The Caves of Oltaren

I would highly recommend that you refrain from going down that tunnel, friend. Trust me, whatever riches you may think ought to be found down there, they aren't worth it.

- A Rumalian guide talking to a foreign adventurer.

With a entrance located just north of the Rumalian City of Oltaren, this sprawling cave systems is one of the most visited natural wonder identified in The Wanderer's journal. In it, he describes the plethora of valuable ores and gems that can be found in the caves, its unique natural beauty and immense size, but also the dangerous fauna inhabiting it. Many adventurers have since explored and mapped out portions of the cave system, but the full extent of it remains unknown. The mystery attracts ever more daring adventurers seeking glory and riches. Many have lost their lives in these caves by either by being killed by the dangerous fauna, by the cold, or simply by getting lost and starving to death.

Geography

The General Location

The most well known entrance to the cave system is located amongst snow capped hills about 50km north-west of the City of Oltaren. It features a large hole, which descends straight down about 100m, before reaching a large cavern. Giant icesickles descend from the surface to the cavern floor, and offers a dangerous but direct route down into the cave.

The Interior

The cave itself and most of the tunnels branching off of it seem to have been carved out of ice, as the walls are primarily made up of very smooth blueish ice. Rivers of icy cold water are located along some tunnels, leading to underground lakes and ponds. This water stays liquid, say for a thin sheet of ice on its surface, yet will freeze solid anything that falls into it.

Peculiar light Phenomenon

A particular feature of this cavern is how bright it is everywhere, even far away from any apparent light source. Indeed, light seems to shine and reflect from the icy walls, flooding the tunnels in a beautiful blueish light. Many wonder if magic isn't at play here, since some of the brightest parts of the system are furtest away from natural light.

Map of Arros

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A map of the continent of Arros, as of the year 370 AC.

Resources

It is well known that the rocks and ice of the caverns hold large amounts of valuable ores and gems. Iron, tin, copper and gold can all be found in these depts. However, the far more valuable material found here is the very rare Frostite gems, found only in a few selected places in the world. This is what draws the vast majority of explorers in these caves, as only a small amount collected is enough to make them extremely rich.

Fauna

The caves are home to a large amount of fauna species which have adapted to this unique and harsh environment. Many of these are Elemental Animals, specialy adapted to the icy environment.

Ice Spider

The most famous of these is the Ice Spider, a species of arachnid about 30 centimeters tall and wide, with a hard greyish-blue exoskeleton and legs partialy made of ice. Some specimens can reach a meter in height and width. While their main prey are the large insects known as Giant silverfish, they also attack larger animals and humans and are known to swarm larger prey by the dozen, biting them repeatedly and ejecting a freezing venom into the body that freezes their blood. Many tunnels are transformed into their nests by being covered in their webbing, which holds their eggs.

Giant Silverfish

While they share their name with common silverfish, these insects are about 10 cm long, 3 cm wide and 5 cm tall. They have long antenae protubing from their head, as well as strong pincers, which they use for defense against the Ice spiders who they are prey too, as well as to burrow nests inside the walls of the cavern. They seem to eat the rocks and be able to digest it. Some have suggested they may be Elemental animals like the Ice Spiders to explain this, but this hasn't been proven.

Corpse parasites

Undead corpses are known to populate the deeper tunnels of the cavern system. These undead are mostly animals, but also a few humans. The first suspects were obviously Necromancers, but it was later confirmed that non of these corpses had a soul, obsolving them. After a confrontation between a undead bear and a group of adventurers, it was discovered that the corpse was being hijacked by what seems to be some sort of parasite. Outside of a host, it is weak and small, appearing a a blueish worm. It lives in hibernation as it waits for a corpse to puppet. The parasite is not contagious to the living, but can infect corpse left behind, making them more resiliant to physical blows in the process by unkown means. Fire is the best way to kill them, as the parasite will flee the body when its set on fire, and the parasite dies quickly when exposed directly to fire.