Thilden caves

Located deep under the city of Khezdur these caves are infamous for the strange echoes that emerge when any noise is made within them.

Geography

These interconnected caves are lined with dark crystals on sharply angled walls. Crystaline growths extend from floor to ceiling creating a maze of pillars. The crystals reflect and absorb light in strange ways making the caves difficult to navigate.

Localized Phenomena

The shape of the caves and the crystals create a perfect environment for echoes, with the slightest sound being bounced around and amplified by the caves. As the sound moves through the various chambers it gets distorted until it sounds like words. No matter what sound starts the echoes it always begins to sound like words in a language that those hearing it can understand, though what they hear varies. The words produced by the caves usually tell of a disaster that will befall the listener, but some have reported that the caves spoke of a long buried secret. In more than a few cases the sounds from the caves have been known to drive listeners insane.

History

The caves were discovered during the first cycle by a team led by Thilden McTavek. Not knowing the nature of the caves Thilden tried to chisel out a piece of crystal. It is said the reverberations were so intense they liquified his brain. Several other members of the team lost their minds and after reporting the incident the last member of the team abandoned their clan and left Khezdur.
Further attempts to explore the caves met with similarly disastrous results until the third cycle when magic was used to silence the caves. This lessened the threat but the echoes could still be triggered by brushing against one of the pillars. An attempt to break a pillar caused a tremour that was felt in Khezdur so attempts to destroy the caves were abandoned.

This was written for Spooktober 2022 to answer the echoes prompt. Other articles can be found in the Tremanac Spooktober 2022 page.

Type

Cave System

Location under

Khezdur

Related Reports (Primary)

• Echoes in the caves

Related Plots

• Crystal caves

Related Historical Events

• 4815
  JST3 return to Khezdur through Thilden Caves

Despite the danger of madness or death the lure of prophecy is strong and some brave or foolish people make their way to the caves to hear what the voices say. It is rumoured that the number of times you make a sound will influence the answers you get.