Candlestone Caverns

The Candlestone Caverns are a vast labyrinth of living limestone tunnels and caves located in the northeastern Aspodell Mountains of Andoran near the border with Cheliax. They were exposed only two centuries ago in an earthquake. Deep below the Candlestone Caverns is the Endless Gulf, a rift in Golarion's crust that connects to the Darklands realms of Nar-Voth, Sekamina, and Orv.

History

The Candlestone Caverns have a history that predates their more recent discovery. They once served as a back door of sorts from the Darklands to the dwarven kingdom of Tar Taargadth in the Five Kings Mountains. Orcs surged up from the Darklands through the Caverns in 1551 AR, tearing through a number of undermanned garrisons that sat at its entrances. After Tar Taargadth fell, the dwarves sealed the surface entrances to the caverns.

The caverns lay hidden for centuries, becoming home to kobolds, gremlins, hryngars, dark fey, and other creatures from below. When the dwarven state of Tar Khadurrm rose in the early 3200s, its rulers kept watch over the sealed entrances. When Tar Khadurrm collapsed, the caverns faded from memory entirely. The great earthquake of 4510 AR exposed new openings to the caverns, unleashing tides of subterranean raiders upon the human settlements in rural Andoran.

Inhabitants

The caverns themselves are inhabited by dangerous vermin, kobolds of the Black Claw tribe, hryngars, and undead, although the main denizens are numerous tribes of gremlins and other subterranean fey. The Caverns provide the most direct route from the surface to the Nar-Voth settlement of the fey known as the Court of Ether.

Dangerous creatures from deeper in the Darklands find their way up through the caverns as well, and pose a threat to the local denizens as well as the nearby surface-dwellers. The clever kobolds of the Black Claw tribe have responded to this by creating a series of one-directional tunnels bypassing their territory and leading directly to the surface. In this way, many of the abominations which might never see the light of day are provided with a direct and unobstructed route to Andoran, much to the consternation of the local humans. The kobolds have thus unintentionally given those able to track the Darkland creature's tracks an easy, trap-free path from the surface into the Darklands.

Places of interest

• The Gallery of Wonders
• Mushroom Caves
• Black Claws' Caves: a series of well-defended caves which serve as the home of the Black Claws
• The Vault: a series of caves used as a prison by the Black Claws
• The Maze: a labyrinth of tunnels rumored to hide great treasures
• Troglodyte Burrows: a cave complex claimed by a clan of xulgaths
• Ruins of Fort Durak: a dwarven fortress ruined after the fall of Tar Khadurrm
• Black Siren Citadel: a fortress of the drow
• Ghelib's Fissure
• Tenebros River
• The Thundering Gates
• Ether Outpost
• Tar Vermilon: caves expanded into a fortress by a group of hryngars
• Cavern Dragon's Tomb
• Kaldrifjaur Lake: a vast subterranean lake formed by the Tenebros River
• Nightclaw Caves
• The Shining Grotto
• Route to the Midnight Mountains

References

Paizo published a major article about the Candlestone Caverns in Chapter 1 of Dungeons of Golarion.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.