The Deepshaes, Islands in the Underdark
The Moonshaes are more than just the surface of the islands. The power of the Earthmother extends below the ground to the very bones of the world. Her spirit inhabits
the caverns, the vaults, and the chambers encased in rock. These are the Deepshaes, the islands below. The Moonshae Isles are mostly limestone. Water and time have worked together to create enormous caverns under the islands. These are living caves, where water abounds, from small trickles to gushing rivers.
Exploring often requires swimming as much as climbing. The flowing water creates magnificent formations, such as draperies, columns, and flowstone. The Deepshaes are rich in ore and gemstones. Gold, iron, silver, and copper glitter in winding veins through the earth. The ore already present in the stone would enrich a kingdom, but ore of the Deepshaes holds a greater secret. The dwarves claim that if enough of the ore is left the veins grow back in time. With responsible harvesting, the ore could last forever.
Fungi and lichen grow in abundance throughout the Deepshaes and flourish in some of the caverns, creating underground garden wonderlands. Explorers tell of subterranean forests in some of the larger caverns, composed of trees unseen on the surface. There are rumors of moonwells and powerful spell components in the Deepshaes, maintained by the gnomes and the fey that live here.
he Deepshaes are too remote from the mainland to attract the notice of the traditional Underdark powers like the drow and duergar. Some of the lowest reaches of the Deepshaes extend beneath the shallow straits of the Moonshaes to create a vast network between the islands.
The best known of the Deepshaes residents are the dwarves. The two most powerful clans are Clan Rookoath, who live below Alaron, and Clan Rustfire, who until recently dwelt below Gwynneth.
Many fey have migrated into the Deepshaes, and myconids live in abundance among their great fungi gardens. Piercers and ropers have spread through the caves, as well
as other stranger things created by the mad mage Flamsterd.
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