View source for Myrrun Hollow

{{State
| name = Myrrun Hollow
| capital = Beneath-Root
| located in = Eastern Continent
| population = 5600000
| geography = Myrrun Hollow is a vast subterranean realm spread beneath the eastern coast of the eastern continent, where cedar forests sink into river-fed foothills and the continent’s greatest river empties into the Bangrave Sea. Beneath loam and root lies an immense network of fungal caverns, fossil forests, spore-lit waterways, and living stone chambers grown rather than carved. The Hollow expands vertically as much as laterally, with entire districts layered in cycles of growth and decay. Bioluminescent mycelium replaces sky and horizon, pulsing in rhythms tied to emotion, population density, and resonance tides.
| people_and_culture = Myrrun Hollow is home to a deeply interdependent society shaped by biological resonance. Fungril colonies, Faun dreamers, Ribbet engineers, Firbolg orchard-tenders, Umbrin shadow-wrights, Deep Dwarves, and Humans coexist within shared ecological systems. Culture emphasizes cycles, mutual reliance, and communal memory rather than individual legacy. Identity is understood as something grown together, not owned alone.
| hazards = Spore Saturation; Shared Nightmare Blooms; Mycelial Floods; Memory Overgrowth; Griefglass Sporulation; Echo Myths; and Biogenic Collapse.
| landmarks = [[Beneath-Root]]; [[The Great Mycelial Loom]]; [[Fossil-Canopy Vaults]]; [[The Underwake Delta]]
| other_settlements = Rootmarket; Glowreach; Pale Orchard; Driftcap Enclave
| coords = 44.2903,63.0643
}}

= Myrrun Hollow =

== Overview ==
Myrrun Hollow is not merely beneath the world. It is within it. This subterranean state exists as a living undercycle, where life, death, decay, and rebirth form the foundation of civilization itself. Stone walls breathe, bridges grow from woven mycelium, and markets pulse with bioluminescent light that responds to mood as much as movement. The Hollow measures time not in hours of longbright and deepglow, but in phases of growth, rot, and renewal that mirror the world’s deeper rhythms.

Where other states struggle to preserve or suppress memory, Myrrun Hollow shares it. Resonance here does not linger as history. It spreads biologically, transmitted through spores, food, water, and touch. This makes the Hollow one of the most emotionally connected societies in Velthuryn, and one of the most volatile when balance is lost.

== Geography ==
Myrrun Hollow stretches beneath the eastern coast and delta regions, forming a honeycomb of caverns and living chambers connected by spore-lit rivers and root-tunnels. Fossilized forests form vaulted ceilings where ancient trees were entombed mid-growth during pre-Shattering ages. Entire neighborhoods migrate slowly as fungal masses expand, collapse, and regrow elsewhere.

The Underwake Delta marks where surface rivers descend into the Hollow, becoming nutrient-rich arteries that sustain enormous mycelial networks. During periods of high resonance, these waterways glow intensely, flooding nearby districts with shared sensation and memory.

== People & Culture ==
Life in Myrrun Hollow is inherently communal.

'''Fungril''' — Primary architects of Hollow society; spore-speakers and memory-bearers.

'''Fauns''' — Dream-walkers and emotional interpreters who navigate shared visions.

'''Ribbets''' — Engineers of water-flow, lift-vines, and bio-mechanical systems.

'''Firbolgs''' — Orchard-tenders cultivating fungal groves and bioluminescent crops.

'''Umbrin''' — Shadow-wrights shaping light, darkness, and resonance contrast.

'''Deep Dwarves''' — Stone-keepers maintaining structural continuity beneath growth.

'''Humans''' — Traders, mediators, and surface liaisons adapting to Hollow life.

Status is earned through contribution to balance, not lineage. Individual ambition is tolerated only insofar as it benefits the collective cycle.

== Governance & Social Order ==
Myrrun Hollow has no singular ruler. Governance emerges through consensus nodes, where representatives from colonies and districts gather in spore-rituals to feel communal will rather than vote on it.

=== Capital — Beneath-Root ===
Beneath-Root lies at the deepest stable convergence of the Hollow’s major mycelial rivers. It is less a city than a living nexus, grown around titanic root-masses and reinforced fungal pillars that channel nutrient flow, memory exchange, and governance impulses throughout the state. Decisions reached in Beneath-Root propagate outward biologically, altering growth patterns, emotional climate, and even architectural development across Myrrun Hollow.

Beneath-Root is also the Hollow’s primary point of contact with the surface world, receiving controlled river traffic from Nokhul Vale through the Underwake Delta.

== Hazards & Ecological Threats ==
Myrrun Hollow’s greatest dangers arise when balance fails:

Spore Saturation — Overexposure causing loss of individual identity.

Shared Nightmare Blooms — Collective fears manifesting as hostile growths.

Mycelial Floods — Rapid expansion that collapses districts.

Memory Overgrowth — Old emotions resurfacing uncontrollably.

Griefglass Sporulation — Crystalline spores inducing shared trauma.

Echo Myths — Legends made real through repeated communal belief.

Biogenic Collapse — Failure of life-support cycles leading to mass die-off.

== Economy & Exchange ==
The Hollow trades in bioluminescent crops, medicinal spores, bio-engineered materials, and emotional stabilizers. Griefglass is used sparingly, ground into controlled spores that facilitate healing or carefully moderated memory sharing. External trade is routed primarily through Beneath-Root, where ecological impact can be assessed before goods are distributed further into the Hollow.

== Relations & Reputation ==

Thirasil — Philosophical kinship through living memory, though Myrrun favors biological sharing over ancestral preservation.

Nokhul Vale — Essential trade and cultural conduit via river systems.

Fleaspark — Source of innovation and frequent ecological disruption.

The Bastion of Aurex — Deep ideological opposition over suppression versus integration of resonance.

To outsiders, Myrrun Hollow is wondrous, intimate, and unsettling in equal measure.

== Ancestry Distribution ==
=== Predominant ===

Fungril, Fauns, Ribbets

=== Significant Minorities ===

Firbolgs, Deep Dwarves, Humans

=== Transient Populations ===

Surface traders, pilgrims, resonance scholars, and emissaries

== Fauna & Living Structures ==

Glowcap Leviathans — Massive fungal organisms forming transit corridors.

Spore Serpents — Semi-sentient mycelial guardians.

Lumen Beetles — Bioluminescent pollinators used as signal swarms.

Rootbound Colossi — Living structural supports mistaken for statues.

Echo Spores — Floating motes that replay shared memories when disturbed.

== Memory, Cycle, and Communion ==
In Myrrun Hollow, memory is not preserved. It is composted. Grief, joy, fear, and hope break down and feed new growth. This makes the Hollow resilient, adaptive, and deeply empathetic, but also vulnerable to runaway emotion. To live here is to accept that you are never entirely alone, and never entirely your own.