City Name: Zenith
The city of Zenith lies deep within the Underdark, hidden from the light of the surface world. 106 kilometers (66 miles) below the surface, 90 kilometers (56 miles) below the Lowerdark threshold (16 kilometers, 10 miles below surface) beneath the Meridian expanse, 43 km (27 miles) north from the puntal peninsula.
Atmosphere:
Dominant Emotion
A sense of eerie desolation pervades Zenith. It feels as if the weight of time has pressed down upon the city, leaving behind an oppressive stillness.
Soundscape
Within the city’s cavernous depths, only the faint echoes of dripping water and tumbling rocks break the eerie silence. The occasional creaking of the ancient stone structures adds to the ghostly ambiance.
Aromas
The air is heavy with the scent of damp stone, and there’s a faint mineral tang from the brine springs. The lingering aroma of magic is discernible, like a whisper of long-forgotten incantations.
Known For
Zenith is a forgotten city, only known by a few scholars and adventurers as the deepest city in the Underdark.
Architecture:
Ruined Buildings
Zenith’s buildings are crumbling, their once-grand architecture now reduced to decaying ruins. Over the ages, they’ve weathered the relentless passage of time.
Materials
The city’s structures were crafted from a unique blend of stone and crystal, now cracked and worn by centuries of neglect. The remnants of once-majestic spires and arches stand as silent sentinels to the city’s former glory.
Previous Splendor
In its prime, Zenith was a marvel of civilization. Towering spires and intricate carvings adorned buildings now left to ruin.
Eerie Monuments
Mysterious monoliths rise from the city’s streets, bearing inscriptions in languages lost to time. They hint at the city’s ancient glory and its enigmatic past.
Layout
Zenith’s layout is a labyrinth of winding streets and shadowed alleyways, leading to forgotten chambers and hidden crypts. The city’s depths are a maze of crumbling corridors and collapsed chambers, concealing untold secrets.
City History:
Tragic Event
Zenith’s downfall remains shrouded in myth and legend. Some say a cataclysmic war between the city’s inhabitants led to its abandonment. Others claim it was a cataclysmic rift in the Underdark that swallowed the city’s grandeur.
Encounters
In the shadows of Zenith, apparitions of past residents wander, forever trapped in a spectral existence. Otherworldly creatures lurk in the abyssal gloom, guarding the city’s darkest secrets.
Former Residents
The city was once a hub of arcane knowledge and trade, inhabited by a multitude of species from the Underdark. Scholars, artisans, and merchants once thrived in Zenith, their legacy now a silent testament to the city’s former vitality.
Geographical Points of Interest:
Cursed Grounds
Throughout Zenith, pockets of residual magic create strange phenomena. Ghostly apparitions may manifest briefly in these areas, and visitors risk experiencing vivid, haunting visions.
Hidden Treasures
Rumors persist of powerful artifacts and long-lost scrolls of arcane knowledge hidden beneath the city’s depths. Adventurers are drawn to Zenith in the hopes of uncovering these priceless treasures.
Eerie Sites
Within Zenith, you’ll find forsaken temples to forgotten deities, overgrown parks now choked with eerie fungi, and eerily silent market squares where merchants once haggled.
Cemetery
The necropolis of Zenith is a vast underground catacomb, adorned with ancient funerary inscriptions and guarded by spectral sentinels.
Specific Details:
Forgotten Magics
Ancient spells and wards, half-forgotten, linger in the city. These enchantments may either aid or hinder those who explore Zenith.
Cursed Artifacts
Whispers tell of a cursed amulet hidden deep within the city, rumored to bestow visions of Zenith’s past to those who dare wear it.
Hidden Mysteries
Cryptic symbols etched into the city’s stone hint at the possibility of unlocking the secrets of its fall. Adventurers are enticed by the enigmatic signs, eager to decipher the lost tales.
Explorers and Adventurers
Zenith is a beacon for adventurers seeking fame, fortune, and the allure of forbidden knowledge. They come prepared to brave the eerie silence and uncover the city’s mysteries.
Differentiating Element:
- A unique feature of Zenith is a massive underground chasm known as the “Void.” This colossal circular rift, created during the cataclysm that befell the city, is filled to the top by a unknown substance called Emptyness, the chasm plunges even deeper into the Underdark. The rift is said to hold untold secrets, and its depths are uncharted, waiting for intrepid explorers to descend into the heart of such abyss.