Voidcaves
From Zok
Contents |
The Voidcaves
The Voidcaves are a labyrinthine maze of caverns beginning below the Night Forest and extending out past them under the River of Flame and even under the Mirrored Wastes. Due to the sheer amount of territory the Voidcaves cover, there's a great deal of inherent variation in their nature. Some of the caves are so thin as to be impassable to humanoids, twisting and turning vertically for miles. Others are tremendous dark cathedrals of stone, or endless pits arcing down into nothingness. Some caves are dimly lit by phosphorescent lichens or fungi, others by the greenish traceries of Sickstone veins. Subterranean waterfalls pour from the Night Forest above, and black rivers wend their way into lakes and seas that have never seen the light of the sun. Strange creatures have crawled down into the rock from the world high above and, some say, stranger creatures have crawled up from the world below. Whole civilizations of pale, blind creatures have sprung up only to die in cave-ins caused by the roots of the trees above or the straining of Krai against her chains.
In the utmost depths of the Voidcaves, or at shallower depths as one goes farther away from Asriphil, the darkness of the caverns starts to give way to the darkness of the Void itself. Here, where Sickstone is more common, one can lean against the wrong slick black wall and fall out of reality itself. At these depths, Zokthis' power wanes, and nameless things slither through cracks in the world. Magic isn't dependable here, nor even the strength of the gods, for this is the outermost border of their domain.
Inhabitants
The Voidcaves are home to innumerable small local ecosystems containing a diverse assortment of creatures. Perhaps the most well-known, at least to surface dwellers, are the Myconids, who dwell in the upper caverns of the Voidcaves and even into the undergrowth of the Night Forest. They're a sociable race, and they are more than happy to trade with outsiders.
