The last single-race city in the Great South, Vem Deldur is the home of the Dwarves. Known as the Buried Fortress, it was originally built by the old Dwarves to escape the roving hoards of monsters on the Heredon Plains.
The rocky caverns of the entrance Labyrinth open to reveal cobblestone paths winding through dozens of green, red, and gray roofed buildings. This path splits in several directions to various market stalls, sacred sites, and farmland that circles in on itself. All of these structures rest within roughly-carved brown slate walls and columns, their surfaces climbable but perilous due to their proclivity for splintering and breaking.
Following the paths will take travelers past a few key locations like Ular Inonth, a huge red statue of a dragon, Lised Inonth, a pool of water fed and drained by a pair of waterfalls cutting through cracks in the ceiling and ground, or Etar Geshud, the walled-off castle and home to Thernar, the Weak, the current King.
He has not been seen in 60 years, 5 years into his leadership. Shortly after his disappearance the once bustling and safe city was ravaged by a new threat; A strange beast that hunted the Dwarves and seemed un-killable. This monster, who seemed to be from another dimension, drove the Dwarves into hiding and was given the only name deemed fitting, The Dread.
Still life moves on, the Deldur Ezar keeping watch on The Dread's movements. Through a series of flashing lights the guards communicate the location so citizens know a yellow flash warns a need to hide while a white flash gives the indication that danger has passed. These lights do not overpower, but tend to amplify the lamp lights that run in companion with the road.
Lamp light grows dim as one travels down several slopes eastward into the back of the gigantic cavern. Here there are two other sources of light: The pale yet vibrant blue-purple of the Muz Ivom to the south-east and the bright white from the Nriz Urrith to the east.
Wherever one is in Vem Deldur there are a few constants: The air has a smell vaguely like smoke, sound seems to echo a little too far, and everyone has a gnawing fear that is constantly scratching at them.
