So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be.

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

Cast from paradise, none remain…

O Gods, when, with balanced hearts,

will men come forth again?

When shall we depart,

eternity to claim?

-From The Mourner's Lament – Uncertain Provenance

==Arc 1 – (Re)born In Captivity – Prologue==

It would be the height of arrogance to claim a full understanding of dungeons and related phenomena. However, it is useful to examine several shared characteristics. In addition, the text examines various legends which account for their origins in different ways. Most claim the involvement of at least one of the three celestials, or more colloquially, the gods.

One of the earliest surviving accounts is from the Voice of Heaven, an ancient text of the Treatic people. While no complete copy of Voice of Heaven remains to the present, enough fragmented copies have been compiled together to approximate the full work. (While arguably the full text has been found, they are in differing languages. Some of the translations are less certain, and create the possibility of errors. Even without that, different languages convey different concepts less effectively.) The relevant section begins with mankind’s eviction from paradise into a cold and desolate world by Yamash, for failing to keep the world in balance. The exact way in which balance was lost is unclear, but other sections of the text refer to mankind misusing divine fire. (A less common translation is that mankind unbalanced divine fire itself, though there is no clarification as to how.) The nature of divine fire is never specified.

‘For behold, darkness passed over the face of Yamash at the suffering of men, but he could not relent, for even as they had embraced chaos or order, thus should men suffer contrition, each unto their own nature.’

The text goes on with Yamash charging his children Otga and Shurum to govern the new world. Each would have complete dominion over the world, for a time, and at others, they would share it. Thus mankind would be placed in a world constantly shifting between order and chaos, and only find respite when those powers were in balance. As one of his final acts, Yamash created dungeons. Here, dungeons were described as a balancer. In them man would struggle and achieve rewards or death in proportion to the risks and prudence taken. The dungeons were meant to be an echo of the divine system as a whole.

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However, since other texts refer to dungeons’ creation and existence in different contexts, no definitive answer as to their nature can be specified. However, for our purposes, here are a few traits of dungeons that are nearly universal:

One, dungeons are governed by a core. In the majority of dungeons, the core is black. Removing or destroying the core of a dungeon will cause the dungeon to collapse and eventually be fully destroyed.

Two, dungeons will not allow anyone to get close to their core. (There have been documents claiming the Adar are exempt to this, but no definitive sources are available. In addition, even the conditions under which this is ostensibly possible, are not consistent.) Oddly however, a dungeon's core is almost always accessible. (We use a fairly loose definition of accessible for this, as getting to one requires extensive work. Cores are not, however, simply buried deep within the stone of the dungeon.) Though any intruder can, and ought to, expect the core to be exceptionally well defended even in an undeveloped dungeon.

Three, dungeons provide resources. The exact nature of the resources provided varies wildly from dungeon to dungeon, but in the main dungeon areas: slaying beasts, avoiding traps, and solving puzzles will result in rewards from the dungeon. These rewards are colloquially known as “loot” by adventurers. (The reason for why dungeons provide ‘loot’ has been endlessly debated, without a definitive answer, and this entire volume is insufficient to handle the entirety of the debate. Later sections examine it in some detail.)

Four, founding a dungeon produces a signal. Human mages and scholars have attempted to understand, or even perceive, this signal for many years, but have so far had no success. However, Adar, or at least those who are sent into human society, seem to be universally capable of receiving and locating the signal. (Due to the inherent nature of the connection between Adar and dungeons, they will be discussed later within chapters 4 and 5.)

Five, dungeons start underground, with some acting as one of the few ways to reliably reach the Antre Gloom. While there are a few exceptional dungeons that eventually create a presence on the surface, in some form, all dungeons start beneath the surface. (Even dungeons that manifest on the surface in some fashion, still show significant limitations. Notably, dungeons are still restricted to being within buildings, or only a few feet into open areas. And, those few which are an exception, still surround their core area with layers of stone.) Indeed, most dungeons stay beneath the surface during their entire development, with their entrances the only sign of their existence.

Six, dungeons produce life which is exceptionally mana rich. Most organisms produced by a dungeon cannot be removed without the death of the organism. Occasionally, however, creatures with more stable variants escape, breed, and introduce an entirely new form of life into the world. (Speculation on how this may have led to various hyper focused ecosystems is discussed later in the text, see chapter 7.)

-From the introduction of The Origin, Nature, and Habits of Dungeons