Out-of-Placers

While the Ivenmoth taskmasters keep pushing Isher towards a career as a House Guardian, she only ever wants to work in the Undergardens. But even there, she’s generally put to work in ways that make use of her size. The thick, calcified mountains that mark Val Salia on the map descend hundreds of feet past ground level, and then flare outwards, leaving a thick shelf of calcified rock that acts as a roof to a series of caves underneath. The shelf extends underneath the nearby beachline, and slowly filters the briny salt water that passes through it, leaving large pools of fresh water underneath. This is the primary reason Val Salia has never successfully been besieged; the only source of drinkable water within hundreds of miles lies in the most fortified section of the city-state, so all the inhabitants have to do is lock themselves inside the mountains and wait for the besieging army to dehydrate. The salt-free, mineral-rich water endlessly drips down from the ceiling, fertilizing the soft soil below, making the Undergardens an ideal source of farmable soil. The local bio-luminescent fungi and lichens thrive here, and are typically planted wherever light sources are needed. While the light they emit is no match for the sun above, they still produce enough to allow the city’s crops to grow underground.