This settlement deep in the Chamber beneath the mountains was the birthplace of Averline, once heir to the Monarch Throne. It is also famous for the variety of magical fish that live in its nearby waters. There is a wide variety; mudfish, koi, nightmarish anglers, big tuna, and more. The intelligence, ability, and weirdness of the fish is varied. Locals do not eat them.

The area has a population of “earth dragons” that burrow through the soil, patient ambush predators that are a manageable but persistent threat on the road and in the town. The town itself is built on solid rock that the earth dragons do not penetrate, and the buildings are crafted from the castings the earth dragons leave behind when they molt or die. The fortifications are cleverly shaped and interconnected, reinforced with alchemical keratin brew periodically poured on them for reinforcement.

A nearby memorial tower, Gulper’s Tomb, is built from the castings of a giant earth dragon that consumed an entire settlement. A powerful curse bound the life essence of the devoured dwarves to the casting, and when the earth dragon shed the casting and retreated to the deeps for a long rest, the dwarves found the casting and fashioned it into something of a spiritual mausoleum. The site is popular with those who revere ancestors represented among the restless shadows bound to the earth dragon casting, and artisans have worked with enchanters, alchemists, and adepts to make the site artistic and secure.

The road from the hold to Wyrmcast must cross a chasm, and the bridge over it is fashioned from wyrmsilk threaded through the trail of the earth dragons when they are gestating.

Locals have cultivated nests for homing worms the length of a finger called squiggies. Most families in the Wyrmcast have a squiggienest, and carry a pouch of the homing worms as well as equipment to write tiny messages that the squiggy can swallow if the squiggy is properly rubbed. These messages are called “squig-ees” and when a squiggy returns to its nest it warbles a short arrival song, so family members know to check the message.

The most popular pub in town is “That Wormhole,” named for a derisive nickname detractors gave the settlement. The current mayor is Canwise, a stumpy fellow with a prosthetic leg equipped with treads that often seize up or malfunction. The current war leader is Frieda, a proud and somewhat shifty berserker who dislikes elves.

Local threats often include elves when relations aren’t going well; there’s still a tribe that lives in the ruin of Fenhollow Isle on the edge of the clan’s territory. Wingus packs are also a problem; monkey-like fliers with leathery wings, poison bite, and tail stingers who tend to drop out of the dark vault above and kill swiftly, then gobble up the corpses. Venomous frogs big enough to swallow dwarves haunt the lowlands. Humans from the surface sometimes mount expeditions to try and leave worm-lures to draw earth dragons to a spot and blow them up, harvesting their insides for delicacies, alchemical ingredients, ritual components, and so on. Dwarves have outlawed this practice, but humans aren’t good with rules.

 

(Kristy, Chloe, Michael G., Jake. 8.14.19)