Hakla Depths

Introduction
The eastern region of Alva, known as the Haklan Deep, is the former site of the capital city of Alva. Once a sprawling metropolis spanning hundreds of miles and known as the Sunrise Empire, the entire city has since sunk in the 300 years since the Great Flood into a massive trench several dozen miles deep. Due to the sheer amount of salvage and treasure, salvagers have come here in droves for centuries, creating a society built around their mysterious and magical treasure hauls.

Lifestyle and Danger
While the Haklan Deep is accessible with conventional methods, most non-magical means (such as diving bells) only reach the first two floors of the taller spires and peaks in this sprawling place. The few spires that pierce the water, the CloudPierce Spires, provide the only solid ground for thousands of miles. The salvagers have taken to creating walkways and bridges connecting them, taking advantage of the slowly sinking monoliths. The less fortunate use sailing ships to provide ground extensions to what is left, creating a truly tangled space of wood and metal and stone.

Underwater, the city, once a beautiful metropolis, has taken on a darker tone. The tops of the lesser spires create a tangled mess of teeth, where smaller buildings and cloud-scrapers give the entire mess a cubic, symmetrical appearance. Tiny magic lights can still be found occasionally around the 4th and 5th layers, but below that point is pure shadow.

The buildings themselves are a confusing mess of platinum, carved rock, crystal, and polished bauxite. The Mysterious Powers below, with their intense mana, have started to affect the material in a strange and unnatural way, making it extremely hard, and extremely resistant to magic. No one who looked too far into these mysteries has managed to make much progress, their research either disappearing mysteriously or ending unsuccessfully in complete dead ends.

Rumors
There are rumors that strange, squid faced men and women have been spotted in the 5th levels and below in the towers, and stranger things still lurk in the deep, dark city streets where civilians once walked. Other than them, there is a massive shadow, deeper than any civilian has ever managed to reach. Occasionally it shifts, sending enormous, rumbling vibrations through the ruin, usually collapsing some building or another. Reports and hearsay suggest the vibrations come from a Leviathan in the middle of a long slumber, but to be honest, nobody knows.