Wild Gardens

The Wild Gardens is the green areas of the Verdant Caverns that grow under the presence of the Sun Crystals, the most common version is dense jungles, but there are thinner patches of forests and the rare clearing or special grove. While large caverns are much more common in this area, there are interconnected tunnels and smaller caverns as well, as well as some unusual features. While it can be dangerous to the unwary traveler, it is fairly safe overall, particularly with the Vespids being willing to aid travelers.

Description

The cavern before you becomes brighter with something not seen in a while: sunlight. Upon closer inspection, large golden crystals growing on the ceiling are emitting it. The stone path turns to moss before opening up into a large antechamber so tall you can barely see the ceiling, the crystals above turning into miniature suns accompanied by their smaller siblings. The air turns humid and the temperature increases, but most importantly, the antechamber is filled to the brim with plants, looking more like a jungle than a garden.

Sliding down from the entrance, you lose the sight of the horizon and the jungle takes over. Millions of plants refusing categorization from even the most expert botanists fill your eyes. The sounds of billions of animals living in between them fill your ears. The fragrances of countless flowers fill your nose.

But even in this dense jungle, you can spot groomed paths. They are narrow, winding themselves around natural obstacles instead of pushing through them; it is easy to miss them if you do not pay attention, easy to get lost and end up as a snack for lust-eating giant plant.

Notable Locations

Dragonleaf Grove
- Druidic Alter
- Community Leader's Cottage

Giant Stump Settlement

Breaking through a dense part of the jungle, explorers might find themselves in an area that has been cut down, a giant stump is centered among many other stumps providing a clearing with places to sit, the cutting seeming to have happened many years ago, yet the stumps do not show indication of rot. A fence surrounds the area, and various silks and webbing can be seen indicating presence. Women tend to small gardens and chores outside, under the protection of a matriarchal woman who calls herself Sakura. Inside the stump itself is a carved out settlement which offers shelter for those under her protection.

Tower of Life

The name Tower of Life is given to a towering cluster of vines wrapping around themselves in a vaguely multi-helix shape, thick and bark-like near the base with the vines appearing fresher and more lively the higher up the eye travels. Reaching from floor to ceiling, the sound of liquid can be heard rushing through the center, like a large, organic, tentacle protected pipe. It protects itself with an extremely powerful aphrodisiac that is excreted from the vines, which further attracts other life forms that protect it. When close enough the sound of liquid running through the vines can be heard, but if it is the same fluid that is running through the vines is yet to be known nor where it goes external to the cavern it is in.

Notable Figures

Sakura: A Jorōgumo that watches over the Giant Stump Settlement, she is to many folks an enigmatic figure when trying to compile information about her, some speak of a woman who welcomes them and protects them, some speak of a seductress, others claim she is a giant spider monster that vanished their friends, or a stalking monster in the area that steals from travelers, ultimately these are all true aspects of her. She welcomes other women and will protect those who are staying in the settlement while she may host some men and non-binary, she is also willing to prey upon them if she needs something for the settlement.