The Hollows

Canon Facts

• Party entered and explored The Hollows (Session 03)
• Hidden shantytown built inside massive sea caves on the leeward side of Isla Aethel
• Concealed from Atlas patrols by mist and jagged rock
• Contains:
  • The Driftwood Inn — where party stayed, run by Pip & Pearl (halflings)
  • The Barnacle Bastion — Umaro’s shop, where party bought gear
  • Harbormaster’s Office — party robbed this (the Ledger heist)
  • Kaelen’s barge — in the Lower Docks
• A Cold Iron Consortium watcher confronted the party here in passing, a rare glimpse of their covert surveillance network.
• Current Status (End of S04): Full Atlas lockdown; party escaped the blockade.

Overview

A vibrant, secret shantytown — the antithesis of Atlas’s dreary industrial zones. A riot of color, light, and music.

Atmosphere

• Visuals: Remarkably bright despite being underground. A massive natural blowhole in the cavern roof allows sunlight in. Buildings are whitewashed with crushed shell lime, acting as reflectors. Supplemented by strings of multi-colored lanterns (sea-glass, paper, oil lamps) between stalactites. Shacks painted in turquoise, hot pink, sun-yellow.

• Smells: Roasted spices, giant-crab meat, sizzling garlic, sweet pipe smoke, ocean ozone.

• Sounds: Never silent. Upbeat string music, raucous laughter, dice clatter, safety-whistles like birdsong.

Key Locations

The Driftwood Inn

Vertically-built tavern spiraling up a massive central stalagmite. Known for “Salt-Stout” and nightly “Roof-Jumping” contests. Ceiling is an upside-down ship hull with items hanging as decoration.

The Barnacle Bastion

Umaro’s shell-smith shop. Specialty armor from sea-life.

The Flotsam Market

Chaotic floating bazaar on linked rafts in the central pool.

The Crucible & Coral (Alchemist)

A cramped shop built into a narrow fissure. Blue-green glass vats bubble with refined “Siren’s Breath” (Salt-Sage). Run by Aluthra, a salt-stained dwarf who specializes in stabilizing potions against Clarion interference.

Shrine of the Deep Moon

Quieter, luminescent grotto where water naturally glows blue from phosphorescent algae.

The Undertow

Seedy underbelly — flooded lower cavern in red lantern light. Gambling den and fighting pit.

Key NPCs (Canon)

• Pip & Pearl — Halfling couple running The Driftwood Inn

• Old Man Kaelen — Paranoid mapmaker in the Lower Docks

• Umaro — Tortle shell-smith at The Barnacle Bastion

• Finn — 10-year-old Salt-Sage picker

Key NPCs (Not Yet Met)

Note: “Mama Conch” is not a Hollows figure. It is the regulars’ nickname for Mama Coralee at The Drift. The old “unofficial mayor of The Hollows” entry was an error and has been removed.

• Rickets — Twitchy goblin mechanic, neon-painted inventions.
• Salt-Bite Sally — One-eyed Tiefling vendor, sells junk but has solid information.
• Scuttle — Paranoid kobold scavenger with glass eye.
• Brother Oryn — Gaunt, blue-stained priest of the Shrine.

Current Event: Atlas Lockdown (Session 4)

Following the sabotage of dredging platforms:

• Patrols: Heavy Atlas skiffs patrol the perimeter, boarding any vessel attempting to leave.
• Atmosphere: Music stopped. Anxious whispers and distant sirens.