Samuel is a human wizard. He adventures in the caverns to find something. He doesn’t know exactly what it is, but he knows there has to be something…more to magic. He is also trying to save up money to travel to the ruined cities far to the north.

Working above ground doesn’t suck. In fact, were ancient secrets buried in the forest or on top of a nearby mountain, he would be there instead.

Sure. But he secretly hopes that it’s something far scarier. He’s not a thrill seeker, but has read books on beholders at school, and has determined that he already knows all he can learn from them. While a beholder is certainly a worthy foe, to Samuel, it’s just another monster with some well-documented dream powers.

The founders of great monuments are never entirely noble. When it comes to dwarves, nobility…is for humans and their play acting of power and heritage. Respect among families of dwarves expands indo millenia–multiples of human “nobilities.” After the orcs and hobgoblins occupied Sing’jar–and just as suddenly disappeared–the heavily traveled roads to the eastern foothills revealed new tunnels in the long ignored silver mines in the foothills. Where there was a rockfall at the end of the tunnel, two older tunnels were uncovered heading north and south. Other tunnel openings were uncovered to the north and south over the years, revealing evidence of centuries of dwarven civilization previously unknown.

Vinja Zanja, historian of the city of Sing’jar, wrote upon the known knowledge of ancient dwarven society:
Funtur Lodroth, as we well know, is the founder of the ancient Hall Ludhold, now fallen and known as Galentaspar. Before Funtur occupied the rich crater of Galentaspar, he formed a family under the Sing’jar mountains. Addits on the eastern slopes are still present, complete with stone archways enscribed with glyphs of a dagger, suggesting homage to Abbathor, which contrasts to previous glyphs in the south suggesting homage to Marthammor Duin, the symbol of wanderers.

Dwarves are known to leave communities far beneath any mountains if there are qualities of the mountain to cherish. Funtur left, founded Ludhold in one of the rents on the way to the vast eastern crater where the dragon Rodorax resides. There are no histories of the family that Funtur left that millenia ago below the mountains. We only have the stories left to us of the  refugess of the Ludhold that fled the devastation of Ludhold hundreds of years after Rodorax sacked it.

The Tallbeard family was well known for marching through the small community of Injarness (the nacent coastal Sing’jar community) lead by Redfist Tallbeard. Redfist was notorious for his callous and selfish nature. In contrast, the following refugee family, the Ironrungs, passed to the south of Injarness to Faroth. The Ironruns allied with the forge gnomes below Faroth peak, and were protected by the stone giant, Thromcron. Ultimately, the Ironrungs formed a trading company, Jamnnut Fenderworks, with the gnomes, and sold weapons to the Tallbeards, much to Redbeard’s chagrin.

Business did not go well for the Tallbeards after the minotars arrived and were favored by Thromcron, and their family dispersed and diminished into a gang in the newly founded city of Sing’jar. They were only notable for attracting the most criminal of the minotaur immagrant refugess from the far south. When Sing’jar formed a police force, the Tallbeard clan was forced to Darthil island, mysteriously afraid to burrow into the Sing’jar mountains. The few Tallbear bolt-holes in the western Sing’jar mountains are surprisingly shallow and rather undeveloped.

That the Sing’jar mountains were only occupied by elves is entirely false. The decendant Ludroth family had burrowed into the deeps of the mountains and had become known only as the “rare wizarding dwarves.” The elves have scrolls describing trade negotiations with the wizarding dwarves–the first evidence of ruklaf. Unfortunately, this economic monopoly emboldened the greediest of the remaining Ludroth clan who were known as the Cult of Ulexnil. Roughly a thousand reports for hundreds of year–both to the mayors of Sing’jar and the high elves of Sing’jar describe disappearances of people for years: anyone who prospected the southern mountains for ruklaf went missing.

Dragon Rodorax and the fire giant Crimskill invaded, terrorizing the mountains and city of Sing’jar. Fleeing before Crimskill were many of the decendants of Ludroth. One of the few surving families was the Cavepools. They broke open the stone doors on the eastern slopes of the mountains and quickly encountered the Cult of Ulexnil deep in the tunnels of the Sing’jar mountains. Before the Cavepools were able to relize the tactical benefits of ruklaf, the decendents of the Ludroths attacked–the Cavepools eventually walled off the Ludroth to the earth-south side and tunneled to the earth-north.

Unfortunately after all their losses, the Cavepools discovered why the cultists never occupied the earth-north Sing’jar range: purple worms. The harder igneous and metamorphic rocks were in the south side. Many softer species of rocks were in the north side where vast communities of purple worms created healthy caverns, but deadly to occupy. After a generation, the Cavepool clan tunneled down to the tougher bones of the mountains. Their numbers were scant, but their tactics were solid, and their ability to repair armor and forge from the thinnest ores was well respected. They are hale and tactical–much the opposite of the Cult of Ulexnil to the south.

The final battle of Crimskill and Thromcron on Faroth burned the new city of Sing’jar, and wrecked the pavilions in the western foothills. The Cavepool clan sealed themselves off, anxious as to the cause, and bitter and resentful at their lack of ruklaf to help defend themselves. There are few reports over the following years of tunnels to the Cavepool clan that describe an underground world crafted of the segments of purple worm, lush with giant fruiting mushroom stalks, and iradescent minerals lighting the paths.

Likewise, historians of local giants recount stories of purple worm caves to the north of Sing’jar opened from rock slides where hill giants used to form small enclaves. The high elves quickly learned of these spots and spent many years attempting to exterminate the hill giants. Elves of Sing’jar tend not to speak of the century of battles, often failed, against the communities of giants that were both desparately avoiding recruitment of Crimskill from above and mealtime from the purple worms below.

Xiahou is a human figher who adventures in the caverns to earn money…nothing else. Not one to banter. Many have met him–few remember him. Working under ground is calming: fewer of the many unforseen encounters one might experience in a city or on a ship.

Beholders? He might believe in the beholder. Heck, he might be the beholder, for all any of your crew knows.