The Collar
The Collar is the name of the massive cave systems that exist underneath The Surface. This is where the vast majority of civilization lives, specifically around the Pit of Tartarus , a giant hole that goes from The Surface to an unknown depth of the underground.
The Collar is a collection of smaller cave systems that seem to be connected to each other, in a similar fashion that would expect an ant colony or a termite colony. Tunnels connect the cave systems to each other, allowing for travel to be possible across the layer. The Collar is quite dangerous, much like the rest of the underground, but The Collar is the considered the safest part of the underground, which is why the City of Elysium is found here, among other reasons. It is also the first test of survival that a Delver must survive if they are to be allowed to visit and work on other layers beyond this one.
Geography
A system of interconnected caves of various sizes. The stone of the caves is generally a reddish brown color in most places. The texture of the caves walls can also vary, based on if they are natural or made. Water can travel quite well through certain areas of this layer, so dark brown stalactite and stalagmites do form in location, which are dangerous to touch. Tunnels of previous locations where running water was connect all these cave pockets.
Ecosystem
While there is more here than what is on the surface, life still has a very hard time living here on this layer of the underground. Various molds, mushroom and fungi are able to filter out the rust from the water on this layer. Some smaller creatures are able to survive feeding off those mushrooms, which in turn are then fed upon by some of the more dangerous creatures in The Collar such as giant spiders and troglodytes. in certain locations there are running rivers of red water where mushrooms fields are possible, but they are uncommon. Beyond that, there are a few aberrant creatures who live on this layer, like ropers, but such creatures tend to be more common the deeper underground you go.
Ecosystem Cycles
As the layer closest to the surface, this is the only layer where the changes of the seasons on The Surface has any real effect on the Collar. Generally, in the winter and spring red rivers have a tendency to overflow, causing large bursts of mushrooms and fungi to grow in the area. This tends to help the smaller creatures also flourish, which leads to an increase in activity for the dangerous creatures who hunt them.
Climate
Generally, the temperature of the Collar tends to stay pretty cool due to it being underground. It does get slightly colder in the winter and fall, but other than that it is a decent average on this layer.
Fauna & Flora
Glowing mushrooms are fairly common on this layer that at edible. There is also a few different types of slime molds as well.
Natural Resources
Beyond basic stone and mushrooms, some creatures on this layer can be trained and hunted for various uses. There is also clay deposits that can be found in random locations in this layer that are useful for pottery and smithing purposes.
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