It is possible to get down into the old mine shafts that used to riddle the moon but over the years they have become impassable for the large part. You may be lucky and find something left behind down there but you may also find lava streams, toxic inflammable gases and dangerous creatures. The surface mines have been picked over across the years so there is little left but you might be lucky if you explore far enough…
I rappelled down a ventilation shaft once, past the giant rotating fans at the bottom and found a few skeletons, picked over with nothing, not even their clothing left. There was a weird shrine to some alien god and four blocked off tunnels. One final tunnel that sloped steeply down remained but it was lit with lava from the distance. I travelled down it but my way was soon blocked by a lava lake. I could see the tunnel continued on the other side but despite my protective suit, I couldn’t find a way across the lake.
I may return one day with some kind of lava skiff but the tunnel was small and cramped and too small for any of the ones I found on the surface.
Since I visited, my good friends from the Something Else made a trip. Here is their story:
They went down a different shaft, I went down shaft H and the bottom fans are in a fairly rough lower level. I barely escaped getting mugged for all my exploring equipment so I advised my friends to try shaft L instead. They flew down (jet packs of all things!) and managed to stop the ventilation fans to explore beneath. From the way they tell it, it was very fraught and one of them nearly came to a sticky end but at least I don’t have any injuries on my conscience. They travelled downhill and soon found a Lava Flea skeleton with saddle. Their proboscis are worth a fortune – apparently Devaronians consider the ground up powder to be an aphrodisiac! They didn’t know that so if anyone else wants to venture that way, you could make a few credits.
They continued downhill and eventually reached a lava stream which they could not cross. It’s all too typical below the moon’s surface and thankfully they all have full environmental suits and gear. On the far side sat a lava punt with a beat up R2 unit (designation R2-L4V4, they later learnt – someone has a sense of humour).
One of the party hit him with an energy bolt and he came out of power down and surprisingly enough was not impressed. Once they calmed him down, he told them that the miners who employed him to run them back and forth to their mine site had just left him behind so he had powered down! R2 took them on his punt exploring down river to the old mine camp set up by lava miners. They had struggled to find the rumoured Beskar deposit down here but a handy plasma screen (which of course my friends took with them and it now resides in the Explorers’ Emporium) showed maps, geographical data and a diary. The miners were looking for Beskar as there was a deposit – apparently they haven’t heard that it is only found in the Mandalore system but I suppose we aren’t too far from Mandalore and there are a bunch of weird and wonderful elements found in the Severna system.
My friends were able to explore the camp, including turning on the abandoned Gonk droid who was relieved to find R2 was safe. He had been very worried when he did not return. R2 thought he had left so it was a great reunion.
They set out to explore using the new maps (I have copies for a small fee at the Explorers’ Emporium if anyone is interested) and eventually found an underground lava lake. I think “found: is a little generous as apparently one of them lost their footing as the tunnel turned steeply down and narrowly avoided landing in the lava. Thankfully he ended up on the shore!
They followed the shoreline to a promising looking door but it was sealed from the inside and blocked by a lavafall. Through shenanigans (fancy word for force use and jet packs) Maa’Kh (a small Noghri) slipped in and opened the gate by diverting the lava away from it through some overflows. Inside they found a giant columned hall with a Beskar throne, probably the source of the rumours. Decorative Beskar doors stood behind it.
With their mission a success, they were inspecting the artefacts and looking if there was another way out, when they heard a terrible skittering noise… I probably should have warned them about the Lava Fleas as apparently they didn’t know they were harmless fungivores… A young lad called Ru-Bear appeared riding a lava flea called Fred and managed to reassure them before they shot him! Another disaster avoided and he showed them back the way he came.
He was down there exploring from his Dad’s work. The group rode/walked across a giant subterranean cavern which had herds of wild Lava Fleas visible in the distance, living deep beneath the moon’s surface and living off the bio-luminescent fungi that grow here. Who would think it was unheard of by us, living only a few levels. I am surprised that the fleas find enough to eat but they are apparently very slow growing. They are also surprisingly large considering that they scrape fungus off rocks for food, with a full grown Flea easily being 6 foot high.
At the far side of the cavern was a set of work buildings. First Ru-Bear took them to the Flea stable where they kept two more fleas called Ginger and Karen. Sadly, they had lost Jessica, the dead one when she went roaming one night.
Ru-Bear’s Dad, called Rickard, is a maintenance engineer working for Dettuna. He ensures the lava pressure doesn’t get too high or goodness knows what that would do to the city above. Its foundations reach all the way down to here. His control room has the best view on Skutt according to him – looking across a lava strewn plain to the far side of the immense cavern where lava falls in endless flows down the far wall. The whole area is lit by an eerie red glow with dots of a luminous yellow/green from the fungi. I must admit that I sought Rickard out and got him to take me to his control room. He is a fascinating fellow and we have had many long chats since.
Rickard showed my friends another way out as the shaft that the miners used came up in that dodgy part of Skutt where I got nearly mugged. He has a personal access tunnel that the Skutt Engineering Department use.
My friends returned full of stories but with no Beskar… I may have to redact the location to keep the throne safe until I can get down there myself!
Addendum, Gonky went to work at the Spaceport and R2 was apparently a chauffeur droid and now taxis Teneb himself around. He still calls up the gang from the Something Else from time to time and does pop down to chat to me when he is off duty. R2 does love to gossip! I have been down a couple more times to look at the cavern and I even found the throne. It appears to have been used back the crusading Mandalorian era. We took the decision to move it and the doors to the Dettuna display that is open to the public. Teneb gave us a generous finders’ fee which I split with Rickard and Ru-Bear and my friends from the Something Else. He also has had Dettuna increase the ventilation and surface management budget as a number of the ventilation fans were broken and the lower levels air quality has substantially improved since I am pleased to say.