Dante's Pit is a colossal Labyrithine Cave System underneath Europe and the Atlantic with entrances in Iceland and the Desian Islands. It is sometimes called the Hollow Earth. Entrances can also be accessed through caves in the Dolomites Mountain Range, as well as most other volcanic mountain ranges.
It was not discovered by modern science until 2014, but may have been the inspiration for Dante Alighieri's story 'Inferno', whom the caverns were named after, following it's discovery.
Geography
The hollow earth is composed of thousands of gigantic caverns that often span hundreds of kilometers in diameter. Some of these caverns are filled partially or completely with water, creating the Great Abyssal Seaway. Many caverns lay host to lush, brightly lit fungal forests filled with life, and of course some caverns are completely barren and devoid of life.
Sapient Species
- Demons
- Dracaena
- Gagarrath
- Gaurk
- Ghoul
- Gnoll
- Gurrat
- He-Vac
- Horubisis
- Murrath
- Rakshasa
- Riddack
- Satyr
- Sepens
- Tengath
- Xevikk
- Yuggur
- Zabazavacc
Wildlife
- Bats - Many species of bats are found throughout the pit, including several familiar ones, that likely immigrated from Europe above.
- Brown Long-eared Bat
- Common Pipistrelle
- Daubenton's Bat
- Greater Mouse-eared Bat
- Grey Long-eared Bat
- Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat
- Cave Goat - A species of Myotragus, adapted to life within the cavernous portions of the pit, though they frequent the lit chambers and are a common prey item for many of the Pit’s predators.
- Post-Humans
- Pit Swiftlet - A species of Swiftlet unique for it’s bright, bioluminescence
- Dragons - Dante’s Pit is home to more dragon species than anywhere else in the world, many of which were seemingly domesticated or semi-domesticated by an unknown nordic culture a millennia ago.
- Dinosaurs
- Orm - a giant relative of the Olm, that reaches over 30 feet in length.
- Giant Ant - Terrier-sized relatives of ants that proliferate the Pit, they are eusocial and feed on the varying plants and fungi found within the pit.
- Tula Beetle - A large foot-long stag beetle that feeds on vegetation, it is edible and a popular food for many tribes and species.
- Monsters - A paraphyletic grouping of hundreds (if not thousands) of species found within the pit, covering many classifications over all phyla.
- Hellspawn - A paraphyletic grouping of hundreds (if not thousands) of species found within the pit, united in their twisted strangeness from other members in their taxonomy.
- The Forgotten Erratics - Genetic Studies of various species of these Erratics reveal they originated in places like the Diego Fernandez Archipelago, Skull Island, The Lost World and even Antarctica (among others). Hundreds of thousands of freakish and mundane beasts alike share this categorization.
- Mega-Jotunn - Fossilized remains of gargantuan creatures dwarfing even the largest modern Jotunn have been unearthed deep within the pit.