The Catacombs
Empire Guild inside The Frozen Empire
Can be home to characters.
Over the many years of the Empire, there were thousand of grifix who died there, thousand of bodies to burry. Depending on the religion, some burnt the bodies, while other burried them, deep in the mountain. Especially the Church of Time, who dug deep tunnels at the border of their neighborhood, right next to the Starfell Clan Neighborhood. Over time, the tunnels became really long, and now they exit in all the corners of the Empire. There is no map for them, and the old tunnels dug in the early days of the Empire have since been abandoned for being too dangerous. The Church of Time and other Cleric Underguilds still use parts of the catacombs, but they are very small portions, most of them being abandoned. nobody knows or remembers who was burried in the old parts.
The catacombs are mostly unknown to regular grifix - while it is common knowledge there are tunnels around there and that some are used by Clerics, and some are still used as cemeteries, grifix have no idea how much they stretch out. It's far more than anybody imagines.
The Empire, besides being pretty much great for most grifix, is also very corrupt. Especially the Starfell Clan. And there are, of course, grifix that oppose this, and grifix that somehow got excluded by the society. And of course, there are a lot of grifix banned from the Starfell Clan, that can’t get hired anywhere (they’re lucky if they end up in the Entertainers Guild. Most grifix absolutely despise the Starfell Clan and won’t allow one to join a guild even if they have been banned from the clan.)
So that’s where most of these grifix stick, in the catacombs.
While some part of the catacombs is controlled and occupied by the clerics guild, the part under the Starfell Neighborhood is way too old for any grifix to care about - nobody knows the grifix buried there anymore, and that place has been dug in the early days of the empire, without any planning so there is no map for it.
“Outside” grifix would die if they were to enter, so it’s a pretty lawless place. But grifix there are poor.
Grifix in the empire get their food through the Merchants Guild, that distributes everything equally amongst the guilds, based on how many members there are and stuff like that. If a grifix is not part of a guild or the Starfell Clan (which is actually a guild), that grifix would have absolutely no way to get food: they can’t buy it, nor do they have any means to earn money anyway.
That’s why every grifix is part of a guild. Almost everything is free in the Empire - as long as it is given to you through the distribution of the Merchants Guild.
So that’s who lives in the catacombs: Starfell Clan outcasts, grifix that got their reputation too stained to get hired in a guild, or grifix who oppose the system and refuse to live by it.
The Catacoms are split into two major areas: the Surface Tunnels and the Undergound City of the Maze.
Surface Tunnels
This is where most newcomers end up. They form a weird community of thieves with no loyalty for each other. Some come from the Underground City to live here, but few speak of what is actually under. Most of those in here do not know about the Undergound City, because they haven't ventured that deep. Those who have usually avoid speaking of it.
The Undergound City of the Maze
The catacombs are a series of interconnected tunnels, almost like a maze. It is very easy to get lost in there.
Deep under the Empire there’s a big cave in which there is the Underground City. The city has no shops, no authority, it’s inhabitants will help each other out but will also steal from each other. Some, more daring, go outside to steal from the inhabitants of the Empire and bring supplies back down. The main food source is rats and mushrooms that grow down there.
Grifix sometimes arrive here and never leave again. Most haven’t seen the sun (or the sky) in years. Some were born there and haven’t seen it once in their life.
Leaving the city is dangerous. The tunnels are so twisted that grifix started calling them “the maze” and legends appeared about it, and the magic of the grifix believing in those fueled it into becoming something else entirely. It is believed the Maze changes and morphs, and that it almost has a mind of it’s own.
It is believed that it helps newcomers that end up in the maze and always leads them to the Underground City. But it is also vengeful, and can make you get lost. Those lost in the maze will have their souls consumed by it.
Those stories fuel the maze, and it does change because of it.
There is one leader of the Undergous City, and it is believed that each grifix needs his blessing to live in there. He used to come and meet every newcomer, but in the past years he refused to greet anybody new. Grifix still come and settle there, but without his blessing it is believed they have no protection against the Maze and are more likely to get lost and consumed by it. Many will avoid leaving the Underground City for that matter.
Divided Grifix in the Underground City
There are some grifix with divided traits in the Undergound City. While they are not divided, sometimes old genes manifest on regular grifix, just like the flower fluff of Flower Grifix from the Tailors Guild. While the Flower Grifix are venerated, most others are not, and they end up hiding in the Underground City.
Still, those traits are very rare in there as well.
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