Burrowed: Prologue

I'm Jackson Hayes. Most people call me Jack. Underaan is my home. It always has been. It had been the idea of the Faction. A secret society consisting of my parent's parents and their group of
selected friends. A vast underground utopia, quietly teeming with life under the feet of the upper world. To this day, I don't really understand what drove them underground in the first place but each generation to follow was taught not to question much. We have rules we must obey, and if we do not, well, there are consequences.


While we are Underaan, We are not entirely cut-off from the upper world. A system has always been in place. The Faction communicates with the upper world, they bring in supplies as needed. When our generation wanes, they bring us fresh citizens. Usually orphaned children, usually those already cast aside by their own society, surviving on the streets. They offer them hope, food, shelter, friendship and work. The offers have always been readily accepted.

As for the rest of Underaan's citizens, we are asked never to travel to the upper world. If we have a need, it is to be requested of a Faction member. Underaan has many gates that require passes to get through. While citizens carry our own passes, we lack access to the outer gates. Most of us don't mind, we have everything we could need down here and we're happy, healthy and thriving. There are some curiosities, however, they are mostly quelled by the visitors.

Underaan is very open to visitors, who are required to have time-passes from the front station. We have several establishments that draw a certain kind of crowd from above. For example,
I am the owner of Hades, a very popular bar among the "alternative" type. Underaan also has a popular movie theatre, that shows what the upper's theatres are too afraid to, uncensored.

To the upper world we are strange and unconventional society, below their very feet. A thrill to the senses. Something far beyond the boring monotony of their day to day lives.
We bring the curious, the alternative, the misfits. Their curiosity has provided me with a booming business. I meet the most interesting type of people every day. I have made friends. I have acquired many stories. And I have bedded many women. Young people treat Underaan as an exotic vacation. A Spring Break perhaps. And they come to my establishment, looking for the fuel of liquor, on the prowl.

If things get too rowdy, Underaan has The Watch and Ward. A group consisting of select men only, trained in hand to hand and weapons combat. And you don't want to be the object of the Ward's ire. Trust me on that one.



The Faction council seat is passed along to only the descendants of the original Faction. In the event the current Faction member has more than one child, a vote takes place. But most vote towards the eldest child. If the current council member bares no children, which is almost a sin amongst us, a new council member must be chosen of the oldest citizen's descendants, by council vote. My grandparents died when I was very young, and my grandfather passed along his seat to my father, Mark, his only child.