Frostbite Caverns
Tunnelling its way through Daglaci's icy exterior are the Frostbite Caverns. This worldwide biome has caused significant damage to the planet's shell, causing structural instability. The caverns are an endless labyrinth, largely unexplored by daglacians, but it is well known that these caves are nesting grounds for many dangerous creatures.
It is a common misconception that Daglaci's ice shell is solely made of ice. Truthfully, large continental landmasses float on the planet's surface, completely glaciated, with miles upon miles of ice on top. Some of these caverns reach down to these landmasses, where the environment is actually rather warm and hospitable.
The few that have explored the Frostbite Caverns have recorded rather peculiar sightings. Few believe their claims and conspiracies.
Geography, Location & Climate
There are an estimate of fifty thousand large caverns across the globe, all larger than five kilometres in diameter. Connecting these caverns are tunnels of varying sizes, most barely enough to fit a daglacian. Warm air currents flow through these tunnels causing ice to melt, freeze, and expand, pushing tunnels closer together and farther apart in different places.
Absurdly deep lakes exist in some of the larger caverns. The water here is so dark it is impossible to tell the depth from a glance, even if the lakebed is metres away.
The lowest caverns, making contact with the continental landmasses, are hundreds of metres tall and many miles wide. With cool climates around 10℃, life thrives better here than anywhere else on the planet.
Ecology
The only organisms truly native to these caverns are those that live in the bottom-most caves. Large plant species have gone unchanged for millions of years, as well as the animals that exist around them. These continental caverns act as a time capsule, preserving life for an unimaginable length of time. Fossil records within these caverns show that some of these species were alive at least three hundred million years ago.
Many surface animals nest within these complex tunnels. Siren orcas are one such species, protecting their vulnerable young by creating various exit tunnels from their nest, allowing them to escape from predators.
Arrow worms, one of Daglaci's top ocean predators, dig into Daglaci's ice shell, creating caverns with direct access to the abyss below. They glue their eggs to these cavern walls, for their young to hatch and drop straight into the frozen waters. Most of these eggs are picked off by opportunistic predators.
Look at the adorable baby!!! I love it very much. I mean the entire place sounds hecka creepy and I'm not sure I wanna go in it, I don't like caves as a general rule. But I mean, adorable baby!
Thank you! Honestly, this place is nicer than it sounds. Is it freezing cold? Yeah. Lots of dangerous animals? Yassss. Okay maybe there's not much nice about it xD