The Shaftway

Deep within the Children of Aktar, the works of the shaftbuilders of lost millennia are still evident. A center of that ancient empire, the Children of Aktar hold many shaft-cities of the lost people. Also partially intact is the tunnel network, sometimes kilometers underground, that connects these shafts. These connecting tunnels are known as the shaftway, and its tendrils extend throughout the mountain range
Though in some places the shaftway has been used as a part of the Thaner road network, much of the network was unexplored before Inkrimane's arrival, and is even less well mapped now. Though the shaftway roads, carved by ancient magics provide many shortcuts through the mountains, many of them lead to collapsed dead ends or shafts that have not yet been opened. Further, shaft abominations  lurk within the dark halls. 

History

Built by shaftbuilders over 6000 years ago to connect their cities within the Children of Aktar and even further abroad, the shaftway was a masterwork of powerful magic and dwarven engineering, enabling a people who loathed the surface and the sun to remain underground. The shaftbuilders vanished mysteriously, leaving behind empty cities and a deteriorating tunnel network, inhabited only by twisted monstrosities.
Cold, dead, and lost to all, the shaftway and the monsters within it stood dormant for millennia until the Thaner of Agbith and Deim't dug deep enough to uncover them. The Thaners have since cleared out some of the tunnels, but have locked others away as too dangerous. The status of many of the shaftway tunnels is currently unknown, as the Thaners have lost access to most of the entrances and the dragonthralls do not know where they begin and where they lead.