The Hollow

“The Fallen City”

“Luminara was the jewel of our world. The Hollow is what remains when beauty rots from within.”
—Last entry in Scholar’s journal, found at island’s edge

Quick Reference

The Hollow - The Fallen City

Overview

The Hollow is the end of hope. Once called Luminara—“The City of Light”—it was the second-largest settlement in pre-Shattering civilization and the jewel of the southern kingdoms. Its crystal spires caught dawn light and scattered it in rainbows. Its gardens grew flowers that sang in the wind. Its scholars pursued wisdom in marble halls.

Then came the Shattering. Luminara survived intact, an entire city torn from the world and cast into the Aether as a single massive fragment. For decades, it thrived as a beacon of pre-Shattering culture preserved. Then, fifty years ago, the Rot came.

The city didn’t fall quickly. It resisted, fought, cleansed, and prayed. But the corruption was inexorable. Street by street, building by building, person by person, Luminara was transformed. The evacuation came too late for thousands. When the last airship fled, it left behind 5,000 souls who would never die—not properly.

Now The Hollow stands as the most corrupted place in the known Aetherium. The buildings remain but wrong—leaning at impossible angles, made of materials that should not exist, arranged in geometries that hurt to perceive. The streets loop and contradict. Time doesn’t flow correctly. And the things that were once human still walk there, transformed into Hollow-Walkers, Amalgams, and worse.

The Voice Beneath is loudest here. Some say it emanates from the Throne of Hollows at the city’s center—a pulsing mass of corruption that might be a gateway, a god, or simply the island’s dying scream made manifest.

No one lives in The Hollow. But people still go there: treasure hunters seeking perfectly preserved pre-Shattering artifacts (the Rot corrupts but also preserves), desperate alchemists collecting Rot samples, the dying seeking transformation, and the mad seeking truth.

Most never return. Those who do come back changed.

Geography and Structure

Island Characteristics

Pre-Shattering Foundation: - Circular island, 5km diameter - Gentle slopes toward center - Built on ancient volcanic rock - Three rivers (now flow upward) - Gardens on terraced hillsides (now alien jungles)

Post-Corruption Transformation: - Gravity unstable (some areas zero-g, others triple-weight) - Geometry non-Euclidean (distances inconsistent) - Time distortion (hours pass as minutes, or vice versa) - Physical laws negotiable - Reality thin here

Edge Conditions: - Constant Rot-Cloud generation (emanates from island) - Debris field of broken architecture floating nearby - Approach hazardous (airships corrode, crews sicken) - Entry requires protective measures (mostly ineffective)

The Scar: - Massive rift cutting across northern quarter - Result of violent Rot transformation - Bottom not visible (might be infinite) - Things crawl out occasionally

City Layout (Pre-Corruption)

Five Districts (now corrupted beyond recognition):

1. The Radiant Square (Center, now Throne of Hollows)
2. Scholar’s Plateau (North, now Twisted Archives)
3. The Garden Terraces (East, now Screaming Orchards)
4. Artisan’s Quarter (South, now Forges of Flesh)
5. Harbor District (West, now Weeping Docks)

Current Zones

Zone 1: The Approach (Outer 500m) - Stage 3-4 corruption - Buildings recognizable but wrong - Hollow-Walkers patrol - Relatively “safe” (by Hollow standards) - Scavengers work here quickly

Zone 2: The Middle Circles (500m-2km) - Stage 4 corruption (full transformation) - Reality unstable - Architecture impossible - Amalgam creatures common - Time distortion begins

Zone 3: The Deep Corruption (2-4km) - Stage 4+ (beyond normal classification) - Non-Euclidean geometry - Living architecture - Consciousness dissolves - Few return from here

Zone 4: The Throne (Center, 1km diameter) - Stage 5? (theoretical, no scale goes this high) - Pure corruption - The Voice Beneath is deafening - Reality negotiable - Entry = transformation (no exceptions recorded)

Key Locations

The Throne of Hollows

Description: Pulsing mass of corruption at city center, might be alive

Appearance: - 100m diameter sphere of black, purple, green matter - Surface constantly shifting (faces, hands, eyes appear) - Tendrils extend into surrounding buildings - Generates visible corruption waves - Sounds like breathing, screaming, singing simultaneously

Nature: Unknown - Gateway to elsewhere? - Consciousness of consumed thousands? - Physical manifestation of Voice Beneath? - Wound in reality?

Effect on Proximity: - 100m: Immediate corruption begins - 50m: Hallucinations, time distortion - 20m: Physical transformation starts - Touch: Complete consumption (instant)

The Voice: Loudest here—audible as physical force

Worship: Some Rot-Touched make pilgrimage (none return)

Threat: Throne expanding (1m per year)—eventually might consume all

Mystery: Pre-Shattering records don’t mention anything at city center that could become this

Theory: The Throne is Luminara’s collective soul, corrupted

The Twisted Cathedral

Description: Former Cathedral of Light, now temple to something else

Pre-Corruption: - Magnificent architecture - Housed 10,000 worshippers - Crystal stained glass - Bells that sang

Post-Corruption: - Upside-down (rotated 180 degrees) - Walls made of fossilized flesh - Windows show views of elsewhere (other times, places, realities) - Bells scream when wind passes

Interior: - Pews made of bone (human? other?) - Altar is living thing (pulses) - Sermons still echo (recordings? ghosts? continuous?) - Congregation of Hollow-Walkers “attend” daily

Phenomenon: - At certain times, ghostly priest gives sermon - Words are corruption (hearing = infection risk) - Content describes “truth” about constellations (heretical, disturbing) - Some scholars brave risk to record teachings

Quest Hook: Clergy wants sermon recorded (is it blasphemy or revelation?)

The Screaming Orchards

Description: Former garden terraces, now jungle of corrupted plant life

Flora (all Stage 4 corrupted): - Trees with human faces that scream at dawn - Flowers that bleed - Vines that hunt (carnivorous, intelligent) - Fruit that grants visions (and madness) - Weeping Willows (literally weep, tears are acid)

Fauna: - Rot-Hounds (hunt in packs) - Shadow-Griffons (corrupted flying beasts) - Insect swarms (aggressive, venomous) - Unknown creatures (glimpsed, not classified)

Hazards: - Everything is potentially hostile - Plants move and hunt - Paths shift when not observed - Easy to get lost - Beautiful and deadly

Resources: - Rare alchemical components - Unique Rot samples - Pre-Shattering botanical specimens (preserved by corruption)

Caretaker: - None, but rumors of “The Gardener” - Possibly Amalgam creature - Tends plants (why?) - Ignores intruders unless threatened

The Twisted Archives

Description: Former grand library, now labyrinth of knowledge and madness

Contents: - 100,000+ books (corrupted but legible) - Scrolls, tablets, records - Pre-Shattering knowledge preserved - New texts appearing (written by what?)

Condition: - Shelves at impossible angles - Rooms larger inside than outside - Staircases lead to same floor - Books rewrite themselves - Maps lie

The Librarians: - Hollow-Walkers that still shelve books - Ignore visitors unless library damaged - Violent if books destroyed - Otherwise harmless (relatively)

Phenomenon: - Reading corrupted texts = corruption risk - But knowledge is accurate (and forbidden) - Some books predict future - Others describe impossible things - All are dangerous

Value: - Scholars would pay fortunes - But most who enter never leave - Or leave wrong (missing memories, extra knowledge, changed personality)

Quest Hook: Retrieve specific book (legendary text lost for centuries)

The Forges of Flesh

Description: Former artisan quarter, now organic factories producing unknown things

Pre-Corruption: - Smithies, workshops, markets - Finest craftsmen in Luminara

Post-Corruption: - Buildings made of meat (living, breathing) - Forges burn with green flame (cold, not hot) - Production continues (automated? conscious?) - Output is disturbing

What’s Produced: - Weapons of corrupted metal (function better than normal) - Armor grown from chitin - Tools that whisper secrets - Items that shouldn’t exist

The Workers: - Amalgam creatures “work” forges - Methodical, focused, purposeful - Create with skill (retained from human lives?) - Don’t attack unless work interrupted

Market: - Empty stalls arranged as if open - Goods on display (horrifying, valuable) - No vendors (take what you want) - Payment expected (left behind or taken from you?)

Danger: - If you take without paying, forges awaken - Payment unclear (coins? blood? memories? years of life?) - Those who take too much become part of forges

The Weeping Docks

Description: Western harbor district, docks extend into Aether

Pre-Corruption: - Busy port - 100 airship berths - Warehouses full of trade goods

Post-Corruption: - Docks cry (literal tears of dark liquid) - Ships still moored (corrupted, alive) - Warehouses contain preserved cargo (and traps) - Harbor master’s tower still manned (by what?)

The Ships: - 30+ vessels fused with docks - Organic corruption merged with wood/metal - Some have crews (Hollow-Walkers) - One ship leaves at midnight (destination unknown, never returns)

The Weeping: - Docks constantly drip black liquid - Falls into Aether below - Liquid corrodes anything it touches - Sound like sobbing

Phenomenon: - Every midnight, dock bells ring - One ship unfurls sails - Crew of Hollow-Walkers board - Ship departs into dark Aether - Never seen again - Next night, ship is back at dock (same or different?)

Quest Hook: Board the midnight ship—where does it go?

The Under-City

Description: Sewer system and underground chambers beneath Luminara

Access: - Grates, maintenance shafts - Some collapsed buildings open to below - Dangerous descent required

Chambers: - Sewers (flow with wrong liquids) - Maintenance tunnels (lined with teeth) - Crypts (occupants gone or worse) - Pre-Shattering bunkers (sealed, intact?)

Inhabitants: - Gloom-Wraiths (shadow creatures) - Whispering Mass (singular entity filling tunnels) - Hollow-Walker nests - Unknown deeper things

Why Go: - Pre-Shattering bunkers might contain unspoiled artifacts - Rumors of weapons cache - Hidden laboratory (alchemist haven) - Shortcut through city (if you survive)

The Whispering Mass: - Enormous entity filling lowest levels - Possibly conscious - Formed from thousands of fused victims - Communicates (if that word applies) - Offers knowledge for “joining”

The Creatures

Hollow-Walkers

Description: Humans fully consumed by Rot, body intact but wrong

Appearance: - Human shape maintained - Black veins cover skin - Eyes glow green or empty black - Move jerkily, like puppets - Wear remnants of former clothes

Behavior: - Patrol streets (routine from life?) - Sometimes perform tasks (sweeping, organizing) - Attack intruders erratically - Drawn to sound and movement - Pack hunters (coordinated)

Abilities: - Stronger than humans - Feel no pain - Don’t tire - Sense living presence (heat, life energy?)

Danger Level: Moderate (individually), high (in groups)

Drop: - Rot-Shards form in bodies (valuable) - Sometimes intact pre-Shattering items

Amalgams

Description: Fusions of multiple corrupted beings, nightmares given form

Appearance: - Human parts merged with animal, plant, object - Unpredictable forms (each unique) - Too many limbs, eyes, mouths - Constantly shifting, growing, changing

Examples: - Spider-amalgam (human torso, 8 legs, multiple eyes) - Hound-swarm (pack merged into single entity) - The Librarian (three scholars fused, six arms shelving books)

Behavior: - Varies by individual - Some territorial - Some hunt - Some ignore unless threatened - Intelligence uncertain (seem purposeful)

Abilities: - Unique per amalgam - Generally: enhanced strength, unusual movement, disturbing presence

Danger Level: High

Loot: - Rare Rot-crystals - Alchemical components - Absorbed possessions

Gloom-Wraiths

Description: Shadow creatures, possibly ghosts, possibly living darkness

Appearance: - Humanoid shadows - No solid form - Eyes like starlight - Flow rather than walk

Behavior: - Haunt dark places - Avoid light - Whisper secrets - Drain warmth from living

Attack: - Touch = cold damage - Whispers = mental damage (fear, despair) - Pass through solid matter - Difficult to hit (insubstantial)

Weakness: Light (intense sources dispel temporarily)

Danger Level: Moderate (avoidable), deadly (if caught alone in dark)

Shadow-Griffons

Description: Corrupted flying beasts, once noble creatures

Appearance: - Lion body (black, emaciated) - Eagle wings (tattered, wrong number of feathers) - Green glowing eyes - Trails corruption mist

Behavior: - Nest in high places - Patrol skies - Hunt from above - Territorial (nest sites)

Abilities: - Flight (swift) - Claws and beak (deadly) - Corruption breath (short range fog) - Pack tactics

Danger Level: Very High (avoid if possible)

The Whispering Mass

Description: Singular enormous entity filling Under-City, formed from thousands

Appearance: - Impossible to see fully (too large) - Flesh tunnel lining lower levels - Faces emerge and dissolve in surface - Breathing visible as walls expand/contract

Nature: - Collective consciousness of consumed - Retains memories of all absorbed - Possibly aware (certainly communicates)

Communication: - Whispers from all around - Knows things it shouldn’t - Offers information - Requests “joining”

Danger: - Touch = absorption (slow, inevitable) - Proximity = mental invasion - Listening too long = madness

Why Approach: - Knows everything its victims knew - Thousands of lives worth of knowledge - Ultimate information source (at ultimate price)

Why People Go To The Hollow

Treasure Hunting

Pre-Shattering Artifacts: - Perfectly preserved by corruption - Weapons, tools, art, technology - Worth fortunes to collectors, museums, factions

Risk vs. Reward: - Edge zones: Moderate risk, good finds - Middle circles: High risk, rare artifacts - Deep corruption: Almost certain death, priceless discoveries

Success Rate: ~30% return alive, 10% with major finds

Alchemical Research

Rot Samples: - Pure, potent corruption - Uncontaminated by distance - Various stages available - Essential for Rot research

Specimens: - Corrupted creatures (study, dissection) - Plant samples - Architecture fragments - Living corruption

Researchers: - Kael Greythorn has made expeditions (survived) - Archivists sponsor sample collection - Black market pays well

Knowledge Seeking

The Archives: - Pre-Shattering knowledge - Lost texts - Historical records - Forbidden lore

The Mass: - Information from absorbed thousands - Secrets, histories, private knowledge - Price: Sanity, fragments of self

The Cathedral Sermons: - Heretical teachings - Alternative theology - Truth or madness?

Desperation

The Dying: - Rot-infected seeking transformation (better than slow death?) - Terminal patients seeking miracle - Suicidal individuals (quick end)

The Exiled: - Nowhere else will take them - Hollow accepts all (as corruption)

The Lost: - Searching for consumed loved ones (ghosts? Hollow-Walkers?) - Hoping for closure, reunion, anything

Curiosity

Scholars: - Document corruption’s effects - Study reality distortion - Map impossible city

Clergy: - Understand Rot theologically - Recover religious artifacts - Prove or disprove heresies

The Mad: - Believe Voice Beneath holds truth - Seek communion with Throne - Never return (or return wrong)

Survival Guide

Preparation (Essential)

Equipment: - Protective clothing (helps minimally) - Aether-Crystal charms (clergy blessed, slows corruption) - Alchemical antidotes (temporary protection) - Rope (return path markers) - Light sources (multiple backups) - Weapons (blessed silver most effective)

Mental: - Know your goal (focused mind resists Voice) - Set time limit (strictly enforce) - Memorize prayers, songs, mantras (mental anchor) - Accept you might not return

Team: - Minimum 3 people (watch each other) - Designated leader (follow orders without debate) - Assigned timekeeper (enforces retreat) - No one goes alone (suicide)

Entry Protocol

1. Approach from west (Weeping Docks least hostile entry)
2. Move during “day” (safer than night, relatively)
3. Stay in edge zones if possible
4. Mark path clearly (return route essential)
5. Set retreat time (stick to it)
6. Watch for corruption signs in team

Danger Signs

Immediate Retreat If: - Team member shows corruption (black veins, behavior change) - Time distortion noticed (hours feel like minutes) - Can’t find marked path - Creatures coordinating (intelligence developing) - Voice Beneath becomes understandable (previously just noise) - Reality distortion (physics wrong)

Return

Decontamination: - Clergy blessing (necessary) - Alchemical cleansing (strip and burn all gear) - Quarantine (3 days observation) - Confession (mental cleansing, Clergy practice)

Success Criteria: - Objective achieved: Bonus - Everyone returns: Success - Everyone returns uncorrupted: Miracle

Current Situation (287 S.)

The Expansion

The Throne Grows: - Corruption radius expanding - Rot-Clouds generated increase - Nearby islands infected

Projection: - Within 50 years, Hollow’s Rot could spread to entire Murk - Within 100 years, threaten Bright Reaches - Existential threat to Aetherium

Responses

Commandant Vask (Ironhold): - Advocates destroying Hollow entirely - Proposes coordinated bombardment - Risk: Unknown if Throne can be destroyed, attack might accelerate spread

Alchemist Kael (Glimmering Spire): - Studies Hollow hoping to understand/stop Rot - Believes destruction impossible - Seeks containment method

Constellation Clergy: - Prayer vigils to quarantine Hollow spiritually - Pilgrimage prohibition (heresy to enter) - Some radical clergy want to “reclaim” city

Rot-Touched: - See Hollow as sacred site - Sister Morrigan leads pilgrimages - Believe Throne is gateway to enlightenment

Recent Events

3 Months Ago: - Major expedition (20 mercenaries, 5 scholars) - Entered seeking pre-Shattering weapons cache - Only 1 returned (mad, died within week) - Last words: “It’s awake. The Throne knows our names.”

Last Month: - Rot-Cloud from Hollow drifted to nearby island - 200 residents evacuated before infection - Island now Stage 2 corrupted (spreading)

Last Week: - Astronomer reports Hollow’s position changing - Drifting faster than normal - Trajectory: Toward Bright Reaches

Secrets and Mysteries

The Throne’s Consciousness

Secret: The Throne is fully conscious and intelligent

Evidence: - Hollow-Walkers show coordination beyond instinct - Responses to intrusions show strategy - Survivors report “being watched” - Corruption spreads with purpose (targets specific locations)

Implication: Not spreading randomly—pursuing goal

Goal: Unknown (consumption of all? Communication? Escape?)

Luminara’s Last Priest

Secret: High Priest Arduous didn’t evacuate—went to Throne voluntarily

Reason: Believed he could sanctify/destroy it from within

Result: Failed (obviously)—but merged with Throne

Current State: Consciousness persists inside corruption

Communication: Occasionally speaks through Hollow-Walkers

Message: “I see truth. The constellations are dead. What comes is better. Join us.”

Quest Hook: Is message real? If so, did he discover something?

The Gateway Theory

Secret: Pre-Shattering records mention “Gate of Luminara”

Description: Portal to “elsewhere” beneath city center

Purpose: Unknown (travel? Communication? Exile?)

Status Pre-Shattering: Sealed, guarded, forbidden

Current Theory: - Gate damaged in Shattering - Opened partially - Something came through - That something is The Throne

Implication: Rot not from Aetherium—from elsewhere

Evidence: Purely circumstantial but compelling

The Cure

Secret: Hollow contains its own antidote

Location: Deep in Twisted Archives

Form: Pre-Shattering medical text describing Rot (by another name)

Contents: - Rot is ancient (predates Shattering) - Luminar Council knew about it - They developed cure (formula in text) - Cure requires impossible ingredients OR… - Text explains Rot is intentional (created as weapon? Test? Other?)

Why Not Retrieved: - Location in Deep Corruption (nearly impossible to reach) - Survivors don’t remember specific location (memory distortion) - Might be trap (too convenient)

The Midnight Ship

Secret: Ship that departs each midnight isn’t going somewhere—it’s coming from somewhere

Evidence: - Ship present at dusk (before departure) - Departs midnight - Returns at dawn - But: Crew different each time - Cargo holds full (of what?)

Theory: Ship travels to parallel Hollow (other timeline? Dimension?)

Alternate Theory: Ship is single real element—Hollow is dream/reflection

Danger: If theory true, more than one Hollow exists

Quest Hooks

1. The Archive Retrieval: Recover specific pre-Shattering text from Twisted Archives

2. The Sample Run: Collect Rot samples for Kael (high risk, high pay)

3. The Rescue: Someone’s sibling entered seeking lost lover—bring them back

4. The Weapon: Rumor of pre-Shattering super-weapon in sealed bunker

5. The Pilgrimage: Escort Rot-Touched pilgrims to Throne (why? Moral dilemma)

6. The Study: Scholar wants to document Hollow (protect them while they work)

7. The Message: Retrieve communication from merged priest (for Clergy or themselves)

8. The Midnight Ship: Board ship at midnight, discover destination

9. The Throne Strike: Vask recruits party for reconnaissance (military planning)

10. The Whispering Mass: Descend to Under-City, bargain with Mass for specific information

Related Topics

• The Murk - Region containing Hollow
• Sky-Rot Overview - Corruption at its apex
• The Voice Beneath - Loudest here
• Hollow-Walkers - Primary inhabitants
• Alchemist Kael Greythorn - Studies Hollow
• Rot-Touched - Pilgrimage site

In-World Document

Warning Beacon (Floating Platform 2km from Hollow)

WARNING TO ALL VESSELS

THE HOLLOW (FORMER LUMINARA) IS FULLY CORRUPTED

APPROACH IS FORBIDDEN

By order of: - Elder Council of Skyport Eos - Commandant of Ironhold - High Constellation Clergy - Sky-Guild Navigation Authority

Entry is suicide. No rescue will be attempted.

Survivors displaying corruption will be denied port at ALL settlements.

Those approaching are assumed to be: - Treasure hunters (stupid) - Researchers (mad) - Pilgrims (heretical) - Dead

Turn back.

—Posted 245 S., maintained by automated beacon

[Beneath, scratched in recent hand:]

Turned back 3 times.
Returned anyway.
Found what I sought.
Lost more than I knew I had.
The Voice was right.
Don’t go back.

“Luminara was everything beautiful about our world before the Shattering. The Hollow is everything terrible about what we’ve become. And yet, impossibly, both are true simultaneously.”
—Elder Maris, astronomer, after expedition