The end of the previous century swung on the two poles of the Cold War; Moscow and D.C.. But below Moscow, below the sunlit world of politics and entertainment, a thriving Underworld with imagery strait from a H.R. Geiger illustration was growing its own fame as one of the great mysteries of the modern world. The undercity of Moscow is filled with stories of ghosts, Satanists, discarded uranium, and the victims of one of the worlds most violent organized crime cartels. Ghost hunting sites routinely rank it as one of the worlds most haunted locations.
The History
Moscow was built on sandy soil that is easily excavated. The scattered huts of the village that would one day become Moscow not only grew out; they grew down. The czars built bunkers and treasure vaults. Ivan the Terrible excavated his torture chamber several hundred feet below and then killed those who labored to build it. According to legend he also hid one of the greatest libraries deep below what is the modern day Kremlin. Catherine the Great channeled the Neglina River into a network of subterranean canals. The Moscow underground was already a crowded place even before the Soviet age and the cold war.
In the modern era, the Soviets installed all those things that a modern city might need including a subway and a secure telecom systems but the cold war ensured that there were far more secret projects completed under the cover of “city renovation.” D.C. has its bunkers, command centers, and supply depots buried deep into the snug embrace of mother earth; Moscow would not be found wanting in Cold War era projects, but the truth is surround by lies, ghost stories, and disinformation. The Preispodnyaya – The Netherworld – is an unmapped mystery and the domain of men like “The Diggers” who explore the bowels of the city like some modern day D&D adventure into Undermountain. The Diggers and other sources estimate that central Moscow might have as many as 15 levels, plunging 700 meters below the streets and apartments where the rest of the world walks in ignorance.
Digging for Treasures Fair and Foul
Sorting truth from fiction about what actually rests in the sandy soil beneath the Russian capitol is the work of several lifetimes. Stories of hermetically sealed bunkers covered in concrete mix with government attempts to discourage civilians from wandering the dangerous tunnels and passageways. Mass graves have been reported alongside Organitzia killing grounds where the losers of criminal gang wars find their final peace – or not. Discarded uranium piles. CIA listening posts. Secret subways that speed the leaders of Russia from the city in the event of nuclear incidents, to an equally mind-blowing underground city that can bed anywhere between 4 and 30 thousand people for decades. The Netherworld has everything except Elvis sightings.
Metro II: In 1991, the US released details on an official subway system built to ferry the top men in the Russian government away from Moscow in an emergency or a war. The Russians and the Moscow Metro system have refused to comment on the rumor of up to 200 additional kilometers of hidden rail. This deep rail is surrounded by folk lore but many estimates place it at over 200 meters or 650 feet deep. The terminal point of the rail is the underground city-shelter of Ramenki, which is said to house 30,000 people with food and necessities for more than three decades.
Uranium: In 2006, the Diggers stumbled upon radioactive waste under a university. The estimate was more than 500 pounds of the toxic debris, which, if web sources are to be believed might explain a history of illness, hair loss, and infertility in the area. There isn’t a known source for the waste nor is one likely to ever emerge.
The Pond: Some places hold power, places like Amityville or asylums where inmates were subjected to inhuman treatment… places like an underground pond and the site of mass suicides since the eighteenth century. There is said to be a palpable web of despair surrounding the pond and those of strong religious inclinations quickly grow uncomfortable.
The Residents: Like many northern cities Moscow has frigid winters but it also has thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of homeless. The hostile weather forces migrations to the one place in Moscow safe from the ice and snow – the underground. The Diggers and other groups report that the numbers of “tramps” living in the subterranean city may exceed ten thousand. Tours have found the remains of excrement, ubiquitous vodka bottles, spent fires, and even bodies in the hidden alcoves where the temperatures never reach -30 degrees. Complaints of winos, drug addicts, terrorists, and Satanists are frequent but Russia has never been forgiving of those who earn her ire. Dissidents, radicals, and literati have also sought the safety of the undercity when they faced death from above.
Hidden labs: One of the more unusual claims, if there is such a thing, is the discovery of a hidden laboratory complete with chemical-protection suits and old-fashioned respiration masks. The lab was in disarray and appeared to have been abandoned. In nearby rooms the floors were covered with crystals.
The Library of Ivan the Terrible: If it is ever found the greatest discovery would be the lost medieval library of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In 1472, Ivan a Byzantine princess shortly before the empire fell. The dowry included invaluable books and scrolls from Byzantium. Fearing fire and theft, the Byzantine princess employed a famed architect, Aristotle Fiorovanti, to build a library under the Kremlin. Ivan the Terrible, the grandson of the princess, is rumored to have discovered the library but if he did the secret died with him. The search for the legendary library has interested the likes of Napoleon.
Recent Events
The Moscow Undercity has recently come to light in a series of catastrophes. Massive sink holes have shut down primary roads and swallow trucks. Terrorists have detonated explosives. Subway cars have raced into collapsed tunnels. And, during the Nord Ost Siege in 2002 (the theater hostages) the Underworld was used to prevent the escape of the bombers and to launch part of the police assault which left all of the terrorists and many of the hostages dead. Diggers were involved in scouting the tunnels.
Next week… Ideas on how to use the Moscow Undercity in fantasy and fiction.
