The plains here are patchy and dry. Only a few hardy souls live in this expanse, farming the bitter and grotesque creeper-fruits that crawl across the ground.
One landmark of note is a narrow cleft in the surface of the plain, which leads down a shaft into a series of lightless caverns. These are in fact a continuation of the caves that run from the Glass Rapids and beneath the Dwarven Cairn at (06.06). The river is not hard to find, and indeed it may be the only orienting landmark in this dark maze.
There are no rats, rust monsters, orcs or other subterranean monstrosities in these caverns. They have all been driven out long ago. There is only one creature - if creature it be - that stalks the tunnels now: the Destroying Angel. The ill-fated Uther Molvard, last man to escape the caverns alive, describes it as being something like an enormous bat, slithering across walls or floor before rising up suddenly to smother. He saw it engulf one of his men and swallow him whole, while two others seemed transfixed by its soft keening voice. On the other hand, Molvard also claims to have encountered the monster a second time before he escaped, and this time he survived by employing a screen of fire (this latter piece of information he will not give over without due compensation).
Rumour has it that the glassy waters of the river become perfected in this underground environment, and eventually turn to clear diamond-like jewels of great value. None such have yet been retrieved, however.
Connection:
- This area is a continuation of the caverns that the Glass Rapids (05.05) run into.
- Farther into the caverns, on the way to the Sunless Sea, is the Winnowing (08.06).
Hooks:
- Why are the fruits of this land considered grotesque?
- Where is Uther Molvard now?
- What is the Destroying Angel and where did it come from?
- Does the river carry on any further under the ground?
- Is it possible to travel from these caverns up to the entrance at the Glass Rapids?
