Delvers Guide: Places to See & Avoid, Part 2

The Bloody Mire

Upon the surface of the chasm, starting a short distance from the shaft, is a boggy marsh region where the rivers of blood have muddied the debris; creating the reeking BLOODY MIRE. This marsh is abuzz with insects, including some of the giant variety, and monsters hunt and lair there. Flocks of BLOOD RAVENS dine on the insects when they can't get meatier prey, and ICHOR or BLOOD ELEMENTALS have been known to spontaneously form.

The mire covers two-thirds of the width of the chasm, making it to difficult to avoid. Those that try find themselves trapped by those monsters who have learnt to hunt on the 'dry land' between the mire and wall.

Blood Ravens

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These abominations are a bane to all travellers to the chasm. Originally they were ordinary ravens, attracted by the deaths of all those Avatars and followers. They began to change when they first tasted the divine blood; growing in size, feathers turning blood red, beaks sharpening, overcome with insatiable hunger for blood and fresh meat. Highly hostile, they'll swarm to attack if you approach them.

The Lake of Unknown Depths

Further along the surface, against the south wall, is a large lake where a number of rivers and streams of blood converge. It's known as BLOOD LAKE or the LAKE OF UNKNOWN DEPTHS, because no one knows how deep it is, and as yet no one has had the courage to find out. It has become the watering hole for the chasm's inhabitants, and with such a variety of creatures, fights between them often break out.

In the middle of the lake is a small island of rock, with a tunnel entrance sheltered under a stone shelf. This natural formation is known as AMIR'S PATH, after the explorer who discovered it. It is a more direct route to the city ruins, avoiding some of the worse dangers of the tunnels; a useful shortcut, if you can cross the lake.

Blood Elementals

The lakes, pools, streams and rivers of blood sometimes produce short-lived creatures called BLOOD or ICHOR ELEMENTALS, akin to the better known four. Varying in size from a small dog to an elephant, and possessed with a rudimentary, animalistic intelligence, scholars believe they are created by whatever sparks of divinity is retained in the blood; a belief the magi refute, saying that the spark of life is simply part of the natural, inherently magical, weave of the world. However they are formed, these elementals or WEIRDS, as they are sometimes referred to, are unstable, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous. They are susceptible only to magic, in any form, making them difficult opponents. Thankfully, they are not always hostile, often content to simply swim through the rivers of blood, driven by unknown motives.