarded secret; head messenger Errna Brunthrick is the only one with access to a full map of the network. Because the messenger tunnels make use of some natural passageways, it’s easy to end up far from the city. This risk doesn’t deter everyone, however. Though Errna and the messenger’s guild have a regular presence at the tunnel hub in the Depths, there are too many entrances around the city for her guild or the Watch to guard them all. Smugglers, opportunistic merchants, and residents with more courage than sense find their way into the tunnels with alarming frequency.The Mouth of Horror
The Depths are the first part of Highhelm anyone from the Darklands might reach when following the cave network in Emperor’s Peak toward the surface. During the Quest for Sky, the migrating dwarves emptied the tunnels of enemies, but the millennia since have seen their path reclaimed by demons and other dangerous creatures. A set of wrought iron gates sits at the precipice to the Darklands. It stretches from cave floor to cavern ceiling to keep Darklands creatures where they belong. Emperor’s Watch members keep a guard posted around the clock, and a special detachment lives nearby in case of emergencies.The Night Market
Those who want to sell or purchase goods away from the gaze of the law do so at the Night Market. Every Fireday, Starday, and Sunday evening, those in the know flock to a cavern that’s mostly hidden behind a wall of rubble. Vendors sell food and drinks, smugglers mingle with buyers, and deals are sealed with as few words as possible in case anyone is listening too closely. Some prospective buyers come to browse the unique and interesting items available. Others come because they’ve heard rumours of rare goods that might exist elsewhere, and they want to find someone who can source the objects they desire.The Seepwalls
Water from precipitation and snowmelt trickles down through the rocks of Emperor’s Peak and eventually comes out at the Seepwalls. As the name suggests, the flow is neither fast nor concentrated enough to work as a source of water for the city, but it’s perfect for the algae farming operation on these 50-foot-high walls. The algae farm is one of the major employers of the Depths: Lantern tenders keep the light at appropriate levels and ensure it reaches every part of the walls; fertilizers add special nutrient mix to the water where it comes out of the walls; and harvesters carefully remove as much of the algal mat as possible without destroying the colony. Still others help dry and process the algae. The entire process requires teamwork, and employees operate in tight-knit pods of around five people.Natural Resources
Local Flora
Plant life in the Depths consists mostly of fungi and lichen due to the lack of sunlight. Many fungi serve as food, but none are quite so revered among Highhelm’s residents as the yeasts. Bread yeast and brewing yeast both grow in abundance, urged on by farmers. Many individuals have carefully cultivated their own strains. Outsiders may not be able to tell the difference, but longtime residents will swear they can tell you whether a brew is made with Behraust’s bloom or hardrock gold. Deeps appreciate their yeasts as much as anyone, but they’re also partial to the area’s bioluminescent fungi. Startrail slab clings to many ceilings, casting a dim green light. Angradd’s hand often takes the place of lamps—when cultivated correctly, one mushroom can reach nearly a foot in diameter. Especially in the less developed world of the Depths, these fungi are well worth the time it takes to grow them.Local Fauna
Children of the Depths grow up learning to give draft lizards a wide berth. The animals, which are used as mounts and beasts of burden, have fearsome jaws and a venomous bite. They’re also ubiquitous in areas with heavy industry. Thankfully, other animals inhabiting this part of the city are much safer to be around. Cave salamanders lurk around every puddle, stream, and seep. These ghostly amphibians are a favourite family pet. They also help keep the insect and spider populations of the Depths under control. Glow worms are another common sight in the dark caverns of the Depths. Dwarves first cultivated these insects for use as navigational aids and decoration. Most dwarves don’t know the complex directional code their underground ancestors employed, but inhabitants of Highhelm have created their own system to communicate directions and demarcate routes.
Inhabitant Demonym
Deep
Location under
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