What's Under the Under-Realm?

[Burnsy 437]

What’s Under the Under-Realm?

by Burnsy

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In a small, musty storage room at the entrance to the mines within the halls of Kal’Varoth, a group of eight dwarves stand around a table in the center of the room in total silence. Various pieces of well-kept mining equipment are organized by shelf, but the dwarves are already outfitted in their own personal equipment. The echoes of hammers clanging on black iron, and the crackling of the fires in the forges can be heard; however, the typical hustle and energy of life in the Under-Realm of Urguan is absent in this compact storage room. The dwarves standing around the table study a map of the known tunnels in the Under-Realm, but they plan to venture deeper than any map could take them.

 

The previous day, whilst working deep in the mines, a clan elder and his beardling happened to break into an uncharted section of the cave. The Grand Prospector, Dwarger Silvervein, was informed by the elder, and so he dispatched a crew of highly experienced miners to chart the new system. Any changes in the known cave system could pose a threat to the safety of the Under-Realm, as nobody knows what could be lurking deep within Arcas. Because of this potential danger, only the best would dare take up the challenge of exploring the vast subterranean maze. All the dwed standing in the storage room understood that even the slightest mistake could mean the cave becoming a crypt for them all.

 

After the last of the crew had arrived in the storage room, a final check was conducted to ensure all present were ready for the expedition. With the preparations complete, the crew began their journey deep into the mines of the Under-Realm. The trip took the dwed through massive caverns filled with a multitude of scaffolding and machines used by the general mine workers; however, the presence of other dwarves became less and less apparent as the crew went deeper. Finally, the dwed reached the breach discovered by the elder and beardling, and so they entered. The sounds of the city of Kal’Varoth had long since faded away, and now the only noise present was the gentle dripping of water from overhead stalagmites. Torches carried by the crew of dwed reflected off the untouched walls of the cavern; gemstones and ores projected beautiful red, blues, and greens off the cavern walls. The dwed marched on in silence, knowing they were venturing into darkness that rivaled even the deepest caves the city of Kal’Azgaryum had to offer.

 

The subterrestrial voyagers continued down through the winding passageways and enormous chambers, keeping their eyes sharp for any sign of danger, and marking their personal maps to compare at the end of the voyage. At the far end of a particularly large chamber, the dwarves were stunned by the presence of a thick, silvery moss that seemed to sprout out of the wall. It coated a majority of the back wall, and there was neither an apparent source of water, nor a way around. The leader of the expedition ordered two of the dwarves to draw their axes and inspect the moss as the rest of the group provided adequate light. The two axe-wielding dwed prodded cautiously at the moss with their axes before taking a hefty swing each into the silvery barrier of moss. The axes dug into the moss, and together the two dwed were able to remove a sizeable patch from the wall.

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Before the dwed now stood another passageway even deeper into the mine. The entrance was blacker than the smoke of the coal fires that raged within the forges of Kal’Varoth. The crew of dwed stood frozen in front of the entrance as a gentle breeze caressed their beards. As the breeze faded, the deafening silence of the chamber became apparent, as not even the sound of dropping water could be heard. The crew then carried on through the breach, torches and axes drawn. Not a single dwed would dare admit to his fear of what could be in the tunnels, but the strained breathing of everyone present spoke the words the dwed could not. Many times in the past had dwedmar run into horrible beings residing deep underground, and many times before had there been great loss of life due to the beasts that resided in the shadows of the caverns the dwedmar called home.

 

The crew found themselves in a narrow passageway, covered top to bottom in the same moss they had broken through a moment ago, but there was yet to be an indication of any waterways this deep. As the dwarves progressed further down the passageway, small buds began appearing on the moss, dotting the walls and ceiling of the passage. One of the dwarves tapped a bud with his axe and picked it off the wall. Upon inspection, the bud showed nothing of interest, almost as if it could belong to a regular flower on the surface. After what seemed like an eon of walking down the long passageway, the company of dwarves stopped for a small rest. The dwarves sat eating small provisions they had packed for the journey, making sure to keep torches around the passage to ensure they would not be interrupted in the middle of their meal. After finishing up their allotted provisions, the crew began assembling their gear to continue forward. The gentle rustling of rucksacks being packed and closed was interrupted by the clatter of a small rock knocked down the passageway by one of the crew. The rock tumbled down into the endless darkness, the sounds echoing back until a small splash cut off the echoes entirely.

 

The company headed further to inspect the source of the splash. The buds that had been dotting the passageway now gave way to dazzling jade colored flowers, a very faint glow surrounded each of the flowers, but before any of the dwed could further inspect the strange below ground blossoms the sound of rushing water filled everyone’s ears. What waited for the dwarves at the end of the seemingly endless passageway was an underground river. It intersected the narrow passageway, and ran down into an even deeper section of the cave out of the sight of the dwarves. The water came from under a wall to the right of the passageway, but the water was clearly too deep for the crew to safely traverse. Despite numerous attempts at lighting the way, the dwarves failed to see past the edge of the water; darkness swallowed any light past the river. The dwarves had struck a dead end.

 

The company stood befuddled at the presence of a waterway so deep. One dwarf knelt down and ran their hand through the water. It glistened in the light of the torches, and was so pure and calm that the dwarf kneeling down could see his own reflection. It was cool and smooth to the touch, and a sense of calm enveloped the dwarf with his hand in the water. When the dwarf attempted to stand back up, his hand got caught in the water at the wrist as if he got it stuck in a long tube. He pulled harder, but to no avail, his hand remained firmly under the water. Confusion turned to panic as the continued efforts of escape only began dragging the dwarf along with the current. Other members of the company attempted to pull their companion back to safety, but the current only began picking up, roaring louder and louder until getting to such a point that the dwarf whose hand was stuck in the water was ripped down the waterway into a blanket of blackness. Not even a scream could be heard from down the waterway as the dwarves stood in awe at what they had witnessed. The current calmed down once again, and the company was left one member short, and devoid of a rational explanation for what they had just experienced.

 

Spoiler

Lore post for this area: 

 

 

[osumanduas 1442]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.