TEW - Other Places - Mezcotal

Even before the Great Bloom there were places which struck fear in the hearts of those who heard about them. The underground labyrinth of Mezcotal is one such place. Centuries ago, it was the project of a death cult who wished to bring themselves closer to the Underworld to resurrect their lost and loved ones. Since then, it has evolved into a subterranean civilization which eventually died out decades before the Bloom, unable to reach the promised Underworld of their lore. Once the remnants of the death cult were no longer there, expeditions were taken into the dungeon, offering a very grisly view into the mind of the desperate. Blood sacrifices, mutilation, cannibalism, Magical augmentation... all of the practices forbidden by the laws of the surface cities were all welcome in this unholy place. And this was before the Bloom...

And then there is the Mezcotal after the Bloom. Much like the Dungeons across the world, the corridors of Mezcotal seem to be alive, constantly shifting, changing its configuration under no power other than its own will. Perhaps it’s this nature that leads the most ardent Dungeon explorers to stumble across it, as if the Dungeons are bringing them to their master. Once there though, most of these unlucky explorers die in one way or another. Devoured by a monster. Crushed by a trap. Absorbed into the walls. Starved to death finding a way out. Driven insane by the Presence within.

The Presence within? There is a tale brewing out there in the Hunter community about the Presence and the Hunter who met it and came out of Mezcotal alive. Sadly enough, barely anyone who hears the tale can remember the Hunter’s name, but the Presence was a whole different matter. When the death cult which made the labyrinth died off, as the tale goes, they did not do so quietly. Their spirits were so in tune with their search for their coveted Underworld that they collectively became a Presence unto themselves. The Presence serves a bevy of unknown Gods which seem to have no alignment with either the Wilds or humanity. Perhaps the Presence has become the usher to the Underworld and the Dungeons are its River Styx.

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