A brittle beauty (Setting)

Lost Crystal is one of the hardest places to get to in all the Buried Kingdoms, a remarkable feat indeed in a region already renown for its winding, claustrophobic landscape. There are many reasons to seek it out: it is rumored grand archives of lost knowledge and the greatest crafters in all of Outer World can both be found there. But it remains something many attempt but few accomplish. 

To find that strange place one must first make it to the Sea of Tar, and then find a means to cross it - no ordinary vessel will do. There are ferries of course, but many of them are helmed by tricksters and charlatans who may very well return you to the very shores you disembarked from after a journey that seemed entirely real. Even if your voyage is true, it's very likely you'll encounter one of the great things swallowed by the tar or another danger that lurks in the pitch colored sludge.

With the Sea of Tar behind you, there is still much to contend with. Like anywhere else in the Buried Kingdoms there are tunnels, but some of these lead you to strange Elsewheres rather than your intended destination. When you set foot in Lost Crystal itself, the folk there will insist on speaking to you in riddles. Any answers you seek will only come after much back and forth, likely to the amusement of only one party. 

Then and only then you might find what you seek, and even that will come with its own puzzle or trial. While their are treasures and answers that can only be found there, one still has to wonder why any one place would manage to be such a great bother.

The answer may be found in the distant past. Long ago the founders of Lost Crystal, a strange folk known as the Unterkin, dwelt in the land that would come to be known as Old Iron. Artisans, thinkers, and lovers of peace, they clashed with the other more dour, industrious, and hawkish inhabitants there. It became clear to them that if they remained, their fellows would demand they craft instruments of war and other things they found abhorrent. Faced with this inevitability, they fled to find a new home.

They were pursued, as there were many that knew of their talents for devices and cared little of their lack of desire to craft weapons. The Unterkin eluded these groups through trickery and guile, using their various creations to fill a great crater with tar and twist the tunnels they went through to lead to places beyond Outer World. They settled once the last of their pursuers had given up, and named the land they claimed Lost Crystal because it was something beautiful and brittle. 

They know all too well that mystery is their only shield, so they do whatever they must to bolster it.