Subterra

An small squiggle In the Jeweled Amber Multiverse

Creation & History

Creation

What is NOT Known by ANY

When Primal Chaos came into Existence, and the Maelstrom of Chaos was forming, a colossal chunk of Primal Matter was spit forth from the Maelstrom, spinning wildly and in all directions, flinging off smaller chunks of itself as it was flung far and wide from the newly forming Forces of Chaos. As this First Chunk of Primal Matter sped away from the Maelstrom and Forces of Chaos, it underwent many changes as it was affected by the Forces of Chaos before solidifying into several forms of Matter and thus becoming a Primal Realm, a Realm that would one day be called 'The Rock', the Primal Realm that now forms Subterra's Core.

Undiscovered for Eons, this roughly spherical Primal Realm of tunnels, caves, caverns, metals, minerals and crystals floated distantly in the Nothing, out beyond the Outermost Rings of the Maelstrom's Event Horizon. It was untouched and unchanged by Time when it was discovered, just before the time the Pattern of Amber was inscribed by Dworkin with the Eye of the Serpent, later to be called the Jewel of Judgement.

After The Rock's discovery and the subsequent creation of a Squiggle at its core, the Squiggle created Shadows of Its own Primal Realm, twelve of them. As these new Shadows came into existence, the Squiggle tried to create Shadows of Itself within these new Realms, and failed; It was incapable of duplicating Itself. These new Realms were devoid of all forms of life despite being capable of supporting a diverse array of life, and were protected from the Nothing by the Power of the Squiggle, almost like an outer shell. But, It also kept Its 'Ring of Power Influence' from getting out, meaning; unlike the Pattern that was soon to come, It did NOT interact with the Powers of Chaos and the Logrus to create great infinite Shadow and Possibility.

What is Known... by One Being

It's Discoverer explored it's extensive caves and cavern systems, then in time found the Core of the Rock then the Heart of the the Rock; the place the Discover created an Inscription using a most powerful artifact.

What can be Confirmed

The Realm known as Subterra, the specific Realm that the Squiggle exists within, is a Primal Realm that has an almost primeval feel to it... old like Chaos itself. The Squiggle, known as The Gem, was Inscribed using the Jewel of Judgment and is actually a completed Inscription, therefore is incapable of being altered or enlarged by any means. Nothing more is known... or can be confirmed. As of yet.

History & Mastery

No Being in Subterra, presently or in the past, knows for sure what the Squiggle 'actually' is or how it came to be. Despite that fact, there are no less than 13 but no more than 50 Subterrans that bear the Imprint of the Squiggle, known by those who bear its Imprint as 'The Gem'. All those that bear the Imprint of The Gem know how to use it for High Order Sorcery and Magical Defense, at the very least. One very powerful Being of Subterra has a few ideas about what the Squiggle is, and is the only Master Imprint Holder of 'The Gem'. The only Being that knows for sure what the Squiggle is and how it was created is an Outsider to Subterra, and is the Squiggle's Creator.

Though millions of Beings, over the millennia, have crossed from one Shadow to the next within the Core Realms of Subterra upon its many Shadow Paths, nobody knew they were doing it; the commerce and wars of the Core Realms span all twelve of the Core Shadows.

The first Being to discover and assay the Squiggle was a very powerful Magic-Wielder, a Wizard specifically; a Title for a Wielder of one of the two Low Order Magic Systems that both function throughout the Subterra System. After assaying The Gem, the Wizard had a dream about the Squiggle; what it is, how to use it and that it granted Extended Life by at least 10 fold. The Wizard found the Squiggle about 3,000 years (local time flow) before the arrival of the Jeweled Road. After learning its initial secrets the Wizard began wandering Subterra to learn every type of Magic possible; including Clerical or Faith Magic.

After a few centuries the now Sorcerer had mastered all of the Magics from both of the Low Order Magic Systems that Subterra had to offer and had also 'mastered' High Order Sorcery and the Powers of the Imprint of The Gem... or so the Sorcerer thought. During time traveling the Core Realms of Subterra, learning the Magics of each Realm, the Sorcerer also learned a lot about the peoples and cultures of Subterra as well; it was a Realm (worlds) constantly at war and on the edge of total ruin. The Wizard knew something should be done but was not exactly sure what... so decided to make a Pilgrimage to The Gem to contemplate the problem and hope for inspiration and a solution.

Upon arriving at the secret location of The Gem, The Sorcerer had an instant urge to place his foot upon it and assay it again, but knew this was not possible; it had been tried twice in the past; once shortly after the Sorcerer assayed it centuries ago, and once about a decade later, both times the Sorcerer felt a resistance, a force, preventing foot placement upon it. The Sorcerer spent many weeks regarding it from different angles, studying the many colors it produced, studying the pattern of the color changes (or more accurately lack of pattern), and all the while contemplating the fate of Subterra, if the current state of affairs didn't change soon. Each time the Sorcerer studied either end of the Inscription, or got near either of them, again there was a feeling, a compulsion to set foot upon it and assay it again... and one day, after many weeks of resisting the impulse, the Sorcerer set foot upon what would called the 'end' of the Inscription (only because it was harder to get to and because the Sorcerer assayed it in the opposite direction the first time). The Sorcerer's experience the second time was identical to the first, except for the direction of travel upon the Inscription; the Sorcerer felt as if he was supposed to be walking the magical inscription, despite the effort to do so, he knew he could and would complete it, despite the increased effort needed at certain points, and he also felt, and somehow knew, that the Inscription, 'The Gem', wanted him to assay it... even though that thought seemed unlikely and somewhat like the ravings of a madman, but when he finished Assaying The Gem the second time, knew that no matter how unlikely or crazy it may seem, it was true; 'The Gem' wanted to be Assayed.

inspiration strikes...

At about the same time that the Jeweled Trail appeared only twelve Subterrans, each of a different 'race' and each from a different Core Shadow, bore the Imprint of The Gem, but once the 'Jeweled Trail' was discovered, it was also discovered by The Twelve that 'The Gem' could now be assayed a second time and more powers gained, so each of The Twelve assayed it a second time and then soon after each brought 2-3 others to assay it as well, but each assayed it only once; they all did this to help strengthen their positions within their own Shadow Realm and to strengthen Subterra as a whole from what was sure to come... the Jeweled Trail had to go to/come from somewhere...

Prior to the arrival of the Jeweled Trail in Cleggane, nobody in Subterra; except the Master of the Realm and The Twelve, knew of the existence of Shadow or the Squiggle. In fact, the Twin Cities of Sandor and Gregor didn't even exist prior the the arrival of the 'Jeweled Trail'; both cities were built near the sight shortly after its discovery. The two cities competed with each other until they butted up against each other at the ending of the Jeweled Trail. The City of Sandor created puzzle piece paving stones in many colors to match the Jeweled Trail and have turned their side of the road into an imitation of the JT. The City of Sandor had been using square paving stones for its roads and tried to pull up the Jeweled Trail with no success, so special paving stones were cut to fit up against the JT, but the paving stones used were not colored.

Cosmology

Magic

Subterra is a High Magic Shadow System. Two forms of Low Order Magic are available throughout the Subterra System, but High Order Magic (Sorcery) can only be gained by “Assaying The Gem”, but only a handful of the denizens of Subterra have assayed The Gem… and those that have aren’t talking.

Technology

High Technology does work, but is rare; Techno-Magic is extremely rare.

Topography & Environments

Subterranean Realms

The Time Flow from Shadow to Shadow within the Subterra System is consistent and at a rate of 10 to 1 with Amber. The Shadow of Subterra is actually a limited Shadow System of nearly 1,000 Shadows all stemming from the Squiggle at it heart and the Thirteen Shadows considered to be the Core of the Subterra Shadow System. Twelve of the thirteen ‘core shadows’ are exclusively subterranean; if there is a ‘surface’ on these worlds they have never been found. Clean breathable air is abundant and only the most remote pockets of caverns might contain ‘stale air’ or ‘dead air’. The extensive interconnected caverns and tunnels that honeycomb Subterra come in all shapes, sizes, and an extensive variety of rock types. The caverns of Subterra can include glowing fungus, glowing crystals, precious metals, precious gemstones, a wide variety of edible and inedible fungi, molds and rarely roots, a multitude of creatures adapted to subterranean life, and a wide variety of intelligent, subterranean beings with cultures and civilizations and politics and wars.

Food

Food sources range from fungi and molds to living creatures, some domesticated for food, some ‘wild’ and sometimes other denizens of Subterra. Those Shadows with surface worlds also have a variety of edible plants and animals, pretty standard fare.

Lighting

Lighting is usually glowing fungus, glowing and sometimes light emitting crystals or crystal formations (sometimes quite enormous). There is no day/night cycle in Subterra except that which is commonly accepted in large settlements; most of Subterra is 24/7, so to speak, with people sleeping at different times depending upon their location, employer or preference.

Surface Realms

The rest of the Subterra Shadow System is filled with Shadows that all contain similarly massive interconnected cavern systems, most all of which have inhabitants and complex civilizations, but they also contain surface worlds, filled with varying degrees of inhabitants, cultures and civilizations.

Thirteenth: The Rock, a Primal Realm

Though it is called 'Thirteenth', the Thirteenth Realm of the Core Realms is actually the First Realm... or more precisely the Primal Realm on which all the other Realms/Worlds/Shadows are based upon, at least in some fashion. It truly unique amongst all the nearly 1,000 Realms/Shadows of the Subterra System.

First, it is precisely in the center of the Subterra System.
Second, it is an almost perfectly spherical ‘rock’ 10 miles in diameter which has a ‘surface’ and ‘space’ of sorts but no stars or a sun.
Third, though it does have breathable air throughout the Realm, air that never gets stale or dead, it only extends 30' out from its 'surface' on its 'Surface World'.
Forth, the entire Realm/World seems to be dimly lit ‘everywhere’ with no direct light source present.
Fifth, though this Shadow has normal (Earth) gravity just like all of Subterra, it comes from the ‘rock beneath your feet’, not the center of the sphere, thus allowing one to traverse any surface at any angle.
And lastly, but most importantly, it contains a Squiggle, the only assayable Inscription in all of Subterra.

The ‘Rock’ is honeycombed and criss-crossed with tunnels, caverns and columns/bridges of rock, all of which seem to intersect each other at all angles. In the Heart of the Rock, the ‘center of the sphere’, there is a cavern of titanic proportions, about 1 mile across in all directions, that is made of a white crystal and filled with columns/bridges, made of the same white crystal, that criss-cross and intersect at all angles, spanning the length, breadth and depth of the titanic crystal cavern; it is called ‘The Geode’. And in the center of it, where the crystal columns/bridges intersect the most tightly is where one can find the Squiggle.

The Squiggle is a small (compared to the Pattern) three dimensional inscription of power, that can be negotiated from either end. It glows dimly and shifts color every 30 seconds or so, running through the entire spectrum of colors (more than the standard seven in a rainbow), but not in any particular order or pattern. The light given off by the Squiggle does not travel far, barely enough for it to be seen while negotiating its three dimensional lines and angles, thus making it very difficult to find if one does not already know where it is. The Squiggle is aptly named ‘The Gem’ due to its ‘shape’ when looked at ‘from the outside’ (or the inside); it somewhat resembles lines partially tracing the inside of a faceted gem.

Races

Each of these Shadows is inhabited with Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes and Humanoids, but all of a subterranean variety; Drow, Duergar, Sverfneblin, Morlocks, etc. There are also other subterranean creatures and races that can be found exclusively in subterranean environments. There are 12 dominant races in the Core Shadows of Subterra and throughout most of the Subterra Sway's subterranean areas.

Morlock - Purely Carnivorous and Cannibalistic Humans adapted to living underground; aggressive and war like.
Sapiens - Humans adapted to living underground; Vegetarian, Fungitarian and sometimes Omnivorous; generally peaceful.
Drow - Dark Elves
Grys - Scaled Elves; skins looks like fish scales and does offer some protection
Duergar - Gray Dwarves
Derro - Dark Dwarves
Svirfneblin - Deep Gnomes
Lizzaard- Dark Lizardmen
Bugbears - Already well adapted to darkness, just more so here
Myconids - Highly intelligent Fungus Men
Durahk - Dark Urakai
Darkonian - Deep Dragon/Draconian; psychotropic gas breath weapon

Entrance

A tiny thread trail of the Jeweled Road branches off a wagon wide trail from Main Road past the Diega Granar Realms.

The Thread enters at the first Shadow outside the Subterra Core that contains a 'surface world'; the world is called Cleggane and the puzzled bricks for the 'Jeweled Path' peter out at the center of the twin cities of Sandor and Gregor.

Cleggane is like any other High Fantasy world in most regards, except for the lack of diverse and plentiful flora and edible fauna; Cleggane breeds rugged beings, creatures and flora, most preying upon each other to survive. Low population, low vegetation, tougher than normal shadow people (ALL Beings of the Subterra System will have Chaos Level 'Physical' Attributes [Str & End]).

There are many Entrances/Shadow Paths leading into the Core Shadows of Subterra, but all are underground; Cleggane has several, as do the other surface worlds whose Veils border on Subterra.

Subterra has many Shadow Paths interconnecting all of its Core Shadows to one another; excluding the Thirteenth Shadow; Subterra's True Core.

The Thirteenth Shadow has twelve Shadow Paths connecting it to each of the twelve other Core Shadows, one per Core Shadow; each is guarded and a guarded secret. The guards are set by the Being that Assayed The Gem from each respective Shadow.

Regions

Notables of Subterra

The Dude is considered a Wise Man, a Fool by some, and he IS the most powerful Sorcerer in all of Subterra. He is also the Arch Mage and the Arch Wizard of the Realm... but he is known by a different name when he performs the duties of those important positions.

Diego, the Desert Elf is the most notable Guide in Subterra, as he was the first to travel with the Most Notable Honored Traveler, Vek Hendrake.

Moon is the most notable Scoundrel of Subterra, bar none.

Master of Realm The "Ruler" of #? of Subterra's Subterranean Realms; believes himself to be Supernatural and is unaware of the Surface Worlds above his head and is equally unaware of the hundreds of other Realms of the Subterra System.

Powers

The Powers available in Subterra are considerable, but still limited compared to Amber, Avalon, Mandalay and the Courts of Chaos.

High Order

Imprint of "The Gem"

- Chaos Ranked Psyche and Endurance required.
10 pip Basic Imprint.
- Frame can hold 2 Major Spells and 6 Minor Spells.
- Sigil can be used as a Defensive Dome/Bubble against Low and High Order Magics, but limited.
- Raised Sigil can be used as a Lens (limited): Detect & Identify Magics only.

20 pip Advanced Imprint.
- Frame can hold 3 Major Spells and 9 Minor Spells.
- Sigil can be used as a Defensive Dome/Bubble against most Low Order Magics and in a limited way against High Order Magics.
- Can detect Shadow Veils & Paths within the Subterra Sway only.
- Raised Sigil can be used as a Lens (limited): Detect & Identify Magics and Inscription Powers only.

40 pip Master's Imprint.
- Frame can hold 5 Major Spells and 15 Minor Spells.
- Sigil can be used as a Defensive Dome/Bubble against all Low Order Magic and most High Order Magics
- Can detect Shadow Veils & Paths within the Subterra Sway only.
- Can Shadow Seek within the Subterra Sway only.
- Raised Sigil can be used as a Lens: Detect & Identify all High and Low Order Powers.
- Can be combined with Sorcery and Conjuration (Costs 10 Points per Power. Adds power to the Spells and Creations)

Trump Powers

Trump Powers based upon The Gem exist and do function, but are unknown to all but one.
The Trump Powers are limited to the Subterra System of Shadows.
Currently, Trump Artistry does not exist in Subterra, but the Power of Trump is available through the Imprint of the Gem.
There are no Trump Cards or Decks in Subterra, but Trump Powered Artifacts are certainly possible.

Shape Shifting (No Adv SS available)

10 Self Alteration/Disguise
20 Limited Shape Shift
35 Shape Shifting (Standard)

High Order Magics - must have Gem Imprint

10-25 Power Words
15 Sorcery (Standard ONLY; No Adv or Master levels)
20 Conjuration (Standard ONLY; No Adv or Master levels)
5 Compelling (must have Conjuration)

Low Order Powers

Magics

There are two (2) Low Order Magic Systems that function and are practiced throughout Subterra's System of Shadows, but both Systems are not known/practiced/taught in each and every Shadow. For example; the Shadows that have Shadow Paths connected to the Core Shadows that practice the Magery System (Warlock) will also practice Magery, but Wizardy (AD&D), the other Low Order Magic System, still functions, even though it is not taught or practiced by the denizens of that particular Shadow. Non-practitioners of magic have no idea that there is more than one way to cast spells, and even practitioners are not very likely to know much, if anything, about the "The Other Way", but would have at least heard of it in some fashion.

Clerical/Druidical Magics of both Low Order Systems also function and are used throughout the Subterra System. The Deities that are worshiped throughout this Shadow System, may be called by many different names, depending upon the Shadow one is in... but their Spheres of Influence are similar if not identical and They may just be all be the same Deities, just called by different names. It is also possible that there are only three Deities, representing Good, Evil and Balance... but The Dude believes that the 'Deities' are 'something else' and truly represent Order, Chaos and Balance.

Gm Notes

Wiki text help Page[[1]]

Vek's conversation on the cosmology of the universe