BENEATH THE FAMILIAR ROADS
The Drowned Depths.
Every descent leaves a mark.
Flooded halls, iron-bound warrens, forgotten graves—and a dragon’s furnace beneath them all.
One descent. Many histories.
The Drowned Halls, Iron Warrens, Veil Sepulchre and Cinderheart’s Lair belong to the same descent: the Drowned Depths. Their old names remain, for a drowned passage is not a gaol, nor a tomb a dragon’s roost. The Sluice Abyss branches from this buried country; it is not another step in a numbered stair.
In the halls, Captain Nhal and Morrow haunt the waterkeepers’ abandoned work. Below, Gaoler Kharzug and Grask embody the Warrens’ harsher memory. Veyl and Sereth wait among the Sepulchre’s dead. Deeper still, Ashmaw keeps the furnace approaches to Cinderheart. Bring companions, a reliable light and supplies enough for the return.
The waterkeeper’s winter
Long before the northern roads failed, Asterfall’s waterkeepers borrowed Frostmere’s craft to preserve their wells. Vessels of bound winter cooled the buried sluices. When their keepers vanished, cracked vessels bled their cold into the Sluice Abyss.
Glassweb stalkers and rimebound wraiths gathered in the chilled hollows; Winter Covenant adepts followed to reclaim the old enchantments. Hollowroot’s roots drank from those same channels, carrying winter into isolated pockets of the Heartroot Depths. The cavern never froze throughout: bitter hollows endure among living roots and corrosive pools.
Names worth remembering
Across the wider world, a shared name now helps travellers recognise connected depths. Hollowroot shelters the Den and Heartroot Depths. Blackvein’s upper galleries lead into the Yttril Workings. Shatterspine rises toward the Crown of Absolute Winter. Nocturne’s four layers descend from the Expanse through the Sunken Processional and Hollow Crown to the Palace of the Last Eclipse. Ignareth remains its own great ascent.
A victory worth the journey
Named foes guard equipment worthy of their danger. Miniboss victories bring useful equipment, an occasional Drake Potion, or a rare signature belonging to that particular foe. Greater bosses yield rare spoils and additional useful pieces. These guardians do not flee simply because they are wounded.
Minibosses return two hours after defeat; greater bosses take a day, and the greatest endgame foes take three days. Brakka Reedknife is a greater boss. He is larger, tougher, and more dangerous than an ordinary patrol.