Montporte Dungeon Mysteries: Vardray's Discontinuity and the Deep Dark

Introduction
Deep under the earth lies the Vardray Discontinuity. It was discovered in ancient times by the sage and wizard, Vardray. His writings have been lost to us, but Pliny the Alder, the great elven scholar and encyclopedist, has preserved excerpts of Vardray's work in his Gazetteer of Arcane Geography. Pliny lived in late antiquity and some of his works have not been passed down to us. Fortunately, we do have a number of reliable and complete copies of his Gazetteer of Arcane Geography.

Pliny on the Vardray Discontinuity
In his Gazetteer of Arcane Geography, Pliny records the following with regards to the Vardray Discontinuity.

The mighty elven wizard Vardray is the first to describe what is now known to sages and scholars as the Vardray Discontinuity. How Vardray discovered the discontinuity is shrouded in mystery, but many stories come to us of Vardray’s unique and creative laboratory spells and his renown courage as an explorer. 

Vardray, in his Observations from the Field: Volume 2, writes:

And it came to pass that I learned of an odd and major arcane feature in the eastern mountains. The dwarves, in the Elder Days, named these mountains, Dragonfang. I have found that there is a very narrow zone that separates an upper region of the earth’s volume from the deeper region below this narrow zone of separation. 

Above this separation zone [now known as the Vardray Discontinuity—Pliny], the rock and soil contain very little magic. This is the earth—the rock, stones and soil—that we see around us every day. I call this the Mundane Zone. However, below this zone of separation lies a region permeated by magic and wonder. I call this the Deep Zone. 

This Deep Zone is permeated by a magical energy such that certain kinds of plants are able to draw sustenance from it much like our trees, grasses, vines and crops draw life from the sun. In turn, these plants support a wide variety of other creatures. Indeed, I have learned of races living in the Deep Zone and raise crops of Deep Zone plants for food and trade. Stories of these societies can be found among the dwarves. 

The material of our universe is somehow altered in this Deep Zone so that has the most amazing and wondrous properties. I have discovered some of these properties during my investigations. Firstly, in the Deep Zone, the material of our universe is stretched thin, for lack of the better term. There are places where powerful creatures find it easy to pass from their home plane to our plane of Aarde and back again. This, of course, makes the Deep Zone both interesting and dangerous.

The Deep Zone also features areas where the laws of geometry do not match the geometry of our surface world. For example, there are many areas where careful mapping would tell a Deep Zone traveler that their destination is 2 days distant, when in fact, the destination is 5 days distant. Goblin traders from the Deep Zone have told me that special maps are required to navigate between locations in the Deep Zone. The goblins, keeping these maps to themselves, have become masters of Deep Zone trade. 

The goblins have also told me of cities and lands that lie outside of our dimension, yet have access or a portal via the Deep Zone. These cities and lands are part of our plane, the plane of Aarde, yet they are not. The goblins’ descriptions of these lands are beyond belief, but I would not be surprised if they contain much truth. 

Much to the delight of dwarves, great riches can be mined in the Deep Zone below the eastern mountains [Dragonfang]. Dwarven history is filled with the establishment of mines and cities in and above the Deep Zone in the eastern mountains [Dragonfang]. The stories of these settlements have the same sad plot, the discovery and extraction of obscene amounts of metals and gems of all sorts followed by horrible and complete disaster from below. As I noted above, the Deep Zone is a dangerous place. 

In terms of geography, the Deep Zone lies closest to the surface in areas of the eastern mountains [Dragonfang]. The narrow zone that separates the Deep Zone from the Mundane Zone plunges deeper into the earth as one moves west away from the mountains towards more civilized lands. In fact, I was unable to determine any evidence that the Deep Zone exists beneath our own settled lands to the west. On the other hand, my preliminary work in the laboratory and field indicates that the Deep Zone does exist beneath the wild land to the east of the eastern mountains [Dragonfang]. The Deep Zone lies deeper below the surface of the wild land than it does in the eastern mountains [Dragonfang] but it is clearly there below the surface. I believe that the existence of the Deep Zone beneath the wild land might be the reason the wild land is so wild.

I, Pliny, have in my own humble travels come across interesting settlements and history in the Dragonfang. For example, there is a settlement of humans who have dedicated themselves to understanding the fundamental fabric of the universe by studying the elements and energies. I believe that they have found this easier by living in close proximity to the Deep Zone. There are also dark and ancient tales of kobolds abiding in the Deep Zone and master the magic of the elements and energies for malevolent purposes. Fortunately for us today, kobolds have lost both the knowledge and interest in such dangerous magic. I have written more about this in other writings.

Related Posts
The World of Montporte
The Montporte Region: History and Geography
The Deep Dark: That Which Lies Beneath the Montporte Dungeon
Montporte Cosmological Notes: On the Planes
Montporte Cosmological Notes: On the Elements
Montporte Cosmological Notes: On the Energies
Goblins (Fey)--Montporte Dungeon Campaign Critter
Peoples, Tribes, and Gangs in the Montporte Dungeon
Little Larry the Kobold (an NPC's story)

Related Maps

The town of Montporte and surrounding area

The Montporte region

Goblin (Fey)--Montporte Dungeon Campaign Critter

GOBLIN (FEY)
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: By Weapon
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Spells; Move Silently; Improved Saves Versus Magic; +1 to Attack Rolls
Move: 10
Challenge Level/XP: 4/120

The goblins of the Montporte Dungeon Campaign are very different than traditional RPG goblins. Montporte goblins are fey and usually reside on the plane of Umírající (the plane of the fey). They are magical, devious, and quite cunning. While most fey have little interest in the plane of Aarde (the plane on which Montporte exists), goblins travel there frequently and interact with humans and, to a lesser extent, gnomes. They have nothing to do with dwarves and will only interact with elves under duress. Most of their interactions with humans are related to trade and commerce. Despite their frequent travel, they are very rarely seen by the inhabitants of Aarde and only trade with select trading partners.

Goblins are nominally aligned with the Summer Court of the fey, although they much prefer the art of the sale to the art of court politics. They typically sell weapons and supplies to both fey courts when Winter and Summer go to war.

While goblins can be a very tough foe versus the average human warrior or mage, they are among the weakest of the fey. To survive--and to avoid being minions/battle fodder--goblins rely on:

• Their wily and cunning intelligence.
• Their charm with non-goblins.
• Providing superior customer service.
• Expert use of the Seelie Accords (the laws governing the fey) to their advantage.
• Investing in muscle and protection. They are rarely without guards of some sort.
• Being a tightknit community. Goblins are very true to each other.
• Having friends living on other planes.

Goblins are usually found traveling in small bands, peddling their wares. They usually have a bagoi with them, a brightly-colored wagon that is larger on the inside than on the outside. Their bagoi is often drawn by a single foribus pony. Foribus ponies are highly prized for their intelligence, mild nature, and ability to travel between the planes. They also are accompanied by tough, not-so-smart bodyguards, such as oafs or ogres. While ogres are giant-class creatures, residing on Aarde, oafs are fey.

COMBAT: Goblins avoid combat whenever possible by using clever bargaining, their bodyguards as shields, or, as a last resort, buying their way out of trouble. If they have to fight, they use short swords, daggers, and short bows (typically magic).

SPELLS: Goblins can use first and second level magic-user spells as if they were a third level magic-user. They have knowledge of all the first and second level spells available to magic-users.

MOVE SILENTLY: Goblins can move silently as if they were a third level thief.

IMPROVED SAVING THROW VERSUS MAGIC: Goblins gain an additional +1 to any saving throw versus magic or cleric spells, but not against magic items (wands, potions, etc).

BONUS TO ATTACK: Goblins are quick and clever opponents in combat. They gain an additional +1 to all melee and ranged attacks.

Who Can Tell The Difference? Goblin, Kobolds, and Orcs

Illustration Source (butterfrog)

Goblins, kobolds, and orcs. Over the years, I have created my own spin on these guys and have found it particularly useful in dungeon settings. I have found that players have been able to differentiate these races in play, so that goblins are not just weaker orcs and kobolds weaker goblins (from a player perspective).

• Goblins: Goblins are the economic driving force in the upper reaches of world below. They are a combination of organized crime mob and used car salesmen. They move goods and services between the surface world and the world below via trading partners and caravans. Whatever you may need, they "know a guy." They will fight if they have to, but they prefer to wheel and deal and hire gnolls and other tough guys as their muscle. Player characters find they have to come to some sort of "arrangement" with goblins in order to remain in the dungeon, but there are benefits, such as the ability to buy provisions and information (for a price, of course). I have swiped some good gobliny stuff from James Mishler's Monstrous Menaces #2.

• Kobolds: As the weakest of these three groups, kobolds have been forced to develop some badass attitude and serious survival skills. Kobolds rely on stealth, missile weapons, traps, ambushes, and tactical sophistication to protect themselves. Woe to any player character who is careless in scouting or unprepared to use missile weapons. Player characters have learned to fear the kobold. Kobolds do not surrender and they have no mercy on opponents surrendering to them.

• Orcs: Orcs are my biker gangs and the bullies of the upper levels of the dungeon and wilderness areas. They love to beat up goblins for their lunch money whenever they can. There are just as prone to fight one another and inter-tribal warfare among orcs is a common occurrence. Orcs are very religious and differences in religious opinions often start and fuel their tribal conflicts. As they are not very bright, these religious battles are more about ignorance of their own religion as opposed to actual doctrinal differences. Orcs are simple-minded bullies and, as a general rule, they will charge into battle against any foe or prey that appears weaker than themselves. Like many bullies, orcs will typically flee or surrender, once it is apparent that they are losing. They are excessively cruel to their own captives, however, so it is a rare orc that will surrender to an orc from another tribe.

How do you differentiate between various humanoid races when you are gaming?