*A Foreword* *I^[[[Professor Erad Waltom]]] dedicate my life's research towards these documents, and will strive to document these details with the utmost accuracy. However, history - especially poorly documented history - tends to be fickle with the truths. Do not believe everything written here, especially if it may conflict with what is known to you. It is simply the truth to me.* No one remembers exactly why the surface fell. The details have been lost to time—burned, buried, or simply forgotten. In an event known to us as [[The Last Dawn]] - it is known that the gods of the surface failed to act when everything began to unravel. Crops withered, skies turned black, and people fled underground in search of safety and found the vast cavern we now know as [[The Godless Deep]]. The old gods offered no answers. So, over time, they were left behind. That was 600 years ago. The survivors beneath the earth adapted fast. A once-medieval society became industrious out of necessity. Magic and metal were pushed to their limits just to keep food growing and life sustained. Survival became the highest virtue. [[The First Cities|The first cities were born]]: [[Saleah]]^[How do we know the name [[Saleah]]? As far as I can tell, the only reference it through historical documents far after its apparent fall.] and [[Velgrath]]. [[Saleah's Fall|All that remains of Saleah now is its name]]. Its people were found wandering the chasms between the cities, raving and broken. That place is now called [[Wraithhold]], and no one dares go near. The surface is accepted as dead. Stories of the world above are myth. The surface gods are relics and long forgotten. In their place, new gods emerged. Not rulers, but symbols. Powers tied to the strange and hostile regions of the Deep. In the city, many praise one god: - [[Vaul]], the Hand of Industry – associated with Velgrath, the great city at the Deep’s center. God of invention, discipline, and mechanical progress. Beyond the city—among the horrors and wilds—others are whispered: - [[Ryx]], the Rotmaiden – of the Slagmarshes, a polluted acid swamp. Goddess of corruption and ruin. - [[Zar]], the Emberwomb – of the Cinder Veins, a molten labyrinth. God of fire, destruction, and rebirth through pain. - [[Nys]], the Hollow Queen – of Wraithhold, the haunted ruins. Goddess of loss, memory, and undead. - [[Tluun]], the Mycelium Dreamer – of the Sporelit Groves, a fungal sprawl teeming with alien life. God of cycles, rot, and collective will. Few dwell in those regions now—only beasts, husks, and things twisted by the Deep. The faithful say these gods were always there, waiting in the stone, in the flame, in the spores. Waiting for someone to listen when the surface stopped speaking. Current year: 623 [[The Last Dawn|ALD]]