Oh yo sorry to all the people who've added even more ideas, I skimmed real quick but I have to drop something off and then skedaddle IRL. I'll be back!
First off, I mentioned subterranean rivers but they're not on the map or anything so here's a quick ref of a smaller one. Sorry for the cartoony lighting/lanterns, I love Flowscape but it does
not love interior lights.
(Same release as the others, do whatever, just don't try to sell/claim credit)
More excitingly, after repeatedly trying and failing to do a generic root city in Flowscape, I gave up and painted one instead, and given the effort required, it's not so generic any more...
(Same release as the others except don't remove my signature)
Welcome to Bright Aleph! She's the successor-city to Aleph (now called Sunken Aleph), which was settled long ago at the base of the chasm she's suspended over. She hosts the druids, researchers, and adventurers who've made it their goal to reclaim and perhaps resettle Sunken Aleph.
Abandoned due to a mix of Barrens aggression and (according to rumors, at least) a top-secret research project gone wrong, Sunken Aleph boasts a unique surrounding ecosystem and a hoard of druidic artifacts. The real treasure, though, is the structure that fills the city's heart, and her whole reason for existing: an ancient laboratory built at a leyline convergence. Its walls crack and crumble under the pressure of the growth within, and after years of work, only a sliver of the lab's been rendered (relatively) safe.
The journey through the chasm is tiring and dangerous, as there's no wind for gliding. A heavily-fortified base camp has been established in Sunken Aleph to help dragons prepare for the journey up, though all the walls in the world won't do much if the Barrens awakens.
Bright Aleph is a much merrier place, and is most days filled with song and industry. Her main charge, besides housing dragons, is cultivating light. While her access to the leylines is dampened both by distance and by Sunken Aleph, she still produces an overabundance of glowing mushrooms, lantern vines, weavermotes, and plenty of other living light sources. While she's a root city first and foremost, she spreads her glowing tendrils into many surrounding cavern systems. Don't leave without seeing the Aleph Cascades, a series of waterfalls lit from behind by a grove of massive glowfronds, or trying an Aleph Crepe (topped with real motesap)!
EDIT: the "safe" parts of the Sunken Aleph lab probably look a bit like this (reference: Hollow Knight Greenpath). It was a beautiful place in its day. Still is, depending on your taste.
If you're interested in using Bright or Sunken Aleph in your lore, please let me know because I'd love to read it! Same goes for anything else on the thread really, no need for permission, I just love reading lore.
