Crackle Cavern
Crackle Cavern has been a sacred place to the marsh elves longer than those who shelter in the Villen Forest can imagine. The Niklin, their ancestors, believed that the cavern was a gateway to the underworld and travelled to the cavern to leave offerings to their dead ancestors. Relics from that time can still be found at the bottom of the deep pools but any wishing to enter must take care since a ghostly white crab the size of a bear roams the caves. The marsh elves know where to climb the wall and when to avoid the water but a few inquisitive humans from the nearby imperial fort that ventured in have yet to return.
1. ENTRANCE TO CRACKLE CAVERN
At the base of the cliff is a deep pool fed by a lazy stream emerging from the cavern. The water is cool and crystal clear. Humans from the nearby imperial fort have started coming to the lake to swim in the waters. Marsh elves watch from the trees wary of being discovered by the newcomers but anxious less the humans desecrate their holy place. The marsh elves believe that the cavern hides an entrance to the underworld and they leave offerings to their ancestors at the entrance. A narrow sandy ledge runs alongside the stream into the cavern.2. THE BAT CAVE
A colony of bats roost among the cracks in the roof and silverfish swim in the wide pool stirring the sediment as they feed. The pool is too deep to cross without swimming and the current is strong enough to carry a weak swimmer away. A column of rock rising from the pool is where the first of the glowing rocks used to sit, that it until soldiers broke it off and carried it back to the fort where it sits in the colonel's office. There are two exits from this cave, one too narrow for anyone larger than a marsh elf and the other flooded. Anyone wishing to take the wider tunnel must either swim against the current or scale the wall using handholds left by the marsh elves. Drinking the water in the cavern, while not lethal in small doses, can have a profound effect. A cup will cure minor injuries while a pint will knock most people out and send them into a dream world from which they might not reemerge.3.
The passageway narrows and any larger than a marsh elf are forced to crawl.4.
The marsh elves climb along the wall careful to stay out of the water until they reach the rear of the cavern. The water teems with crabs waving their claws in the water sifting for morsels. The ghost crab patrols the deeper parts waiting for something large enough to satisfy its appetite.5. DEAD SOLDIERS
A gruesome sight awaits any that makes it this far. Two men, identifiable as imperial soldiers from their armour, died in this cave, both from wounds inflicted upon their legs. One of them dragged themselves across the sandy floor and managed to reach a crevice in the wall. The wounds are deep and look to have been caused by a serrated blade. Their armour is damaged but one has a sword. Both men wear identical pendants bearing the image of a lighthouse. Closer inspection will reveal a number scratched on the back of each. Five hundred and sixty-eight belongs to the man wedged into the wall while the other is four thousand, three hundred and two. Their comrades and families in the imperial fort will be grateful for the return of the pendants along with the location of the bodies.6. GHOST CRAB
At nearly the size of a full-grown bear, the ghost crab is a fearsome sight or at least it would be if it didn't spend most of its time in the dark. It prowls the caverns sifting the water with its claws searching for fish that have been swept out of the Glowing Sea or for deer wandering in from the forest just outside the entrance. Over its long life, the crab has tasted most kinds of flesh but it is the souls that it is after for they make it stronger. The Ghost Crab is a small god, turned immortal because of the sheer amount of magic it ingested over its lifetime. It is immune to most weapons but magic works against itself. Like other crabs the ghost crab sheds its shell whenever it outgrows it, leaving behind a carapace infused with magic. Marsh elves venture into the caverns to worship the glowing rocks at the rear and when they find a section of shell they take it as a gift from the gods.7.
The floor of this cave is littered with crab shells and the skulls of small birds. The piles are deeper around the base of two-foot-high mounds with holes in the top wide enough to fit an arm. When crabs from the river wander too close to a mound an eel-like body erupts from the mound to flop around until it comes in contact with the crab. Once it's found its prey the maw opens revealing a powerful jaw that clamps onto the crab and crushes the shell. The eels are unable to eat a human but they can crush bones and sever limbs. The only way across without getting too close to a mound is to use the handholds in the wall.8.
Spider webs line the tunnel catching the breeze as it is channelled through. The spiders are venomous and catch the spindly birds as they fly through the cavern.9.
A flooded passageway. Anyone attempting to swim the short distance must contend with a vortex at the halfway point. Those not strong enough to escape will be sucked in, sent shooting along a smooth tunnel, and kicked out back into the first cave.10.
The tunnel narrows so that only those of a small nature can wriggle through.11.
A round chamber decorated with images of marsh elves and the forest. Lined up in a neat row all along the bottom of the wall are small clay statues of squirrels and other forest animals. At the rear is a shrine with an image of a squirrel painted on the wall above it.12. The Ossuary
Bones fill a side cave, neatly stacked so that they form a wall. At the top is a fresh bundle wrapped in a giant leaf and tied with fibrous twine. When a marsh elf of the Villen Forest dies they are buried in the rich humus where they decompose and their souls return to Bracken. Once the bones are clean they are wrapped up in a fresh leaf and taken to the Crackle Cavern and added to the others. A powerful warding spell put there by Bracken keeps the crabs away and the stack intact. Any wishing to break it will attract the ire of Bracken and likely find an angry squirrel waiting for them when they leave the cavern.13.
A green light glints off the wall of a partially flooded tunnel on the other side of a swift-flowing river. Those seeking to swim will have to fight the current to reach the tunnel or be swept away into a flooded part of the cavern. When the marsh elves wish to cross they tie a rope to the strongest swimmer and send them across. Once in the tunnel, they scale the wall and tie the rope to a metal hook driven into the stone. The rope is pulled taught and the pilgrims cross one at a time.14. THE GLOWING ROCKS
Once through the water the floor rises and opens up into a cave full of stalagmites and stalactites. Green rocks embedded into the white stone pulse with an inner light that, at first, blinds those used to the dark but soon softens. The marsh elves of the Villen Forest lack any treasure of note, no gold or silver to offer to their ancestors. Instead, they bring objects that they made with their hands. Embroidered cloth, wooden toys carved with love, scrolls bearing poems written in the marsh elf tongue, and animals made from clay. The artefacts fill the cave, a treasure trove of immeasurable wealth to those that know its value. Spending time in the light leaves the pilgrim refreshed and rejuvenated, healing all wounds and curing any illness.15. TO THE ZENTO
Fish swim in the river battling against the flow attempting to head upstream but only the fittest make it. The way is flooded but anyone capable of breathing underwater can make the attempt, just be careful not to swallow too much of the water because the closer to the crater they get the more potent the magic. Drinking the water in the cavern, while not lethal in small doses, can have a profound effect. A cup will cure minor injuries while a pint will knock most people out and send them into a dream world from which they might not reemerge.Maps
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Zento- Crackle Cavern
The Ghost Crab
At nearly the size of a full-grown bear, the ghost crab is a fearsome sight or at least it would be if it didn't spend most of its time in the dark. It prowls the caverns sifting the water with its claws searching for fish that have been swept out of the Glowing Sea or for deer wandering in from the forest just outside the entrance. Over its long life, the crab has tasted most kinds of flesh but it is the souls that it is after for they make it stronger. The Ghost Crab is a small god, turned immortal because of the sheer amount of magic it ingested over its lifetime. Like other crabs the ghost crab sheds its shell whenever it outgrows it, leaving behind a carapace infused with magic. Marsh elves venture into the caverns to worship the glowing rocks at the rear and when they find a section of shell they take it as a gift from the gods.Characteristics
- Very strong
- Resistant to non-magical attacks.
- The carapace is nearly unbreakable.
- Can order its crab minions to attack as a swarm.
- Will drag larger prey into the deeper parts and shove them into cracks in the rock and wait for them to drown.
Type
Cave System
Location under
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