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Message: <blockquote data-quote="monboesen" data-source="post: 1319589" data-attributes="member: 4647">In my latest dungeon crawl I started with bacteria. Bacteria can derive energy and therefore live of almost anything, even inorganic minerals. I decided to go with hot springs, not unlike what you find in the deep sea.The mineralfilled water in my cavesystem originates from vulcanic activity deep under the mountains and wherever it leaks out into caves and tunnels, thick patches of brightly colored bacteria grow. They in turn are grazed by slugs and insects, whom are predated by large insects/animals. Fungi live of both bacteria and dead slugs/insects/animals.My "underdark" is only sparsely populated. Consisting of long stretches of barren rock linking oases of life dependent on the scolding water. Goblinoids live in these deep caves, and have developed a kind of agriculture based on the bacteria. They build shallow tanks and have pipes that lead the water there. In the tanks they keep giant slugs that they eat. They also grow and cultivate several species of fungi for food. Any dead goblin is, as part of their burial ceremony, dumped in the watertanks.They still raid the surface for other kinds of food and covet real meat (be it human or animal). But they can survive solely on their own foodproduction.As for oxygen, I did not really give it much thought, but it could be a wasteproduct from some of the bacteria, depending on the minerals they "eat".The point of it all is. We, on the surface, have a diverse and large group of organisms (plants) that can survive and produce biomass from inorganic nutrients and solar energy. The bacteria can also survive on inorganic nutrients, if they have an energy source. But that energy can come from inorganic materials as well. So with a large enough supply you could in theory have a diverse and high biomass ecosystem not dependent on the sun.Well enough rambling. I hope this is in some way useful to you.</blockquote>

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