Underfoot: Unfolding the Lore
Overview of the Convorteum
The Underfoot works much like a massive factory, each creature working selflessly as one of many moving parts of a great machine. All of the beings of the Underfoot were happy with their tasks, until Brell's First Creation started spreading his heresy. The Convorteum is a secluded area of the Underfoot that is the home of the First Creation and the heart of the conspiracy against Brell. It is a massive, inverted pyramidal structure sprouting from the ceiling of a huge, lava-filled chamber. Those that have been converted to the Faith of Self come to the Convorteum at times to show their loyalty to the First Creation and to show that they accept the tenets of the Faith of Self - place oneself above all others. This creates confusion in the minds of some, mixed messages that have lead to much sadness, loss and even madness.
The First Creation was the first and most loyal entity of Brell Serilis, and the very first sentient form he ever created. He is perhaps the most versatile of all Brell's creations and, at the same time, one of the more dysfunctional - an imperfect first attempt at the perfect servant. Brell regards The First Creation the way a parent loves a malformed child, and for many millennia he was most useful to Brell. The day arrived, however, when Brell's skill at creating new races - dwarves, gnomes, and gnolls - began to annoy The First, who resented that his creator had never decided to grant him an entire species, or at the very least a mate so that he could be a people rather than just The First.
The First Creation chose to rise against Brell. He tampered with the design of new races in subtle but powerful ways, causing them to turn along paths that led to destruction and harm against the Underfoot. He also turned a faction of Brell's servitors to his service and led them into the Convorteum. There he bade them to construct a fortress to resist the wrath of Brell or whatever host he might send to punish The First, should he ever deign to notice what he had done.
The First's actions have distracted Brell, to turn his attention away from the Underfoot. Brell's loyal servants are not usually ones to question his actions or decisions, and few of them have even tried to discover what is wrong, or perhaps do not even understand that anything is wrong. A few have made note of the changes for the worse, and the intrusion of upworlders has given the loyalists more options, more tools, to further their understanding of the problems in Underfoot.
While the god's energy and attention have been refocused, his realm has deteriorated. The precision, the endless cycles of creation and release, the unified sense of purpose in the Underfoot; all these have begun to break down. In the midst of the growing confusion, the First Creation is building his own power. He wishes to topple Brell, to gain revenge by showing the god how his lack of caring for his very first son has resulted in much pain and suffering.
Points of Interest
The Convorteum is a massive cave filled with lava. The lava swirls slowly around a statue of the First Creation that stands in the center of the cave. The statue's upheld palm is directly under the opening of a rock-pyramid structure. At the tip of each massive finger, crude rings function as teleportation devices that lead to the other section of the cavern.
The First Temple
This large temple was built by the creatures raised by the First Creation, and at his insistence. He supervised the entire project using his most recently acquired skills in an attempt to make a wonderful shrine. Worshippers are forced to come here daily and pay their respects. Small rooms off the main room house the attendants and at the front of the temple is a raised dais where speeches can be delivered.
Record Room
The Record Room holds tiles carved with bits of information that the First Creation has gained over its lifetime - recipes, lore, hieroglyphs, notes, rants - anything that he deemed important enough to remember forever. Some of the tiles remain empty or have been replaced when the information on them was rendered obsolete or was superseded by newer information on other tiles.
Reclamation Room
The Reclamation Room serves two purposes. This is where creations made in the Elemental Room are sent to be fired and finished with magical bonds. It is also the place were unacceptable creations are melted down. Structurally and stylistically, it is less mature than the Record Room, having been built earlier, when the First Creation had less skill.
Elemental Room
The Elemental Room is the workshop of the First Creation. In many ways it resembles Brell's workshop. It has various containers, wells and pools with all sorts of materials (water, clay, lava, sand, soot, charcoal) as well as piles of elemental materials lying about, like stone and wood. At one end of the room is a massive workbench with unusual tools scattered about. It is here where The First Creation puts together the various elements to build his own creatures. The Apexus and Bellikos were created from molds taken from the first clay molds.
The Beginning
The earliest room ever built by the First Creation is known as The Beginning. It is crude and unfinished, and is the most architecturally immature of all the rooms in the Convorteum. It is simply a big room with a rough hole in the floor. This massive hole looks directly down on the outstretched palm of the worship statue.
Gallery of Images of the Convorteum
