Grebian Mines

Once home to a prosperous farming village the Grebes Valley was identified early on as being on top of a Tushine mother lode. With this discovery, the Alchemists purchased the land from the farmers and the mining operations at the Grebian Mines began. While there may have been other untapped resources in the Grebes Valley, such resources have been destroyed or relocated as part of mining operations.
Originally planned as an open-pit mine, the Grebian Mines, sometimes referred to as the Pit of Grebes, eventually began to encroach upon the surrounding mountains as the Pit was continually expanded to allow for more steps. Upon reaching the edges of the valley, the decision was made to convert the open-pit operation to a traditional room and pillar mine beginning at the bottom of the pit, which by this point was nearly a mile deep and 3 miles wide.
Upon being decommissioned centuries ago the Mines, where possible, were boarded up and their original purposes were all but forgotten. Most people travelling through the mountains today believe they were simply mines for iron ore. The Grebian Mines are one of the deepest and longest systems in the world - according to rumors, by the time the mines was shut down the miners would need to hike for days before reaching the bottom. While the Grebian Mines are 5 miles deep at the deepest point and the tunnels were 20 miles if laid end to end at the peak of mining operation, a miner who knew the directions would be able to walk to the bottom of the mine in a day. In the Modern Era, finding the bottom of the mines would take days due to the tunnels becoming more treacherous with the passing of time, in no small part thanks to the rivers that come down from the mountain during rain storms, subjecting the traveler to uneven ground and cave-ins throughout the system.
Although the reason for the closing of the mine has generally been lost to time, most people at the time assumed that the mine was closed as the Tushine lodes had been fully exploited. Historians studying the region, however, would warn those seeking the region of a rumored race of subterranean eyeless monsters only revealed to the world as a result of the depth of the mines.
Despite the destruction of the Valley, centuries of disuse have allowed for the regrowth of the ecosystem as the flora begins to reclaim whats left of the valleys upper tiers while the lower tiers remain barren due to the lack of sunlight and the bottom of the pit remains a small lake for most of the year. Animal life, however, has yet to return other than the occasional flock of birds overhead. Whether this is because of the steep steps leading down into the pit or some other reason is unknown.

Alternative Name(s)

Pit of Grebes

Type

Cave System

The Grebian Mines along with the Gllabic and the Baklian Mines were the original mines for Tushine and were started in the Second Era of _______, The First Era of Magic when Magic began being mass-produced by the Alchemists.