The Deepwatch Paths

Beneath the hills and stonework of the Northern Expanse, that cut off the desolate western region with the life-fueled eastern region lies a world carved and warded in steel: the Deepwatch Paths, a collapsed web of ancient tunnels now maintained by the rangers of the valley; the Wayfarers.

Once, these tunnels stretched like veins beneath the land, connecting the valley to the West and eventually to the wider world. Today, most are collapsed or sealed. Only three major arteries remain: long, dark corridors of stone, mushroomlight, and hidden watchposts. These are not mere passageways, instead they are defensive bulwarks, economic lifelines, and the first line of defense against horrors that seek to crawl back toward the valley above.

Wayfarers

The Wayfarers—rangers trained under the traditions of the Wanderer. The sole guardians of the tunnels. Though many view the Wanderer as a god, the Wayfarers speak of him only as "The First One" an immortal figure who taught the earliest halflings how to move unseen, how to mark stone for safe passage, and how to guide others without losing themselves.

Wayfarers live in the dark.
They know every bend of the tunnels, every mossy wall, every glimmer of faint, bioluminescent growth. Their blades are silent. Their boots are worn smooth. Many never return to the surface for more than a day or two.

They are guides, hunters, and wardens, but above all, they are keepers of the last gate.

The Three Tunnels

Each of the remaining tunnels is vast, fortified, and watched. While each bottlenecks travel from across the west, they differ in what they offer and what they conceal.

The Mossgate Tunnel (Northernmost): A mist-damp corridor choked with green fungi and hollow-rooted trees growing upside-down from the ceiling. Its mushrooms are used for medicinal salves, anti-toxins, and dreamleaf tea.

The Embertrail Tunnel (Central): This tunnel is drier, lit by ancient volcanic stones and home to fire-spore clusters. Many glow with dull orange light, and heat-moss carpets the walls. Certain alchemical mixtures can only be gathered here.

The Hollowbone Descent (Southwest): The quietest and deepest, lined with long calcified roots and bone-colored fungi. Strange echoes twist in this tunnel. Of the three, it is the most dangerous often bearing signs of movement from beyond the western edge.

Travelers may hire a Wayfarer to guide them through, for a fee or for a favor. These guides are known for their honor not their warmth.

The Fortress of Last Light

Where the three tunnels converge, nestled in a natural stone hollow, stands the citadel of the Wayfarers: Last Light Hold.

It is both a training ground and a bastion. Ringed with steel portcullises and runic wardings, Last Light is the final checkpoint before the true outer reaches of the world. If the tunnels ever fall, this fortress will be the last wall between the horrors of the void and the people of the vale.

New Wayfarers are trained here, enduring years of ranged combat, stonecraft, beast-tracking, and silent combat. The initiation trial "Walking the Empty Path" requires crossing one of the closed tunnels alone and returning with proof of survival. Not all return.

If the Wanderer is in the Fortress at the time, one can challenge him instead, if they win they are successful in application.

Last Light is lit not with flame but with void-glass, a magically treated crystal that glows blue in the presence of unnatural influence, otherwise the bastion is steeped in darkness, though all the rangers are used to it and can see beyond the normal means.

In the Words of a Wayfarer

“We do not light torches. We do not leave footprints.
We do not bring songs to the dark.
We keep the light behind us—and the hollow before us.
We are the echo of the wanderer.”