The Burning Tunnels
Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:38 am
The Burning Tunnels
History
The Burning Tunnels are a bitter memory of Zaichaer's. They are located in the southeast corner of Karnor, within the Zerapheshi desert and territory. Back in the 50s, the Burning Tunnels were not ablaze. They were actually the largest coal mine in the entire Karnor region, with veins stretching far and wide, deep beneath the surface. The mine was inhabited by several villages of goblins and Moratallen alike, with a surface village largely inhabited by humans who helped conduct trade.
The village, known as K'eyush, was independent of any city-state's territory at the time, but conducted trade largely with Zaichaer. The humans, goblins, and Moratallen all worked in a cohesive society happily with one another. Then the emissaries came. They said they were representing the nearby city-state of Zeraphesh, but they were truly from Kalzasi. They offered deal after deal to convince the villagers to align with Zeraphesh and Kalzasi and abandon their agreements with Zaichaer. But the mining town collectively refused their offers.
Soon after, in the dead of night, a band of warriors and mages, shrouded in magical darkness arrived, and began cutting down the citizens of the surface village. The men, women, and children retreated into the safety of the mines as the goblins and Moratallen advanced into battle to hold off these attackers, hoping to do so long enough for the Zaichaeri forces to come and save them. They held the mines for three days, until one of the mages, in an attempt to force their way through, ignited the coal seams with their magical fire.
The fire rampaged through these seams, and still burns still to this day. All of those goblins, humans, and Moratallen; men, women, children; miners, craftsmen, and traders, were all burned alive or suffocated on the toxic fumes. With the coal ruined, the attackers disappeared. When Zaichaeri forces arrived, they found enough evidence of magical attacks to know it was Kalzasi and Zeraphesh. They worked for days to try and quell the flames, to try and find any survivors, losing many soldiers in the efforts. But it was to no avail. The village, the mines, and all of its inhabitants were lost.
Over the years, Zaichaer pulled back its influence in the area, for there was no strategic reason to hold it, and the land became part of Zeraphesh. But they've not forgotten the allies and friends that were lost in K'eyush, and many to this day still vow revenge.
Current
The fires of the now named Burning Tunnels still burn hot, still sending up black clouds into the skies above. The tunnels seem uninhabitable, for the dangers of the heat and smoke, but that is not the case. There have been reports of beings coming topside out of the tunnels during the night, looking toward Zaichaer, then heading back into the inferno. Scouts have managed to report that they believe that one of these denizens is a variety of Goblin, and the other possibly being Vishan Moratallen, adapted to the new fiery environment. There have been reports of other beasts and flora, all seemingly adapted to the fires, but there's been very little follow up as entering the mines is so difficult.
K'eyushi Fire Goblins
The K'eyushi Fire Goblins appear to be an adapted species of Goblin unique to the burning tunnels. Scouts have reported no facial features beyond a larger than normal mouth. Very little is known about them beyond the fact they appear, at a distance, to be made of molten rock and seem to survive just fine within the Burning Tunnels. They have been heard speaking the K'eyushi dialect of goblin as well. One of the scout reports was able to translate a phrase into, "Will they ever come for us? Can they free us from it?" Still, no attempts have been made to make contact yet, as they only come to the surface rarely.
Goblinoid Racial Abilities:
Biological Ignition - The K'eyushi Fire Goblins have living fire that is part of their bodies. This does provide them warmth in colder temperatures, as well as allows them to ignite by touch any flammable objects that they touch for a several seconds, akin to pressing a torch to an object. This does have a significant drawback. If the K'eyushi Fire Goblin is exposed to conditions that would snuff a fire, their biological fire may extinguish. If this happens, the goblin doesn't die, but does enter a coma stasis, and their body hardens into a statue made of a coal like substance. If reignited by external sources, they will return back to life, however, any damage from being in the coal state will not be undone or healed.
Tinder Consumption - The K'eyushi Fire Goblins are able to consume anything that is flammable for nutritional and caloric fuel. Substances like wood, charcoal, or coal will provide longer lasting meals so as to not require eating for longer periods of time.
Infrared Vision - The K'eyushi Fire Goblin has infrared vision that is always active. They are able to discern shapes and depth based on temperature variations in the world around them.
K'eyushi-Vishan Moratallen
It is unclear if these Vishan Moratallen moved into the Burning Tunnels, or if they are somehow adapted and descendants of the Kishoi Moratallen that lived within the mines before. What is known is that they seem to speak a dialect of Tallenese (K'eyushi Dialect) to one another. Their bodies appear to have seams of fire or magma running through them, though they do not appear to have magical abilities. This is all speculation from a distance by Zaichaer and Zerapheshi scouts and no attempts to approach them have yet been made.