Odrun Fell

The Huskvault Spiral is a tightly wound, descending corkscrew of tunnelwork discovered two years ago by a Hilt delver team chasing down a rogue alchemist. That alchemist was later found hollowed out and fused to the wall by resin, the work of a colony of Blistercarapace Beetles. These beetles thrive in spiraled terrain, forming hive-spirals out of chitin castings and melted bone marrow. The deeper into the spiral one ventures, the thicker the shell fragments and excreted shielding become. The Promissory made a quiet deal with the Ashcoats to harvest the beetles' blister-oil for high-heat smelting reagents, but several harvest teams have vanished. Now, the Spiral is off-limits without Cudgel escort, and even then, permission is often denied. The Hilt sees this place as a death trap while the Promissory sees profit.

The Spiral twists downward like a whirlpool made of resin and splintered wood. Every step follows a narrow ledge where the floor curves inward and the ceiling presses close above, layered with glistening shell-husks. Walls sweat thick beads of reddish oil, bubbling from glands left behind by the beetles. The air smells of scorched copper and bile, and faint clicks echo from unseen chambers. Spiraled cocoons the size of crates hang from anchored marrow spikes, twitching faintly with the weight of feeding beetle nymphs inside. At regular intervals, a massive spiral ring—made from petrified remains and hollowed beetle hides—divides the tunnel, creating moments of visual symmetry that lull explorers into distraction. Below, a low, rhythmic grinding can be heard, like a wet stone against wood.