The Hollows

Overview
East of Atlas Park and northeast of Skyway City lies the Hazard Zone of the Hollows. Originally, this city zone was known as Eastgate, and was one of Paragon's wealthiest residential districts. Beautiful New England houses sat upon the hillside, with spectacular ocean views. At the turn of the new century, a large group of Trolls banded together and decided they would carve out a piece of Paragon for themselves, by whatever force necessary.

In late 2000, these Trolls planted a series of explosive charges throughout the sewers along a row of Eastgate condominiums. They planned to ruin the district, and then move into the rubble before city crews could properly respond. What the Trolls didn't know was that an extensive series of underground caverns already riddled the area. The cataclysmic chain reaction, known as "the Hollowing," devastated a huge section of the neighborhood, causing it to fall in upon itself.

When the dust settled, the Trolls were ecstatic. They had discovered a perfect region for their needs. They moved into the newly unearthed tunnels, and fought viciously to defend their new territory.

Paragon City officials could not react quickly enough to contain the threat, as the area was still geologically unstable. The tunnels were so extensive, however, that the Trolls simply didn't have the numbers to control it all. Other criminal elements were quick to take advantage of this opportunity and moved in. A splinter of the Outcasts poured in, unwilling to let their long-time rivals have the region unchallenged. The gang battles raged among the disaster-stricken neighborhoods, but whenever a side was losing, they would melt back into their entrenched, underground warrens.

Despite heroes taking an active hand, the city was never able to successfully coordinate an effective response and reclaim the territory. A sort of trench warfare became the norm, where gangs battled furiously over a few hundred yards of tunnels that rapidly changed hands. The tunnels became fortified camps, havens for these criminals that neither heroes nor police could breach without serious jeopardy.

Meanwhile, other forces were slowly making their presence felt. The Circle of Thorns sent in covert teams to scout out the new geography, seemingly organized for some sinister purpose. And as the Trolls and Outcasts continue to battle underground, they seemed to have encountered a fearsome new threat from the depths of the earth!