SHARK
First Post
Greetings!
Deep in the earth, through miles and miles of dark, winding caverns, the caverns open up into the Rift of Azzenrogg. The Rift of Azzenrogg is an enormous subterranean valley some six hundred miles in diameter. The rift is also reached by numerous rivers, several of which connect to it from channels in the ceiling, and plunge into breathtaking waterfalls in five locations at 1280, 1560, 1840, and 2600 feet respectively, cascading into the great inland Sea of Zarlune. The vast Sea of Zarlune features an ancient civilization of Aboleth that have ruled the powerful Kingdom of Zarlune for over 26,000 years. The Aboleth of Zarlune have built a vast city of sparkling grey and purple crystal, fused with veins of pure gem stones. Great ziggurats shimmer with panes of ruby, sapphire, and diamond. Greatest of all, however, is the Grand Temple, built in honour of the Dark Gods, that is dominated by a vast dome of amethyst, rising some 300 feet high. The sparkling city features many jeweled fountains, broad, open causeways, and glittering pools of scented water. Alien gardens of luminous purple-furry barked trees, waterlillies of pearl white with lavender strirations, bright lavender-leafed hedge plants, enticing with 18" bristling, razor edged thorns that move and undulate on their own accord; Huge, circular trees featuring large, 12' ft. long pulsing sacks where creatures entrapped are pierced by great beaks and drained of all fluids for the nourishment of the tree...these strange plants, and many others, grow and prosper in the gibbering gardens of Zarlune.
The Aboleth of Zarlune have created numerous creatures, in addition to the warping effects of chaos that flows through the whole valley from ancient gates that were opened millenia ago. The Aboleth have forged huge armies of gibbering monsters that patrol the whole area, maintaining the Aboleth's dominion. On occasion, the Aboleth send forth great hosts of monsters, arrayed in fine mail and glittering weapons, to bring wrath and destruction upon some race or city deep in the far reaches of the underworld. The Aboleth armies routinely slaughter 50% of the entire population, and carry the remaining population off in the chains of slavery. These fallen enemies have been broken to the yoke of subjection, and warped by countless experiments into horrid monstrosities that moan in terrible worship to the Aboleth.
Through the centuries, the Aboleth of Zarlune have saw fit to make alliances with individual realms of duergar, drow elves, and umber hulks. Special envoys have gained the alliance of several kingdoms of giants. The giants have willingly offered their physical skills, their knowledge, and their skills with the upper world in service to their Aboleth masters. In return, the mighty Aboleth have performed numerous kinds of magical augmentation on the whole population of giants, making them far superior in every way to other giants of their kind. The Aboleth have then equipped their giant allies with numerous items of the finest workmanship and great magical power. The giants, in turn, have grown to be an even more formidable threat to their neighbors on the surface.
In the meantime, through a few carefully forged alliances, and the continued breeding of armies of monsters, the Aboleth Kingdom of Zarlune has conquered new subterranean areas, slaughtered cities of enemies, and forged whole hordes of millions of slaves that toil away deep in vast mining complexes and workshops, digging and hammering out the unimaginable wealth of the world.
From this place of great power and dominion, the Aboleth of Zarlune plan to expand their gibbering realm across vast areas of the surface, where whole civilizations await their turn to kneel to the dreaded Aboleth.
Now, that is an excerpt of a section in my campaign world. It seems to me that for all of the timne that the player characters and others spend underground, there would be far more detail provided in commercial products for these regions. Oftentimes, the supplements feature the drow again and again. Don't get me wrong, I like the drow, but really, there are many other interesting races that live in the deepearth and can be a source of interesting adventures and missions. The old Night Below did a valiant effort at attempting to provide a framework for this, but alas, it does seem to be rather infrequent, while again, the drow are detailed again and again.
Have you any interest in different races and cultures of the deepearth? Do you develop interesting and detailed deepearth environments that go beyond the drow? How significant does the realms and civilizations of the deepearth influence the surface realms in your campaign? Do they regularly make war? Are there extensive trade networks? What kind of cultural exchanges and influence is there? Do your players make extensive journeys into the deepearth?
What do you think?
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Deep in the earth, through miles and miles of dark, winding caverns, the caverns open up into the Rift of Azzenrogg. The Rift of Azzenrogg is an enormous subterranean valley some six hundred miles in diameter. The rift is also reached by numerous rivers, several of which connect to it from channels in the ceiling, and plunge into breathtaking waterfalls in five locations at 1280, 1560, 1840, and 2600 feet respectively, cascading into the great inland Sea of Zarlune. The vast Sea of Zarlune features an ancient civilization of Aboleth that have ruled the powerful Kingdom of Zarlune for over 26,000 years. The Aboleth of Zarlune have built a vast city of sparkling grey and purple crystal, fused with veins of pure gem stones. Great ziggurats shimmer with panes of ruby, sapphire, and diamond. Greatest of all, however, is the Grand Temple, built in honour of the Dark Gods, that is dominated by a vast dome of amethyst, rising some 300 feet high. The sparkling city features many jeweled fountains, broad, open causeways, and glittering pools of scented water. Alien gardens of luminous purple-furry barked trees, waterlillies of pearl white with lavender strirations, bright lavender-leafed hedge plants, enticing with 18" bristling, razor edged thorns that move and undulate on their own accord; Huge, circular trees featuring large, 12' ft. long pulsing sacks where creatures entrapped are pierced by great beaks and drained of all fluids for the nourishment of the tree...these strange plants, and many others, grow and prosper in the gibbering gardens of Zarlune.
The Aboleth of Zarlune have created numerous creatures, in addition to the warping effects of chaos that flows through the whole valley from ancient gates that were opened millenia ago. The Aboleth have forged huge armies of gibbering monsters that patrol the whole area, maintaining the Aboleth's dominion. On occasion, the Aboleth send forth great hosts of monsters, arrayed in fine mail and glittering weapons, to bring wrath and destruction upon some race or city deep in the far reaches of the underworld. The Aboleth armies routinely slaughter 50% of the entire population, and carry the remaining population off in the chains of slavery. These fallen enemies have been broken to the yoke of subjection, and warped by countless experiments into horrid monstrosities that moan in terrible worship to the Aboleth.
Through the centuries, the Aboleth of Zarlune have saw fit to make alliances with individual realms of duergar, drow elves, and umber hulks. Special envoys have gained the alliance of several kingdoms of giants. The giants have willingly offered their physical skills, their knowledge, and their skills with the upper world in service to their Aboleth masters. In return, the mighty Aboleth have performed numerous kinds of magical augmentation on the whole population of giants, making them far superior in every way to other giants of their kind. The Aboleth have then equipped their giant allies with numerous items of the finest workmanship and great magical power. The giants, in turn, have grown to be an even more formidable threat to their neighbors on the surface.
In the meantime, through a few carefully forged alliances, and the continued breeding of armies of monsters, the Aboleth Kingdom of Zarlune has conquered new subterranean areas, slaughtered cities of enemies, and forged whole hordes of millions of slaves that toil away deep in vast mining complexes and workshops, digging and hammering out the unimaginable wealth of the world.
From this place of great power and dominion, the Aboleth of Zarlune plan to expand their gibbering realm across vast areas of the surface, where whole civilizations await their turn to kneel to the dreaded Aboleth.
Now, that is an excerpt of a section in my campaign world. It seems to me that for all of the timne that the player characters and others spend underground, there would be far more detail provided in commercial products for these regions. Oftentimes, the supplements feature the drow again and again. Don't get me wrong, I like the drow, but really, there are many other interesting races that live in the deepearth and can be a source of interesting adventures and missions. The old Night Below did a valiant effort at attempting to provide a framework for this, but alas, it does seem to be rather infrequent, while again, the drow are detailed again and again.
Have you any interest in different races and cultures of the deepearth? Do you develop interesting and detailed deepearth environments that go beyond the drow? How significant does the realms and civilizations of the deepearth influence the surface realms in your campaign? Do they regularly make war? Are there extensive trade networks? What kind of cultural exchanges and influence is there? Do your players make extensive journeys into the deepearth?
What do you think?
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
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