Darkness is not good or evil, it is that which obscures. Darkness is the unknown and the fear of discovery. Darkness is a veil, a barrier that can mask the predator or guard the innocent from what they can’t understand.

The following cultures are more often encountered beneath the earth than above it. Some of these cultures are closely identified with a particular heritage, while others are more general. No heritage is monocultural, however; any culture may include creatures of any heritage, and vice versa.

Many of the species that dwell in Underland’s winding caverns are little known on the surface world. Only the most well-traveled grimlocks, mycelials, oozefolk, rockborn, or motley have seen the light of the sun. Ratlings and doppelgangers, on the other hand, are familiar to, though rarely welcomed by, aboveground communities.

Inhabitants of the surface world don’t usually give much thought to aboleths, but no society in Underland has the luxury of being able to ignore them. The insidious aquatic schemers have their tentacles in everything, but that doesn’t mean they present a unified threat. In fact, while aboleths in general wish to rebuild their lost empire, individually each believes that they should be the ruler of that empire, a notion that frequently draws them into conflict with one another.

This page contains a list of all the heritage gifts from official published heritages. Gifts marked with an asterisk (*) are from heritages which choose two gifts.