Clicking Caverns

The Clicking Caverns are set of underground tunnels and caverns known to connect to the Darklands of the continent of Tian Xia and are located on the border between the nations of Xa Hoi and Nagajor. They are inhabited by flesh-eating clockwork constructs haunted by the souls of their extinct builders.

History

In 2105 IC, the haunted clockworks poured from the Clicking Caverns and attacked both Xa Hoi and Nagajor. The nagaji guard in Kullan Dei withstood the assault but struggled to push the invading constructs back, leading to the First Mothers of Nagajor hiring foreign mercenaries to pursue them.

In 7208 IC, the nagaji hero Zethivaxus Djeed led an ill-advised expedition into the Clicking Caverns, and later emerged as a haunted clockwork himself in an invasion of the highlands of western Xa Hoi. The expedition exposed new parts of the Caverns, and in 7210 IC adventurers discovered a clockwork heart that the Caverns' hostile constructs avoided, leaving a mile-wide safe radius. Both Xa Hoi and Nagajor have since attempted to establish a base at the artifact's site, with the new city dubbed Camp Yama.

Recent events

Constructs of the Clicking Caverns attack the surface every winter, slowly and progressively destabilizing the ground further from the holes they create. Nagajor and Xa Hoi cooperate to defend the surface against incursions from the Caverns.

Tinkerers have reverse-engineered some clockworks from the Caverns, leading to innovations by inventors. Expertly piloted Xa Hoian river cutters can follow waterways through lava tunnels that pass through the Clicking Caverns, though the threat of unleashing new hordes of haunted clockworks deters Xa Hoians from digging wells.

Artificial stalactites resembling Xa Hoian architecture line the ceiling of a channel in the Clicking Caverns. Xa Hoians have reclaimed and added new structures to them, establishing a trading post known as Fort Hung that caters to adventurers.

Notable locations

• The haunted metropolis of Pan Majang