~Nyx~
The Twilit Deeps
Legends, that's all they be. There is naught left of the World Above but bleached ash and the smolderin' sun. Listen 'ere runt, I've traveled the length and breadth of the deep realms, from the swaying Ghost-Grass Plains to the elven kingdoms of the Mossdeep. I've fought off the hissing scalefolk of the Rotted Sea and rubbed shoulders with cutthroats in the Warrens of the Spire. I've traveled on the backs of the dwarven walkin' machines and sailed the Blackwater seven times. I've been around more than ya' mum, and I've not seen but a ray of light break down into the Deeps. So don't stand there in your tin and tell me about your quest to find the World Above. Don't be a rube and get a clue.-Berhox the Grizzled
The death knell came to pass. The rain no longer fell and decay took the land. And so the survivors from the World Above descended into the World Below looking for their salvation. But in the depths of the deep realms, salvation was not all they found...-Introduction to the Saga of the Aegis-Bearer
Deep beneath a once verdant and vibrant world of magic and fantasy sits Nyx, a dark world of caverns, tunnels, and perpetual twilight. The World Above was once a lush and lively world. Human kingdoms and empires covered great expanses of land and sea. The long-lived elves worked arcane magic in their forest realms. Great dwarven citadels forged and mined for riches within the earth. Wizards wove spells in their cloistered towers while adventures battled monsters for fame and fortune.
But then something happened. The rains stopped, the sun grew harsh, the wind blew bitter, and the World Above began to die. And so began the great exodus into the alien Deeps. The races of the World Above descended into the realm of their monsters and enemies.
But those distinctions are no longer made. The World Below has become the only world. The peoples of the sun, after countless centuries, have adapted to the eternal twilight of Nyx - home.
Cities
~Irza, the Spire City~
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At the heart of the deep realms sits the city of Irza - more commonly known as the Spire. An immense stalagmite that rises from the dark depths of a great lake, the Spire's base is more than two miles across and it rises nearly a mile, high into the reaches of a vast cavern. Even at the edge of this cavern the Spire can be seen, a shimmering tower of a thousand points of light.
A mile-long bridge connects the city to the lake's shore. The span ends in a foreboding fortress-gate that has become the hub of a small town in it's own right. The town is called Pike, and is a mess of ramshackle huts and travelers tents huddled against the iron and stone fortress called the Cage. Nearly everything that goes in or out of the city crosses the bridge - also called the Arm - as the waters of the lake, while fresh and clean, are home to dangerous beasts of the deep.
The Spire was once a natural stalagmite, but now after countless centuries of habitation, no unworked stone remains. The entire length of the Spire has been carved into the city it is today. The architecture of Irza is unique. The city was made with height in mind, and as such, buildings, streets, everything really, are made higher than what would seem necessary and not quite wide enough. Window slits, doors, and archways are tall and narrow. Long, subtle curves punctuated by sudden angles mark the style of the carvings. Motifs of spiders, fish, and strange designs are common throughout the Spire. Many functional parts of the city - columns, pillars, stairs, doors - have been artfully carved into gargoyles and statues.
Iron is also common throughout the Spire as buttresses, fences, grates, doors, and shutters. Those buildings exposed to the open cavern are topped with large graceful blades and razors - as an attack from above is just as likely as one through the front gates. These roof-blades are often forged to resemble birds and other winged beasts.The entirety of the city is lit in a hazy warm light, provided by candles, magic lanterns, and the ubiquitous ember-slug, a slow moving creature, roughly the size of ones thumb, that dot the roofs and ceiling of the city and emit a pale orange glow. This light also allows for the growth of various mosses and lichens within the city that are used for a multitude of things.
The Spire is divided vertically into seven districts or wards, like coins stacked into a column. In ascending order, there is the dark and maze-like Warrens, the diverse Pilgrim's Ward, the bustling and crowded Bazaar, the foundries and iron-works of the Cinder Ward, the administration and libraries of the Magister's Ward, the affluent Arcade, and lastly the mysterious and guarded Mother's Ward. A wide, paved boulevard - the Promenade - winds it's way around the outside of the city, connecting all the wards. In addition to the Promenade, countless stairways, alleys, tunnels, and air shafts connect the parts of the city from inside.
The Warrens - A dirty, wonderful, dangerous, and confusing place, the Warrens is the bottommost of the city's wards. A maze of half-lit slums, corridors, pitfalls, and tenements, the Warrens are home to the Spire's poor, destitute, criminal, and mad. A lawless and dirty place, criminal syndicates, dark cabals, slaver rings, and dark cults all vie for power in a never ending vendetta of deceit and violence.
The Warrens are the home of the Dead-Collectors Guild - more commonly referred to as the Bone-Buyers - who headquarter themselves in a great mortuary-factory in a section of ward referred to as the Skull. The Bone-Buyers travel across the Spire, offering to buy off the recently deceased for a small price. It is also common for them to buy corpses en mass, often with no questions asked. This has created quite the niche for opportunistic and amoral denizens of the Warrens. The Bone-Buyers then take the corpses to their mortuary-factory and turn the bodies into all sorts of mundane items - candles, vellum, fertilizer. This practice is accepted in the city, and while not considered all that tasteful, is a necessity, as it both keeps the city clean and keeps "resources" within the Spire. Their are rumors whispered that they also sell human meat to the less reputable kitchens, butchers, and bars of the Spire.
At the hub of the labyrinthine Warrens is Gallows Square, a proclaimed neutral ground amongst the bickering factions of the slums. The ground of the stone courtyard is carved in the likeness of a thousand grinning skulls and the ceiling is carved to resemble a ribcage. The buildings surrounding the Square contain an assortment of taverns, bars, tattoo parlors, and fest halls. The Shattered Femur is a bar overlooking the entire courtyard, and is a popular watering hole amongst the Spire's seedier elements. The bar is owned by an exiled dwarf named Red-Maned Tiber, a man who seems to know about nearly everything that happens within the Warrens.
Just down the way from the Square is Red-Wine Way, a street of brothels and whorehouses. A place of drunkenness and debauchery, it is dangerous for the unwary. Pickpockets slink along the red-lit street, often working in cahoots with the courtesans and harlots. There is a common whisper that one of the brothels is run by a decrepit, ancient women whom they call Rule-of-Two. She is famed as a fortune teller, but tells the future is such a way that it is often misread by those who seek her out. Those who do find her are often surprised to find that she is waiting for them at the door.
Across the Square from Red-Wine Way is Pock Street, the main market place within the Warrens. All manner of shops and stores can be found in it's narrow street. Weapons, slaves, potions, even magic - all is available for the right price. Two famed stores are Ephit's Emporium - a warehouse of goods pilfered and stolen from the more affluent wards, and the Razor's Edge, a shop that specializes in armor and weapons.
In the deepest part of the ward lies Rag-Pickers Pit. A dozen or so deep chasms serve as the receptacles for the Spire's garbage. The lowest of the low eek out an existence here, picking scraps from the heaps of garbage that pack-beetles haul in daily.
Pilgrim's Ward - A dynamic ward of wanderers, hawkers, swindlers, and vagabonds, the Pilgrim's Ward is popular amongst travelers and the faithful of the deep realms. The proverbial hub of the Spire, the Pilgrim's Ward is - aside from the Warrens - the most crowded and diverse of the wards. Dwarven machine-merchants rub shoulders with goblin mercenaries, halfling day-laborers, and lizardfolk slavers. The plethora of bars, inns, taverns, and wine-houses provides a front for the trade of information and services. Criminal representatives rise from the Warrens, looking for rubes to do their dirty work. Majordomos descend from the wealthy Arcade or Magister's Ward, looking from those with peculiar and unique skills. Caravan leaders search for muscle to guard their ware in the Deeps. The Pilgrim's Ward is the meeting place for all layers of the Spire's society and all manner of creatures and peoples throughout the deeps.
The streets of the ward alternate between taverns and temples, and are sometimes even meshed into one building! The ward houses hundreds of inns and bars and just as many shrines and churches. That being said, there are some that have garnered quite the reputation for themselves. Famed across the Deeps, the Burning Leaf Bar is a dark and smoky lounge popular amongst travelers, explorers, and adventurers. A warm calm permeates the shadowy booths and corners of the bar, and many a deal and offer have been cut in it's hazy whispers. Just as famous as the bar itself is it's proprietor, Ghelish Three-Finger. A retired adventurer, Ghelish tolerates no foul play in his bar, and more than one cocky brawler has met their demise at the end of Ghelish's knife.
The Bazaar - More to come.
The Cinder Ward - More to come.
Magister's Ward - More to come.
The Arcade - More to come.
Mother's Ward - More to come.
Considering the carvings- are gargoyles going to play a large part in this setting?
I am looking forward to seeing more...
really hadn't thought about it really, I was just using the word gargoyle in the classic sense of a monster-esque carving. But i don't see why some of them couldn't be animated gargoyles.
ok, I can't shake this setting out of my head either. I really think this has the most potential out of any of the myriad things I've though up. I'm not sure how many people read it the first time around, but I would love love love to hear some feedback and/or questions on it.
Perhaps some sort of more in-depth introduction.
What exists topside now?
What do people live off?
Will this setting have many different underground species or be human-centric?
Will this be a classic setting of (underground) dungeon-crawling, or did you envision it as a war & intrigue setting only set underground?
If the world above was once a classical high fantasy world, what did humans do with all the monstrous empires underground (e.g. mind flayers)?
Have humans changed?
By the way, love the ember slugs :D
Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowPerhaps some sort of more in-depth introduction.
What exists topside now?
What do people live off?
Will this setting have many different underground species or be human-centric?
Will this be a classic setting of (underground) dungeon-crawling, or did you envision it as a war & intrigue setting only set underground?
If the world above was once a classical high fantasy world, what did humans do with all the monstrous empires underground (e.g. mind flayers)?
Have humans changed?
By the way, love the ember slugs :D
The purpose of this setting is to take the classic DnD troupes/universe and mix it up a bit without using novelty acts. I'm sure most of us have some nostalgic love for old school Gygaxian/Tolkien fantasy, but let's be honest, it's a bit worn-out. So idea is that after X event, all the "good" races (dwarves included here, even though they are kinda undergoundy) have to flee into the dungeons and darkness that had long been where they went to kill things a bring back loot and junk and stuff.
So this setting takes place loooong after this exodus. The underground world has simple become the world. People no longer pine for the sun or the moon and stuff, as what is normal for them is the eternal twilight of the underground.
So there will be the standard races - humans, elves, dwarves, etc. - but gussied up to fit the setting so it's not boring.
and @ Steerpike. I imagined these huge-eyed, skinny, pale, tribal elves that would hunt and travel within the Great Fungus Forest.