Arguois caverns
| Arguois caverns | |
|---|---|
 by Kelly Mai
| |
| Type | Caves |
| Region | Central Dominance |
| World | Scadrial |
| Universe | Cosmere |
“With all the nooks and bottlenecks down here, this would be a nasty place to have a battle. ”
The Arguois caverns is a natural system of caves in the Central Dominance of the Final Empire on Scadrial. They can be found north of Luthadel, placed between the city and the Pits of Hathsin.[2] It takes several weeks to travel from Luthadel to the Arguois caverns via barge.[1]
The caves lie adjacent to a forest that backs onto one of the rivers in the area, and are one of the more extensive systems in the Empire.[1] There are also multiple cave complexes that can be found in the area.[1] The caves are accessible via three rends in the ground, instead of the traditional hillside cave entrance, and are difficult to climb down into.[1] The difficulty of entrance makes the caves easily defensible, and with enough supplies, the caverns could be held indefinitely against an invading force.[1] Inside the caverns, minerals can be found in the rocks, stalactites and stalagmites.[1] There are various small rooms as well as a cavern large enough to hold 7000 men.[1] This large cavern has natural acoustics.[1]
The caverns are used by the skaa rebellion during the late Final Empire to house and train their armies.[2] The Lord Ruler knows of the rebellion's use of the caves, however, deems them not a threat so has not taken action against the rebels.[2] He has never led a successful raid against the caverns.[1] The caves are large enough to hold potentially ten thousand people.[2]
HistoryEdit
The caves were possibly used by rebel groups for several centuries, prior to when they were used by the skaa rebellion.[1]
Following the slaughter at Tresting's estate, Mennis and some of Tresting's skaa made their way to the Arguois caverns, at Kelsier's suggestion, to join the skaa army.[3]
At some point, the skaa rebellion began using the caves to hide in. Prior to the formation of Kelsier's army, there were approximately three hundred skaa, including women and children, hiding in the system. In 1023 FE, Kelsier's efforts to raise an army led to a vast increase in the number of people hiding within the caves.[2] Weapons and supplies were secretly dropped off at the caves via the canels through shipments Renoux sent from Luthadel to his plantation in the west.[4] Kelsier and Yeden visited the skaa while they were being assembled to help bring them resolve and hope.[1] During his time there, Kelsier used Captain Demoux to make a statement about the strength of the army and to help bolster the men's resolve.[1] A while after Kelsier's visit, Yeden decided to test the army against a nearby garrison at Holstep. A group of 2000 men rebelled against his orders and stayed behind in the caves, and were eventually found by Kelsier and Vin. After being found, the depleted army abandoned the caves, no longer able to use them to gather.[3][5]