Lemuria

The island continent of Lemuria once existed in the Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago. It was the center of an empire ruled by the Serpent People. The Serpent Empire of Lemuria was old even before modern humans first appeared, and humanity was little more than a curiosity to the saturnine Serpent People. They kept humans as pets and slaves, occasionally using them in their arcane experiments. Saurian scientists genetically-engineered various sub-species of humanity to serve them.   In time, the decadent Lemurian Serpent People came into conflict with the advanced human empire of Atlantis. They fought a long series of wars, which culminated in their mutual annihilation. Lemuria sank beneath the ocean in a terrible Cataclysm, the end of the last great Serpent Empire.   The ruins of Lemuria lie at the bottom of the Pacific, largely undisturbed, although occasionally visited by scavengers (human and otherwise) looking for ancient artifacts and secrets left behind by the Serpent Empire. Some scattered tribes of Deep Ones can be found there, usually worshipping some sunken idol or ruin. There are ancient passages from Lemuria into Sub-Terra and some of the ruins still have pockets of breathable air (likely maintained by some ancient machinery or magic).   The Lemurian ruins are dangerous, holding ancient and corrupt magic, imprisoned creatures, and dormant war-machines or doomsday devices the Serpent People were unable to use in the final days of their war with Atlantis. The United Nations have declared the ruins off-limits and placed them under the jurisdiction of UNISON, which is charged with dealing with any poachers or scavengers, relying on the Freedom League for more serious problems.