The Hollow Earth tradition has a long history in mythology and literature. In this post, though, I do not intend to cover the history of the concept, but rather talk about how I created my own Hollow Earth, the Inner Earth.
My vision for the Inner Earth came in a single image in my mind: a huge cavern inside which a pillar stood and inside which was a winding stairwell that provided access to and from the surface. I decided to make as consistent and realistic a Hollow Earth setting as I could and present it to my role-playing gaming group.
In addition to thinking about the ecology of this kind of place (how is it lit, what about air and water circulation, erosion, and so on), I also populated it with multiple races and myths to explain how this place came to be. Naturally the myths of the different races were not entirely in agreement with each other.
I include a few of the myths I created for this world.
How The Folk, the Helpers, and the Mahars Came to Be
Plumed Serpent and his brother Smoking Mirror lived in the Earth from the time the Earth was formed. They each desired for companions other than themselves. Plumed Serpent fashioned the Folk on his first try, and was content. Smoking Mirror was less skilled, and he rejected his first creation. On his second attempt, he created the Mahars and was content. His first creations wished Smoking Mirror would be their companion, but Smoking Mirror drove them away. Plumed Serpent asked the Folk if they would adopt his brother’s creation, and they agreed. This angered and shamed Smoking Mirror.
Note: Plumed Serpent and Smoking Mirror are the two main adversaries. They are among the many “gods” in this world. The Folk are the people that the characters would meet: the Mahars are the bad guys of the Earth. Yes, I stole the word (and some ideas) from “At the Earth’s Core”.
What the Sky Is
When the Earth was young, demons broke into the Earth by smashing their way through and came in through the Up. There was a huge hole in the Up, and through it was what Plumed Serpent called the Sky. Plumed Serpent, his brother Smoking Mirror, and the Brethren all fought against the demons. They were not successful in driving away the demons, so they had to abandon a portion of the Earth to the demons. The gods used their power to seal away the hole to the Sky behind impenetrable walls.
Note: “Up” is the word used for the “ceiling” of the Inner Earth. I envisioned the hole in the Up was created from an impact event.
I deliberately chose names from Meso-American mythology, since I envisioned the primary access point from the Surface Earth to the Inner Earth to be where the Great Pyramid of Cholula was later constructed.
My gaming group seemed to enjoy the setting, though they were more interested in getting back to the surface than learning about the myths and history of the inhabitatns. That was okay with me, though, since I had a lot of fun writing the descriptions and legends of the Inner Earth.