Connects to: 04.07, 05.07, 04.08 and 17.07.03.
Overview
The long yellow grass of this wide expanse of plains moves lazily in the wind and hides the presence of the multitude of wild dogs that live in the area. The dogs make these plains a dangerous place for most common people, but there are some who have adapted. The nomadic people of the plains live in a mobile village called Dogtur, and capture and train the wild dogs of the plains to serve as hunters, guardians, and faithful companions.
Few know why the shamans of the Dogtur choose to move their camp constantly around the plains. However, if they were ever to set up permanent residence in the area, they would soon learn. An evil curse was placed upon these plains, which takes the form of a massive sinkhole opening up suddenly beneath one’s feet. Though it can appear anywhere, the sinkhole is most often drawn toward large concentrations of human activity, especially if they stay in one place for too long. None have settled for longer than a month in this place before they draw the attention of the terrible chasm.
Those who approach the chasm from the side, or somehow survive its initial assault, will find it possible to descend into that place and visit the tunnels beyond. No matter where the sinkhole appears, the same tunnels will be found, right down to the items (and skeletons) left there by previous delvers. The tunnels are inhabited primarily by dogs. Some are harmless, while others are vicious. The most dangerous are the enormous wolfhounds big as boars that can bite a man in two.
These tunnels are the source of the Dogtur Plains’ profusion of dogs. However, nobody is sure where the dogs originate from. Rumor has it that deep within the catacombs there resides an ur-dog, an enormous bitch with a hundred teats, constantly suckling one brood while she swells up with the next.
