Lore24 Mar 27: The Depths of Ichairos

The Depths of Ichairos is the popular name of a cave system near the river Hapy, in the southern part of the reptilian Double Kingdom. It has a long and convoluted history, being used as a burial site, a place of worship for Underworld deities, a hideout for bandits, a sanctuary for refugees, and many more purposes besides. Parts have been enlarged, artificially collapsed, flooded, and otherwise changed for centuries, resulting in a rather hard-to-navigate and at times quite confusing maze filled with monsters, squatters, undead, and worse.

I owes its name to the famous orcish traveler and playwright Ichairos, who made several expeditions down to the caverns, meticulously documented them, then disappeared and presumably died down there. His writings make references to several well-known chambers, as well as some that have since become inaccessible. Perhaps the most controversial of his claims is that there are vast vaults filled with treasure down in the depths. These supposed vaults have never been located, but people sometimes do find jewelry and coins of unknown make down in the labyrinth, so the myth endures. Of course many of Ichairos’ writings have been lost, or are only known from second and third hand sources, so many hold out hope that someday a piece of his journals is discovered that leads to these fabled treasure vaults.

Image by the NPS