The Acid Pits of Phexropha
The Underdark contains many dangers - its terrain can be unusual in the extreme and semi-regularly defies the laws of physics. Perhaps these laws simply do not reach below the surface of the planet.
Regardless, amongst the various holdings, territories, chasms, underground seas and plains that are contested regularly by Drow, Duergar, Mindflayer and other forces in the darkness below Kantas, one area which remains largely uncontested is the Acid Pits. Named Phexropha by the Drow, they are not at all certain how they came to be, simply that they should be avoided at all costs due to their numerous deep wells of caustic acid and toxic fumes. The Mindflayers know why it is there, as the memory of the hivemind is long, but they do not give up the secret easily. They do make just as much effort to avoid it however.
It has made a useful geographic defence in the past for this reason - a retreating army can move around the pits to try and dissuade pursuit. Equally the occasional brave or stupid group has tried to cross the pits. Sometimes they even make it - though usually covered in burns and with trouble breathing from the fumes they’ve inhaled. It is always the path of last resort however.
The only creatures that can make any sort of living there are colonies of Acid Mephits and the occasional ooze - though they are always hard to count. In fact, as the pits fill craters n the ground of varying sizes, some of those acid pits may not be simply acid at all, but Oozes lying in wait for desperate prey. One of their favourite tactics is to grab at a passerby threading their way carefully along the narrow ledges of rock that separate each hole and push them into a different pit of acid, climbing out of their pit to then follow the prey in. It is a painful, and largely inescapable way to die.
Of all the places in Kantas, best give this one a miss.
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