Main Story

The Ark
One of the products of the Dwarves' last-ditch effort to preserve their civilization. Through an extraordinarily powerful spell that has been cast upon it, it houses the last remnants of the Dwarven societies, as well as magically conjured people, moments, locations and memories, in quantities that defy numerical description. It is a living library of the Dwarven race, as well as everything they ever found important or significant, encapsulated into a single artifact.

The physical makeup of the Ark is unknown, but it is surely something of great significance.

The Quarry's True Nature
The quarry serves as a massive housing for the ark, and a safe place for it to lay guarded, referred to by its creators as a Vessel. Approaching the quarry's bottom would naturally lead towards the original creation site of the Ark.

The Dwarven Spell
During the final siege of the Dwarven capital, an Elven battalion discovered the runic blueprints of a powerful spell. The spell was a last resort of the Dwarves, an attempt to encapsulate what was left of their kingdom as well as recreate what they had lost within an "Ark."

Currently existing specimens were drawn into the Ark and assimilated, while that which that no longer existed, such as moments in the past, or long-dead loved ones, were recreated through powerful conjuration magic.

Due to the massive amount of magical energy required for this undertaking, huge amounts of time, resources and Dwarven minds were dedicated to the project in secret. Even today, the spell is still in effect.

The Problems of the Spell
The spell continues to ceaselessly do its work, recursively drawing in and conjuring more and more as it expands to accommodate what its collective finds important or meaningful. In the present, more than a thousand years after it began, there's too much to contain. The occupants have long since began to spill out, creating the bizarre, temporally and spatially impossible regions, borders and occupants of the Quarry. Some are its original occupants, ensnared and displaced a thousand years ago, and some are magical facsimiles, recreated by the Ark.

By entering the Quarry, the party has begun to be assimilated by the Ark. To leave would be to tear yourself between the it and the outside, resulting in the symptoms spoken of in the rumors surrounding the quarry. At this depth, attempting to leave would invariably spell death.

Escaping the Quarry
If the spell was disrupted and the Ark destroyed, the assimilation would end, and the Quarry would imminently collapse in on itself. Escape would be possible -- if the collapse was survivable.

Destruction of the Ark would be no small task, and the repercussions would be great. The assimilated people and locations would be forcibly ejected back out and collide with the material plane. Meanwhile, the countless creatures, moments and locations conjured by the Ark would disappear in an instant.

It is unlikely that anything in the vicinity of the Ark would survive the collapse. To destroy the Ark without a valid plan of immediate and hasty escape would be tantamount to suicide.

Theoretically, altering the spell and re-encapsulating the Ark's contents could be done, and could lead to escape from the quarry becoming possible. Discerning how to do so without access or understanding of either the spell's blueprints or the Ark itself would be extraordinarily difficult.

It's likely that the bottom of the quarry contains the Dwarven capital, and by extension the Arcanist's District where the spell was drafted. Finding the spell's blueprints, as well as the exact location of the Ark, would constitute the first steps in finding a way to course correct the spell.

Last Point
Oster Brown, mayor of Last Point, has hired you to reach the bottom of The Great Quarry. 20 years ago, it was the source of exotic and valuable minerals. Now, it's infested with monsters, cursed, and nobody knows how deep it goes. Dispel the curse, get the reward: a king's ransom of gold, so the mayor claims.

Lastpoint, situated within the BOWL, a big valley that contains the quarry. Harsh conditions, desert climate.

Climm Brown was a prospector, brother to the mayor, helped Oster discover things at first.

General Store, Inn, Saloon, Mayors House.

Red Powder Gang, biggest bandit gang.

Layer 1
Met Bird the Town Guard, a dwarf, -- need to write about his recognition of elves and actual elves?

Ira the Mayor of Pain, 15 years ago

Tower has reserve power and has security features (self-regulates)

Donut around the tower: 3 sections (residental: taverns and cartographer//merchant: grocery, magic shop, mercenary lodge, a weird stall/run by weirder guy//industrial: weapons and armor-smith run by his children, animals, gym)

Crazy Insane Dirty Hobo Man living in marsh named Sully

Layer 1 reminiscent of Elven Territory, but why is there a dwarven encampment.

Hallow's Legend: Significant Cultural/Spiritual Location, no reason why (elves do like trees), no idea what the Ambrosia is

A pair of massive, twisting trees in the southwestern corner of the first layer, guarded ferociously by Marauders. The marauders make their home in stonegrass, a settlement you have to pass through to reach the hollow, and wipe out anyone who comes near. Rumor has it that the fruit of the Great Hollow grants immortality and cures any ailment.

Pain
The city built around the tower of the same name, a massive mechanical contraption of dwarven construction designed to ward off invaders in the area. It stopped working when the pumping station that provided it power went offline, and it's full of automated security systems on the higher floors. Nobody in the town has the resources or time to try and fix it, given all the other problems.

Lyrei the Lightningsage
An alleged hero in the Dwarven-Elven war, a master of lightning who used it to great effect in the slaying of hundreds of Dwarven soldiers. Despite the war occurring over a thousand years ago, she's apparently present in The Pit as an undead, and still retains her powers.

Maw
Maw is the bridge between the first and second layers. Its occupants are an eccentric, eclectic band of half-breeds and misfits. They view the giant pit that must be descended to reach the second layer with near-religious reverie, and if pressed, speak of the "sage of the pit," who bestows great boons upon those who prove themselves worthy to her, and smites those who are found unworthy.

Marauders
Stout, misshapen and overwhelmingly hostile bandits that roam the central and western areas of the first layer. Some people call them elves. They make heavy use of poison and ambush tactics, and some of their more powerful members are known to make use of magic, particularly lightning magic.

The Dwarven-Elven War
A full-blown war of the races between Elves and Dwarves, occurring over a thousand years ago. All of the subspecies of Elves and Dwarves united in an attempt to exterminate the other side, and the war was said to have lasted over a hundred years. In the end, the Elves prevailed, and encountering a Dwarf in the present day is an extraordinarily rare occasion. Understandably, tensions are still hot between the races.

Layer 2 - The Ocean
Layer 2 is a giant ocean that draws in people through various different methods.

Large amount of undead, seems to collect the souls of all who still had something to accomplish. Ghostly elves also occupy this area. Most likely ancestors or descendants of the elves on the higher layer.

The Pirates Curse
According to the unnamed skeleton privateer, the pirate's curse can be cast upon a creature who died unfulfilled in life. Feeding off of the life left unlived, the curse is channeled through gold, and its effects are bolstered by the regrets of a life cut short and left unfulfilled. The curse, apparently, can't be cured or destroyed once inflicted upon somebody.

A creature's fate is sealed upon being afflicted by the curse. They are doomed to an early death, weighed down by the regrets of their wishes and aspirations having never been fulfilled. Even after returning to life as an undead, creatures brought low by the curse will perish before achieving that which they desire most.

Leaving the Ocean
Escaping the region of the ocean mapped by its charts is a challenging, if not outright impossible task. Strong storms and raging waters buffet ships back towards the various islands in the region, growing in intensity the further out one sails. Attempts to dive far below the waves are met by powerful upward currents strong enough to keep shipwrecks suspended in the deep, unable to sink. These derelicts can be seen from the surface with a keen eye.

The Mist Basin
An island coated in mist that allegedly is harmful towards living people. The island contains a major fort where many of the pirates live, and holds an artifact that grants the skeletons their un-life.

The Swirling Islands
A series of islands located in shallow ocean waters that ships cannot ford. At its center, there are rumors of old ruins that contain arcane treasures related to the tower in Canal Rosnando.

Further inwards, the ocean deepens once again. At the very center of the islands is a rocky island formation that encircles an extraordinarily deep ocean trench. Ruins that contain treasure and arcane secrets are rumored to lie at the bottom of the trench.

Breaching the outer perimeter of the islands is made difficult by the presence of a magical defense system. Creatures that pass the towers surrounding the center are blasted by enormous waves of energy, which are soon followed by a massive, spectral sea serpent.

A single living soul and its a disgusting half-breed.

Point June
The only remaining major city on the ocean, point june is a settlement that has been taken over by the skeletal pirates. The city allegedly is host to regular 'hunts' where the pirates abduct a living creature and subject them to a sacrifice to the moon that is necessary to maintain the pirate immortality.

The Pirates of Point June have instated themselves as the ruling class on the island, forcing most high-profile business to go through them.

A hunter on the swirling islands departed from Point June after growing fed up with the pirate subjugation and frequent risks of death, and has not been back for a long time.

The Crimson Estate
A mansion where Cortez, the now retired former leader of the skeletal pirates, now lives. Cortez is rumored to be extraordinarily powerful and capable of potent magic.

The Flotilla
In the northeast region of the ocean is a large fleet of ships belonging to the ghost pirates. The bulk of the pirate forces and manpower remains there, and entering the regions around it is a dangerous prospect without a solid means of defending oneself.

The Drainpools and Canal
Far to the east, there is a cave system that reaches below the ocean's surface. It is regularly flooded by ocean tides and the waters of Canal Rosnando, which lies behind it, flowing into it. The drainpools used to be a popular location to hoard treasure, but the flooding became dangerous enough that it was too much of a hassle. A large, arcane tower looms behind the canal, towering over its source, its purpose unknown.

Mount Arael
Mount Arael rises above the sea, due west of and visible from Point June. The mountain's summit is rumored to be home to a small colony of elves who have lived there for an extraordinarily long time. The rumors are rarely substantiated, however, because of the frequent lightning storms rolling down its peaks and dangerous monsters roaming monsters that call the mountain its home.

The elves, should they exist, may be a good source of information regarding The Quarry and the Pirate's Curse.

According to various commoners on the ocean, the Elves on Mt. Arael have been there for longer than anybody can remember. They are allegedly talented practitioners of magic, capable of appearing in spectral form at remote locations, and were involved with the strange defenses on the Swirling Islands.

The elves are rather reclusive. Few creatures have seen them firsthand, leading many to believe that their existence is mere folklore.

Moon Pearls
Moon pearls are the vehicle through which the Ghost Pirates are able to endlessly revive. The Pirates can use the moon as a proxy to connect to the nearest moon pearl, using the harvested souls trapped within as fuel to power their resurrections.

A pirate directly in possession of a moon pearl is nearly indestructible, as they can draw upon the captured souls endlessly. Conversely, a living creature in possession of a moon pearl can impose their will upon it to prevent the pirates from reviving correctly.

Horizon Tower and Displacement Cores
At the far end of Canal Rosnando lies the Horizon Tower. The tower is a massive magical installation that allows its occupants to tunnel through the boundaries of the Great Ocean. It is attuned downwards, and its use would lead a creature towards the Vessel's center.

The tower requires a schema to operate, which serves as a configuration pointing the tower where to send a creature. It also requires a power source known as a Displacement Cores.

Enjir has a theory on two locations for Displacement Cores: the wreckage of Vindir's ill-fated voyage, and in the pirate fortress on the mist basin. Few know the location of the elven derelicts - the only still-living creature who has been to its location Enjir knows of is Cortez.

The Abbey of the High Closure
A religious organization headquartered on Point June. Its mission statement is to guide its flock towards a peaceful mindset in the face of death, which they believe to be inescapable on the ocean.

While it ostensibly imparts a lot of good on Point June and its people, members of the resistance find its message, upper membership, and circumstances surrounding those sucked into its teachings to be suspicious.