Another world… Another time… In an Age of Terror.
Eight hundred years ago the land was green and life flourished in the caves, caverns, and tunnels below the surface of the world; until the Crystal cracked. Ancient wars were reignited and hideous distortions of life were created in the corrupting light of the Dark Crystal.
This supplement provides additional underground locations within Thra, expands upon the lore of the Arathim and provides additional creatures
War of the Dark Crystal was written shortly after the announcement of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. The show and accompanying novels reshaped much of the existing mythology regarding the Arathim from the previously published World of the Dark Crystal book. This supplement is intended to both bridge and expand pre- and post- AoR mythology to work within the WotDC setting.
Underground Locations
While Grot was mentioned as a scene within the original War of the Dark Crystal write-up, it is not the only underground area of Thra. Below are some additional environments beneath the overworld as well as some separation between the Gelfling settlement and the tunnels beneath the mountain of Grot.
The Caves of Grot
Themes: A Hidden Trove of Knowledge; Home of the Grottans
Threat: Darkened Territory
The Caves of Grot are a network of tunnels and coves that surround a shining lake. The mirror-like lake of Domrak is home to underground life and plants and is dimly lit by bioluminescent mushrooms and Glow Moss. The Gelfling were gifted the grotto and surrounding territory by the Skeksis early in the formation of the Skeksis Empire; helping secure the alliance between the two races. The Gelfling that stayed in the caves became the Grottan Clan. Life in the caves and the consumption of the food underground gave their skin a green hue, larger ears, blackened their eyes for dark vision, and greatly increased their longevity almost four times beyond that of a surface Gelfling. The Grottans carved murals of history and tales of legend throughout the sprawling tunnels of the caves. Their numbers remained small, numbering no more than three dozen.
The rich source of life beneath the mountains of Grot were not uninhabited before the Gelfling. They were the home of the Arathim Ascendancy. When the Arathim refused to serve the Skeksis Empire, they were forced out and banished to the catacombs beneath the Castle of the Crystal. The Arathim then reclaimed their home, only to discover the caves had been corrupted by the Dark Crystal.
Both the Gelfling and the Arathim see the Caves of Grot as their home, but neither can lay claim so long as the darkened creatures dwell within.
The Tunnels of Dark Stone
Themes: Endless Dark; Twisty Tunnels
Threat: Corrupted Webs
Extending beyond the caves of Grot are the tunnels of Dark Stone. These passages extend deep below the surface of the mountains, spreading like roots under Thra. The tunnels connect the Caves of Grot to the catacombs beneath the Castle of the Crystal and into the passages that form the Caverns above Mithra. Here, life may travel, rarely does it thrive.
The black tunnels between the caves of Grot and the catacombs have become a nest to the Arathim that have been corrupted by the Dark Crystal. For more information, see Arathim, below.
Castle Catacombs
Themes: Secret Passages; Light of the Dark Crystal
Threat: Multi-legged Adversaries
Beneath the Castle of the Crystal lie the catacombs, that reach from the castle to the surface and into the tunnels of Dark Stone. Below the great shaft of the Crystal are the Garthim Pits, where the unliving soldiers of the Skeksis lie dormant until needed. Deeper in the catacombs are caverns that for hundreds of trine served as prisons to the Arathim Ascendancy. Both Garthim and Arathim (mostly Silk Spitters) can be found patrolling and sometimes skirmishing in the tunnels. During the War of the Dark Crystal, the catacombs may seem like a way to sneak into the castle, but the presence of Gelfling or Podlings in the tunnels will be contested by Garthim and Arathim alike.
Claw Mines
Themes: A Treasure Trove of Minerals and Metals; Hard Stone and Hard Land
Threat: Stingers of the Arathim
To the west of the Crystal Sea the hard, red rock of the Claw Mountains make life on the surface nearly impossible. But natural tunnels have allowed the surface dwellers of Thra to mine precious and useful minerals and metals. The Dousan clan rarely ventures deep into the mines that were dug long before the Gelflings began to cross the sea of shifting, shining sand. The mines belong to the Arathim Primacy, who are small in number and have mostly avoided the war by burrowing further and further into the mountains.
Caverns above Mithra
Themes: A Descending Heat; A Maze of Passages
Threat: Unmapped and Unknown
For a surface dweller to reach the Field of Fire, or Mithra, they must traverse the warm caverns above the center of Thra. There are not many tunnels from these caverns that lead directly to Mithra, but their warmth and the presence of tumbeloth or Makrak may indicate an entrance to Thra’s inner world is near. The caverns are also home to the Arathim Supremacy; the most aggressive of the Arathim hive-minds.
Arathim
The Arathim are one of Thra’s oldest races, predating the appearance of the Gelfling. These sentient arthropod-like creatures come in many sizes and number of limbs, with varying subspecies of different traits. They are a hive-mind race, with each member of the hive-mind contributing to the intelligence of its principality. Such is the bond of a principality’s psychic link that one Arathim can feel the pain of another. They can communicate telepathically over incredible distances. There are many Arathim principalities within Thra, but three that are most likely to be found in the tunnels, caverns, and coves beneath the surface.
The Ascendancy
When the Gelfling speak of Arathim, they generally mean the Ascendancy. This principality is the most common and, therefore, well-known of the Arathim species. The Ascendancy originally made its home in the Caves of Grot, before being invaded by the Skeksis and their Gelfling army. For hundreds of trine, the Gelfling believed the Arathim to be unthinking beasts, large pests to be swept away. The truth of their intelligence was hidden by the Skeksis, who imprisoned the Ascendancy in the Castle Catacombs when the Ascendancy refused to serve the Emperor.
During the events of Age of Resistance the Ascendancy attempted to reclaim the Caves of Grot, only to be trapped and hunted by the darkened creatures within, especially the larger Nurlocs. They formed a temporary alliance with the Gelfling after being aided by the Grottan named Deet. This alliance is tenuous at best and only comes into play when the Ascendancy and Gelflings share a common enemy. Should a Gelfling enter one of the Ascendancy’s nests they will be told to leave, second warnings will not end the overall alliance, but that Gelfling’s life may be considered forfeit.
The Arathim Ascendancy has many subspecies and most bear a resemblance to spiders. Three subspecies of the Ascendancy are the most well-known:
- Silk Spitter – More commonly just called “Spitters,” the Silk Spitters are the primary fighting force of the Ascendancy and the most common subspecies of its principality. Spitters began life the size of a Gelfling’s finger and grew larger and larger, with seemingly no limit to their size beyond death. The largest reported Spitters rivaled the size of a Landstrider, though most were closer in size to Gelflings.
Silk Spitters can immobilize their prey by spitting blobs of webbing which could envelop their target on impact. Their bite contains a fast-acting poison, toxic enough to kill a Landstrider within minutes. Mature Silk Spitters could also emit saliva acidic enough to burn skin. While their webs and saliva are projectile weapons, they must be relatively close to their prey to spit; the average maximum range of a Spitter’s attack is 8 feet.
Not only are Silk Spitters dangerous, they are difficult to kill as their exoskeleton is a thick carapace, nearly impenetrable to standard Gelfling weapons. They can only be harmed by crushing, magic, or enchanted or legendary weapons like the the Dual Glaive.- Aspects: Web Spitter, Hard-Shelled, Aggressive
- Stress Tracks
Physical 000000
Mental 0
Social 0
- Poison Spitter – Poison Spitters have become a somewhat rarer subspecies of the Ascendancy, as they were driven to near extinction. While Poison Spitters also begin their life the size of a Gelfling’s finger, their growth stops at about the same height of a Gelfling. They are not as heavily armored as their Silk Spitter brethren.
While they cannot spit webbing or have the armor of a Silk Spitter, Poison Spitters are craftier and can camouflage themselves to cave surroundings. They can spit their highly toxic poison with incredible accuracy up to 30 feet away. Their acidic saliva can eat through armor and, should it touch skin, kill within minutes.- Aspects: Stealthy, Devious, Ranged Adversaries
- Stress Tracks
Physical 0000
Mental 00
Social 0
- Threader – Sometimes called Crystal Singers, Threaders are one of the smallest subspecies of the Ascendancy, able to conceal themselves in folds of clothing or cracks of buildings. They are also one of the newest subspecies, having evolved into existence only shortly before the Resistance. Scholars believe their recent appearance is tied to the the Crystal calling to be healed before the next Great Conjunction.
Threaders are deeply attuned to the Song of Thra. If close enough, they can somewhat overhear Gelfling sharing a dreamfast, though they may not be able to ascertain all the details. This connection to the Crystal and their parasitic ability allows them to attach to the face of any creature of thra and take control of their actions. These controlled creatures will serve the Ascendancy and, if controlled long enough, will continue to be part of the Ascendancy even if the Threader detaches.- Aspects: Tiny, Attuned to the Crystal, Mind-Controlling
- Stress Tracks
Physical 0
Mental 000000
Social 00
The Primacy
The Arathim Primacy makes its home deep in the Claw Mines. The various subspecies of the Primacy somewhat resemble scorpions, given their segmented tails. Reclusive in nature, when the Gelflings first began to cross the Crystal Sea the Primacy traded its home in the shadow of the Claw mountains to the mines themselves. They share a closer connection to the Crystal than the the Ascendancy, and when the Crystal cracked they burrowed even deeper within. Any subspecies of the Primacy can distinguish even the most minor details of Gelfling dreamfast, should it happen around them.
Their reclusiveness and existence where few travel mean only a small number of Gelfling have seen the Primacy, but there have been enough encounters that tales of the Death Stingers have made their way through the Dousan clan and beyond.
- Death Stinger – The Death Stingers are the guardians of the Primacy, keeping away any intruders to the Primacy nests. Like their Silk Spitter cousins they can grow to incredible size given time and space. As they live in the Claw Mines, few grow larger than a Gelfling. Also like their cousins they have a hard carapace exoskeleton, built to withstand the even the crushing weight of collapsing tunnels.
The Death Stingers are named for their tails, which contain a bulbous end adorned with a razor-sharp stinger. The stinger is powerful enough to tear through any armor and can easily rend flesh. Those that survive the sharp stinger are unlikely to also survive the poison it leaves behind; poison very similar in nature to the Silk Spitters of the Ascendancy.- Aspects: Brutish, Powerful, Territorial
- Stress Tracks
Physical 000000
Mental 0
Social 0
- Shovel Tail – Shovel Tails are the workers of the Primacy, their powerful tails are topped with flat, but sharp, pickaxe-like ends. They are the most numerous subspecies within their principality but are unknown to the Gelflings and Skeksis, thanks to the Death Stingers. Shovel Tails are usually about the size of a Gelfling, carving low tunnels and burrows for the Primacy to live. If one could make it past the Death Stingers, they would find an Arathim that wants nothing more to do than work; digging and mining bring joy to these creatures and that joy can spread throughout most of the Primacy.
- Aspects: Single-minded, Sturdy, Guileless
- Stress Tracks
Physical 00000
Mental 00
Social 00
- Needler – Usually no larger than a tarantula, these are the small scouts of the Primacy. Needlers have a whip-like tail that allows them to burrow tightly into even the hardest rock. Though their tails could likely damage armor or flesh, they’re more likely to run, allowing their Death Stinger brethren to repel any invaders. Needlers are observant and can feel vibrations far through the earth and distinguish what causes the vibrations. It’s these senses that allow them to direct the rest of the Primacy to safety or conflict as needed.
- Aspects: Tiny, Intuitive, Observant
- Stress Tracks
Physical 00
Mental 0000
Social 000
The Supremacy
The most aggressive and sectoral of the Arathim principalities, the Supremacy resides in small caves and alcoves within the Caverns above Mithra. Small in number and in size, there are less than a hundred of these fist-size Arathim. They seek to find the perfect place to sleep; looking for the right amount of heat—not as hot as Mithra or a cold as the surface of Thra. Once they are able to locate just the right spot, they sleep for months or until disturbed. When awake they are violently cranky; they’d rather be asleep. There is only one common subspecies of the Supremacy.
- Fire Spitter – The webbing expunged by a Fire Spitter spreads and engulfs far greater than one would expect from its size. A small ball of webbing will expand from the size of a fingertip out to the size of a Podling. The webbing acts as a sticky and volatile incendiary, burning whatever it touches. The jellied strands of their webs are resilient and difficult to remove, making any fire caused by their webs difficult to quell. The distraction caused by the fires of the Supremacy are meant to give them time to escape. But, due to their nature, they will often spit fire before even attempting to ascertain if those who stumble upon them are friend, foe, or neutral.
- Aspects: Small, Easily Spooked, Aggressively Solitary
- Stress Tracks
Physical 000
Mental 000
Social 0
Corrupted Arathim
Those most Arathim principalities are sensitive to Crystal and the Song of Thra, few have become corrupted by the Dark Crystal. However, hundreds of trine spent in the shadow of the Dark Crystal has affected part of the Ascendancy. These corrupted Silk Spitters no longer have a psychic link to their hive-mind and obey neither the will of the Ascendancy or the Skeksis. They roam the Tunnels of Dark Stone, attacking anything in their path—including other corrupted Arathim. They have become the same sort of beasts the Skeksis once lied to the Gelfling that Arathim were.
Other Species
Thra is teeming with countless forms of life, both above and under its surface. Listed below are three species that may be found when traversing beneath the surface during the War of the Dark Crystal and one species that has left behind a remnant in the underground.
Gruenak
The tall Gruenaks had long, strong arms and friendly, soft faces. They were mechanically-minded and were the first native species of Thra to not only mine the land, but smelt base metals to create more powerful tools. Most of the mines of Thra that were not created by burrowing creatures, were originally started by the Gruenaks. Until the Skeksis came. They convinced the Gelfling clans that the Gruenaks were hording powerful knowledge; knowledge that the Skeksis wanted to share with the Gelflings. Little by little, the Gruenak people were captured and delivered to the Skeksis, until only two remained. The last two members of the race begrudgingly aided skekTek in mechanizing the process that harnessed the power of the Dark Crystal to drain the essences of other creatures (epecially Gelfling) for the Skeksises. These final two Gruenaks later died at the hands of skekTek near the start of the War.
The Gruenak left behind mines and smelters. Deep in some of the mines, they left behind engravings in the walls—blueprints of machines that had not yet been built but which Gelflings may find useful in the War.
Dwarf Armalig
Common Armaligs are burrowing creatures that live in the root networks of the Endless Forest. Their segmented shells allow them to roll themselves into balls for speed and protection. These creatures became the wheels that drove the Skeksis carriages. A smaller variant of the Armalig, the Dwarf Armalig resides in the Caves of Grot, where they served as a food source for the Grottan clan.
Common Aspects: Shy, Hard-Shelled, Delicious
Nurloc
Massive invertebrates with many tiny eyes, the Nurloc are native to the Caves of Grot. The Grottan clan would feed the Nurlocs daily, and in turn, collect materials from the animals like scales and fur which could be used for clothing, ornamentation, and tools. While some Nurlocs still thrive in caves, many have been driven to violent anguish by the Dark Crystal, endangering anyone who may enter the Caves of Grot.
Common Aspects: Colossal, Always-Hungry, Burrowing
Z’nid Bird
These subterranean flying creatures can be found throughout the underground passages of Thra but are most common to Grot, where they are the natural predators of Nurlocs. These creatures are found in large numbers and attack in packs, each armed with a tail stinger. Once injected, the stingers pump a corrosive venom which can liquefy the Z’nid Bird’s victim. The creatures then suck up the melted remains. These silent predators could wipe out a herd of Nurlocs in a single attack.
The Z’Nid Bird form became the basis for the Skeksis Crystal Bat.
Common Aspects: Stealthy, Nimble, Flocking
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