The Harrowind Bluffs

Written by Yerran

The great cliffs are a sight to behold, and far from the pull of the maelstrom, small towns and villages have made their homes atop the stacks and islands nearby. Their safety, almost guaranteed by the bluffs that rise almost a hundred metres vertically. Some of the settlements have bridges connecting several stack tops and others use ingenious pulley systems to reach the water far below. Whether hostile to strangers or not depends wildly on the settlement, though one thing is certain. Those that live upon them have grown insular and wary of outsiders and outsiders should beware if they are invited in. More than one account tells of a close escape from a town of cannibals, or worse.

Along the base of the bluffs exist hundreds of caves, forming a vast network deep into the earth. Some say it leads to the Deepwold, a continent that lies beneath the earth. Others tell of tunnels that twist and turn for days before emerging far beyond where you could have possibly walked, and of creatures that can be paid to lead you safely through. Though few accounts exist of those that have ventured in and returned, but many know of those that have entered and never returned.

It is clear than many semi-aquatic predators and sentient beings live near the surface of these caves, and it would be easy to blunder into the lair of such horrors instead of the tunnel network below. Most that live nearby give them a wide berth and ships sailing along the trade routes have heard enough ill tales to not anchor beside them.

Deepwold

The Deepwold or Deepdark as known by many across Lenwir is the remnants of what the The Dwarven Enclave call the 'Under Empire'. It was once a warren of huge chambers, organic caves and vaulted towns and cities that spread beneath the earth, connected through massive roads. Though with The Cataclysm many of these shattered and crumbled as the earth re-organised itself. What they are now are ancient tunnels filled with creatures, monsters, death and smaller cities and nations of those that loathe sunlight. 

Some seek treasures and wealth amongst the tunnels, knowing much of what once existed fell beneath the surface, buried until once more found. Others seek secret paths across nations borders for smuggling or selfish purposes, though many that venture beneath do not readily return, or at least not how they once were.