The Sinkhole

In the dangerous land locally known as Beasthome, where hunting Urkvari packs and arcane creatures stake out their territories, a small patch of land collapsed and left an unexpected hollow in the earth. The unnamed sinkhole is 150' deep from jagged rim to dusty bottom, an uneven cylinder that branches off into a few small tunnels at the base. Normally, such a sinkhole would indicate a past presence of a gran'Duovari clan, but the few artifacts that were withdrawn from its long-disused hollows are Aeldvaren in nature. The only Aeldvari who regularly live beneath the earth are dar'Aeldvari, but they prefer to live in natural cave systems in mountain ranges, not burrowed beneath an otherwise flat landscape. However, tool marks have been found along the bottom of the sinkhole and on the unnaturally-flat floors of the linking tunnels, indicating deliberate construction. Urkvari have no interest in archaeology, so they reluctantly agreed to let lun'Aeldvari from the formerly-lost city of Tondo Talestro explore the sinkhole. Telemancers from the city established a translocation station in an offshoot tunnel to facilitate transportation to and from their distant home, without bothering the Urkvari or the roaming beasts they hunt. The study of the sinkhole's remaining relics remains inconclusive to their cultural origin. Shards of broken clay, ceramic, sandstone, and quartz reveal vaguely Aeldvaren design elements and decorative motifs. The few fragments of writing found so far do not match any known language, but initial examination indicates probable similarities to High Aeldvaren, which is otherwise on its own branch of the linguistic family tree. Remarkably, a few ancient arcane traps were discovered in the tunnels, still intact and dangerous after who-knows-how-many thousands of years. Luckily, the kinvari who are exploring the sinkhole have not suffered any notable casualties from those archaic contraptions. Careful inspection of the now-spent mechanisms suggests a link to elemental lightning, but the construction of such devices does not match any known types of artifice. Research continues.