Black Holes of Sunderland

Along the slopes of the Galenas in the Sunderland of southern Vaasa loom the monster-filled caves known as the Black Holes. Some are shallow caves, others deeper and darker. Still others are long tunnels that lead into vast underground networks of interlocking chambers of horrors.
But whatever the depth and dimensions of these caves, they invariably have one thing in common - unfriendly inhabitants. Monsters in this harsh region need shelter as much as humans do, and many of the vile denizens of Vaasa have made their homes in the Black Holes. Monsters here range from goblins and giants to leucrotta and owl bears.
Many of the Witch-King's troops fled to the Black Holes after their defeat at the Ford of Goliad. Some who fled from that defeat carried treasures they had looted during Zhengyi's better days.
The Black Holes of Sunderland offer hardy adventurers the opportunity to gain experience and treasure. If the adventurers are not as hardy as they believe, the Black Holes offer a cozy place to retire—permanently!
Between Bloodstone Valley and Hillsafar Hall the Eastern Galenas stretch for almost 60 miles. This stretch of mountains hosts caves and cave complexes which serve as homes and proving grounds of dozens if not hundreds of humanoid tribes and other dangerous creatures. While the majority of the Black Holes are nothing more than surface caves, some with many chambers, it's thought that dozens of these cave systems connect to Deepearth.
An unusual phenomenon of the Black Holes is the seismic activity of the region. Every 10-20 months, the mountains quake. Some cave complexes are swallowed up by the activity, but other always open as a result. The Damaran side of the Galenas doesn't seem to be as affected, and the tremors on the Damaran side rarely, if ever, change the landscape. Although the tremors always haunt the miners of Arcata.
The orcs say Gruumsh is testing their resolve, while the goblinoids say Maglubiyet is opening new paths for conquest. And the kobold say the Kurtelmak is trying to escape his prison. Others wonder if a primordial is imprisoned below and the tremors are its attempt at escape, or possibly an engine of destruction, such as the tarrasque.
What is known is that these shifts in the mountains pit the humanoid tribes against one another in an effort to gain the new cave complexes and to establish a new order of dominance when tribes are lost to the quakes.
It also makes it impossible to catalog and track the extent of the Black Holes. Any maps of the cave systems and the Deepearth connections is nearly useless after a few of these shifts.

Location under

Vaasa