Rift of Duersterkrak

"It is always possible the records are incomplete."

- Proverb of the Azurejays, Scholar-Knights of San Sylvester

This article is incomplete and will require additional work.

The Rift of Duersterkrak, also known as The Deepest Well, is an ancient, probably artificial, structure within and beneath the Temple of the Deep in Khaz Duersterkrak. The Rift predates the settling of the clanfort, and is said to be one of the causes behind Torserd Magnusson choosing to establish his clan's capital there, as well as being deeply implicated in his eventual demise and disappearance.

The rift's best-attributed feature is its entrance, a large, circular shaft some hundred feet in diameter, embedded in the floor of a large, circular, granite room, the Hall of the Rift, which is used in various ceremonies for the church of Torserd Magnusson. This shaft extends vertically downwards for an unknown ultimate distance into the Dark and is said variously to have branching side-tunnels and shafts, none of which have been physically explored due to the extreme hazard and sacred nature of the space. It is believed by those who have experienced dreams in proximity to the rift, as well as those who have attempted partial exploration by Astral Projection, that the base of the rift emerges into a temple complex and cave system known as the Halls of Torserd. However, all accounts of these astral and dream explorations are contradictory, either due to explorer error or some other property of the site.

The official position of the Church of Torserd is that the well is bottomless, disappearing into the very darkness itself, possibly even by connection to the plane of Stasis. Atarlied scholarship on the rift, based on dwarven histories such as they have percolated between the realms, suggests that the rift was bored by the Pre-Baghar Civilization.