The Underdark (Subóscuro) is the subterranean cosmological geography of the gem-world Vala Cristalis, an inner fold whose creatures were the main clients of the Bazaar of Life.
| World | Vala Cristalis |
| Era | Older than the known count; active in 1824 AE |
| Spanish entry | Subóscuro |
Nature
Not an outer plane (like the Shadowfell or the Ante-Inferno) but an inner fold of the gem-world, with its own light: dimmer than the surface, brighter than the deep serpentine caverns. Suggested etymology: “sub-oscuro”, beneath the dark yet not fully dark. The original term is lost; Decadian spelling fixed the accented form used by Mascor Blancarba; slavers say “el Subóscuro”.
Creatures
His Caldero Gazette calls the Bazaar “a gallery full of activity, where creatures of the Underdark and slavers argued in whispers”. The creatures bought children, slaves and other goods there for consumption or ritual use, and traded for years with the sub-lord Kazmojen and others of the Malachite Fortress. Sunlight harms them; they keep below. La Jabalina’s interruption of the Bazaar stopped the flow, not the demand; they seek other routes.
Membranes
Porous membranes lead to:
- the surface of Caldero, via the Malachite Fortress and other sub-structures (creatures rise, with difficulty);
- the Shadowfell, via Yathrebu; occasional crossings are suspected;
- the deep serpentine caverns, downward; rare transit, documented in myths, is suspected.
Caldero’s balance partly depends on these holding; a fully opened membrane would let the Underdark penetrate the surface. A gloss by Arkos adds that the Underdark lets the intermediate negative poles exist without pressing on the surface, and that Caldero’s volcanic geography holds several minor folds of it, known but not publicly acknowledged.
Conflicting accounts
The creatures’ taxonomy is unresolved; hypotheses:
- degenerate Drow, a branch that lost contact with the classic Underdark;
- races adapted to the fold over ages;
- intermediate-negative-pole creatures under an operative label.
See also
- Moon-Serpent Auna, a figure of the deep caverns