Heartstone Plaza

• Original Purpose: A natural cavern where early settlers gathered for protection and trade.
• Current Purpose: Functions as Glimmerdeep’s cultural and economic center, a place for markets, public addresses, and shared festivals under the glow of the Heartstone.

• An expansive open floor roughly 300 ft across, with concentric terraces descending to a shallow basin around the Heartstone.
• Inlaid with colorful stone mosaics depicting local myths: crystal titans, cavern beasts, and scenes of first settlement.

• Four grand archways carved into the cavern walls, each adorned with glyphs of welcome and protection.
• Guard checkpoints are subtle, often manned by stone-wardens hidden in alcoves.

• Sight: Gentle shifting lights ripple through the Heartstone, sending patterns of cyan, violet, and soft amber across the walls.
• Sound: A deep but gentle thrumming, almost like a heartbeat.
• Smell: Cool mineral air mixed with faint floral scents from hanging bioluminescent fungi gardens.
• Touch: The stone beneath your feet is comfortably warm.

• Merchants from all across Glimmerdeep, luminescent moths drawn to the Heartstone’s light, and occasional delegates from surface cities.
• The Stonecant Orators, a group of keepers who interpret vibrations from the Heartstone as omens or guidance.

• Market stalls, stone benches, intricate lantern posts grown from crystal formations.
• A ring of carved message stones where public decrees are etched daily.

• Exotic subterranean goods — luminous moss silk, resonance glass instruments, glow-ink manuscripts.
• Hidden caches in merchant stalls sometimes hold rare heartshard gems, fragments chipped naturally from the Heartstone.

• None intentionally; however, sudden surges in the Heartstone’s glow can send arcs of energy through the plaza, stunning or harmlessly levitating small objects.

• Over centuries, tiers have been added or reworked to support larger gatherings and festivals.
• Several subterranean aqueducts were redirected to feed decorative stone fountains.

Blends seamlessly into the cavern, with worked stone that respects and mirrors natural flow lines. Decorations incorporate polished geodes and veins of luminous crystal.

• Subtle: resonance wards tied to the Heartstone itself will pulse violently if large-scale violence breaks out, disrupting attackers’ equilibrium.

• Used for the signing of the Deep Accord of 398 AR, uniting several rival cavern tribes.
• The Heartstone pulsed red only once in known history, during the surface War of Shattered Sigils.

• Attracts visitors from surface and underworld alike, especially during the Blooming Night Festival when crystal gardens around the plaza glow in a breathtaking display.