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The World of Teréth End - Gazetteer - Places - The Lower Streets |
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Links Home "...[name] stood in the [name2] Hall, a hundred peers watching from the galleys above. She called her Provider's name, and all could feel the power she commanded. [name3] summoned his wards, but all that watched knew his efforts were in vain. The next name she offered was his, and the misery of [name3] was legend." translated
from Dekàlan fragment  |
The Lower Streets Introduction The hooded Dwürden sat quietly in the corner. Pale hands wrung one another at the loose ends of his heavy patchwork sleeves. The orm offered had disappeared quickly. A moment later, after a long deep breath, he began to speak. "As horrible as Oth may be my friend, the Lower Streets" he whispered, "are far worse. I am no better than my word so for this amount I give useful words first. Do not wander there. That's not what you paid for I know, but it is the only good thing I will tell you this evening. The rest that I say to you is better left unsaid, but alas the Uren iron." The Dwürden took another deep worried breath. "Some background first, for you should always start at the beginning of a tale. I have only walked the first three layers of the Hole. I found plenty of means to go lower, but never dared. I cannot tell you what I do not know. As for stories of the lower layers, let your nightmares be your guide. The first layer is called Visháshun, an old name on the tongues of the Uren. It is the name of the border Nether, where the demons scream the names of the damned and the dead float between the Here and the unknowable. This is the first layer, the Lower Streets that men know and whisper of. Here live the outcasts and the thieves, the damned Poisoners and their kin. Here live the waste and the trash of this drear place in dim shadows and lightless corridors. "Like most of the Lower Streets, Visháshun is a ruin of a place long forgotten. Though sunless and stone, it is most unlike the pleasing tunnels of Dwürden construction. This is the city of your ancestors, perhaps the city whose streets they walked in their time. There are those that suggest that the sun once touched those lower streets, but I cannot see how that is possible. But these are ways and stories of your people, not mine. I can only tell you what I have and heard. "Of the people that live there, there are many more than you might guess. They gather together for protection and to share scarce food and supplies. Not all that came there, came there as thieves, but most that remain undergo the transformation; to resist is to starve and perish. In my time among the Vishàna, I came to know many of the groups. Beware them, and do not approach or ask favors without offerings, for they can offer you nothing and except the same and worse from strangers. "The most prevalent are the Poisoners. You will know their places by the symbol of a coiled snake. Stay clear of their places for they are evil, and always in search of more bodies to test their concoctions. Many visitors believe the Poisoners rule the Hole, but this is not true. Although their control of many areas may seem absolute, these is far more to the dark passages than they can or would want to know. It is my guess that most Poisoners are visitors, for rarely have I seen them in the lower layers. "Perhaps the largest group within the Visháshun is the Ordon Nul, the Black Order. It would be my guess that their group is the most numerous, and I have seen their numbers on each of the three regions I have visited. Most visitors have never heard of them because unlike the Poisoners, they rarely surface. Some dwell and trade in the shadowed canyon of the Run Dul, but most remain in darker places where their strange gods protect them. They are denizens mostly, having lived for many years in the Forgotten Places. They have adapted to heartless dark in more ways than you might imagine. I have never seen the Ordon Nul deal with the Poisoners. This is important, for the Poisoners deal with everyone else. "There are smaller groups as well. Enclaves exist in the spaces between, bandit groups, and bands of obscene and monstrous things. Do not believe that all that dwells is Uren, or similar to your kind. There are creatures that wait in the dark, things that know nothing but hunger. Faceless, shapeless things that have crawled from the world's tangled depths with the taste of blood on their tongues. have seen and felt their distant movements, and know that the Uren and their kin are not the only things to fear. "There are the Hoodoo. Stay far from them if you can, for it is said they are immortal hunters, and can be found throughout the Lower Streets. The Cuzrul stay to themselves, which is good, for they deal in unnatural arts and are friends of none save the Bulud and Thriss. The Thriss are marvelous creatures that dwell in the deepest places. Should you find a Thriss be kind and hospitable, for they are weavers of Good and their magics are feared by the unkind without exception. The Bulud are also kind in their way but they are cursed with a horrible hunger for all but the Thriss. Pity the Bulud, at a distance. "Beyond all of these, live the Craw. The Craw are voracious creatures that will appear as birds and live in the northern reaches of the Visháshun. It is said by those visitors who have returned from their 'lands' that the vultures of the Upper world bring offerings to the Craw and worship those beings as the Uren worship gods. I have never seen such creatures but know that their magics are feared throughout the Hole. "Living in the Visháshun are the Tribes of the Moon, the Werrid. Few bother the Werrid for they bother no denizens in the lower places. They hunt only on the surface, returning to the shadows in morning for fear of losing their Blessing. They claim that the moon-shadows extend forever in the Lower Streets and I am given reason to believe this. "Beneath the first layer is Tormòlis, the Haunted Place. I do not know the nature of the place's name, but believe it to be Uren. Tormòlis is the first truly dark place, the layer that separates the visitors from the denizens. Here the Ordon Nul are numerous. It is said by those that live there that the Poisoners' base lives somewhere on that layer, though I've never seen evidence of it. There are places here that the Ordon Nul will not allow you entrance. These are their sacred places, where they worship their strange gods. Do not cross them. Do not give them reason to know you. The dark twists Uren in ways unknown to my kind. I will tell you at my risk that I stumbled once into their places and do not sleep well for what I've seen. "In Tormòlis you will also find the towns. Neighborhoods among the crumbling ruined streets, where visitors sometime frequent. There are pockets throughout the layers where 'the rules' don't apply, but don't pin hopes on finding them, they exist and have survived because they are secret. Be also wary for some of the people of this place are cannibals, and will welcome you into their folds for meals you may not taste. "The Budul trive in Tormòlis, as do the Morr. The Morr exist only on the layer of Tormòlis. I have found them in no other. The Morr are noble and may be trusted. They are Uren as some Uren hope to be, a strange but comforting presence in the lightless streets. They are bound by some ancient pact to protect the people of Tormòlis, and do well by their promise. If only there were more. In my years, I have met one, but know there to be more. A greater ally cannot be had in that place, though for some unreason the Thriss detest these creatures. It is their way and it does no good to question. It is also said that the Morr were once more numerous but have been hunted to a scarce few by the Hoodoo. I do not know this to be true, and couldn't bear to bring such a question to the melancholy Morr. "As I said before, Tormòlis is known as the Haunted Place. It is in Tormòlis that the River of the Dead flows beneath the City. Ancient bridges still span the old waters. Do not drink from that river, for it feeds through old grounds upstream where the Uren dead were placed into Teréth End to rot. The banks of the river teem with ghuls and other creatures. Some Uren say that the waters flow from the Nether, while others claim it is the subterranean Run Merdus. Whatever the waters may be, know that ghosts linger among the ghuls there, asking questions of the living, many questions. Their incessant questioning drives all but the ghuls mad, for not only are there no answers to the things they ask, but most are compelled to sit and listen to their ravings. It is said, that those who listen too long are soon asking the questions themselves. Such is the way of the dead that dwell in that place. "Many others exist near the River of the Dead but I do not them. I was given valuable advice on my arrival to this place, and foremost was to avoid that river. I have heard at least one story though, or a mad mage who rules the places and creates creatures for his slaves. I have heard tales as well of the Drüv, though few can prove stories. A people whose bodies are no more real than the body a mirror holds. They, like Budul, have a horrible hunger and with each bite look more and more like their feast. The Drüv are feared by all in both Visháshun and Tormòlis, though it is said they have no taste for the oiled feathers of the Craw. Uncomfortably the Dwürden added, "The third layer of the Hole, the deepest I dared travel, is a much different place than those above. The population is more limited. Populated by Uren denizens and their like. Here I found the most complete ruins of a City long past, but also more monsters than I cared, and few with names. Uçor, the third layer is less civilized than those above, if they can even be called such. The places seems overrun by the vile Trogon, half-Uren half-lizard creatures. "It is Uçor that opens into the Southswall, but those entrances (or exits if you will) are guarded by the southern Craw whose feathers are red like blood. They lord over that place and keep slaves it is said. It was told to me that the red Craw do not possess the magic like their northern kin but that their evil is equal, if not greater. The Craw of that place are known to be enemies of the Cannis, the hairless hounds that travel the Uçor in their thirsty packs. It is said that the howl of the Cannis can be heard far above in the streets of Oth, but in Uçor the unearthly sound fills the denizens with dread, for it is the call of hunting. "Now that I think of it, and it no pleasure to think on that place, there are many to fear in Uçor. There are the Lower Werrid, the White Children (who may or may not be Uren), the Duggaradan, the Shu'd (or at least there used to be), the Lost, and others. But these are just names. Names told to me in whispers from the lips of frightened travelers. They mean nothing to me, and I pray to the mountains that they will ever mean nothing to you. And of course there are the lower layers. Layers to which I've heard no names, and don't care to. In those lowest regions lay the ancient roots of the dark city far above. It is good that the people of the City do not think on what lies beneath their feet too often. "Also, do not expect the layers to be constant throughout. Those layers to the south of the Run Dul are lower than those to the north and the crossing can be most unpleasant. I probably don't need to tell you about the Run Dul. I've heard it said that the canyon was formed centuries ago when an earthquake tore the City of Oth into two halves. The river, Run Dul changed course along the fissure's length and found a new passage to the Kre Dulnar. The walls of that narrow canyon are a cross-cut of the the first three layers of the Lower Streets. It is the easiest place to come and go from the Hole, and its effect has taken its toll on the Barrens above." The hooded figure grows silent a moment before climbing from his chair. "If the coin you gave has taught you not to enter the Forgotten Places, it was the best purchase you could have made. If after this you still intend to 'visit'..." The Dwürden shakes his head and walks quietly from the room. The door closes behind him without sound.
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Geography The Gazetteer details the following regions:
Emer (The Lost Isle) The Cosmography details more "distant" locations:
Zarátam |
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Ref. PHB (Player's Handbook), © Wizards of the Coast  |
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