Level 145 is the 146th level in the Backrooms and is a massive flooded metropolitan city surrounded by mountains.
Description
Level 145 is a partially underwater metropolitan city from the 1980s. All buildings are built from a varying mixture of steel, copper and aquamarine and designed in the deconstructivism style. The majority of the lower levels and smaller structures have been rendered flooded by an unknown event resulting in a massive rise in sea level. It is possible to live almost permanently on the upper levels of skyscrapers as provided they are structurally sound, are generally completely dry and can provide shelter, food and clean drinking water. Explorers can also navigate to and from buildings using collapsed buildings as impromptu walkways.
Occasionally ships ranging from small poorly made dinghies to gargantuan tankers can be found often destroyed with large portions of their hull violently wrenched off accompanied by unusually dense clusters of barnacles and coral polyps.
Bordering the surrounding city in Level 145 is a massive mountain range roughly 6,000 meters at peak elevation. Within the mountains are massive Neo-tropical forests budding up against mangrove forests and waterfalls alongside sheer cliff faces dotted with massive cave mouths virtually all of which remain unexplored.
The most prevalent area of the level is of course the ocean surrounding all landmasses. While precise depths remain unknown the furthest any individual has ever managed to go was 10,000 meters deep before being killed by native entities. The ocean is home to several bizarre and unique bio topical environments ranging from bioluminescent kelp forests and color changing coral reefs to hydrothermal vents upwards of 30 meters high, massive spires of pure obsidian and amethyst and basalt forests of petrified trees.
Entites
The city is completely void of native life, however there is one entity to be wary of. Fellow wanderers who have become adept at scaling the cityscape and building/collecting weapons from across the various buildings and wreckage and will attack all explorers they find stealing all belongings and have been known to assault, rape, torture and murder those who resist or simply for personal enjoyment.
The forests are home to bizarre organisms in both morphology and coloration; these range from feathered acidic slugs, neon green birds raining from the size of a raven to over three meters tall with massive, silver jagged beaks, sentient fungi who use mycelium tendrils to dismember unsuspecting prey and massive armored crocodilians capable of sprinting across long distances to run down prey alongside several others.
The oceans are by far the most bio-diverse in terms of fauna. The most common and feared are the Skule. The Skule are predatory ocean dwellers that resemble various species of shark notably Viper dogfish, Frilled sharks and Great White Sharks. The Skule have specialized chromatophores that allow them to alter their skin coloration depending on the environment they are located within. Skule are ambush predators who bury themselves in the sand waiting for smaller organisms to swim overhead at which point they lunge towards them, stripping themselves of all flesh. To date three variants of the Skule have been documented, known as Crushers, Rippers and Slicers:
Crushers: the largest of the three Skule variants at over 12 meters, rippers resemble that of the extinct Dunkleosteus and are heavily adorned in osteoderms and natural rock formations across the entire body. They possess twin skulls, a larger primary skull that has bone formations in place of teeth and a smaller skull with several large serrated teeth. Crushers use their massive jaws to crush heavy armor and bones to tear prey apart. Despite their size they are unintelligent with a brain the size of a grapefruit and are severely sluggish relying on brute force to hunt down prey.
Rippers: at 8 meters long, resemble Frilled Sharks and Moray Eels with black slick skin and specialized protrusible jaws that allow them to separate their jaws from the skull to grab at prey before performing a death roll tearing off large strips of flesh. Rippers communicate with bioluminescent organs and can be distracted by bright flashes of light.
Slicers: at 5 meters in length Slicers are the smallest of the Skule species. They have uniquely flattened bodies similar to Skates and Stingrays with long serrated Rostrums akin to a Sawtooth Shark. Slicers use their jaws similar to sword blades, slicing into soft-bodied organisms dismembering them.
Bizarrely, almost no Skule will consume the flesh of prey instead taking the flesh into deep tunnel systems but it remains unclear if they created these tunnels themselves or were formed naturally. Current M.E.G. Scientists theorize the Skule are a hive mind that follows the orders of an unseen Queen or King that commands all members of its species. Despite several explorers claiming to have seen the Queen Skule no official reports or photographic evidence exists to confirm its existence.
Other various life forms include massive whale-like creatures over 45 meters long with bioluminescent organs on its underside traveling in small pods, various species of fish and crustaceans.
Another notable predator known as the ‘Atomic Leviathan’ are a population of mosasaurus like theropods that glow a green tint that is not the result of bioluminescence but rather massive amounts of radioactive material caused by a uranium skeleton. When threatened, they will use their massive size and strength to overpower other entities and can fire a beam of solid radiation from their mouth earning them the moniker ‘Fish-zilla’.
Bases, Communites and Outposts
Outpost 4031
Outpost 4031 was a former aquatic research facility located within a large basalt plateau. Its size suggests it could hold 400 personnel at a given time and had a complement of submersible vehicles and drones for exploration, maintenance and defense from native organisms. Despite a heavy ordnance of drones the facility was destroyed at an unknown date. Based on external damage it is believed that either a horde of Skule or the Church of the Deep Ones were responsible for the facility's destruction.
The Sanctum of the Drowned
The Sanctum of the Drowned is a temple classified as belonging to the Church of the Deep Ones, a subset of the Alureian Empire led by Empress Netashai. The Sanctum of the Drowned is built above a cavern which is believed by them to house the remains of the Deep Ones, Alureian deities worshiped by the Church of the Deep Ones. The Sanctum is believed to hold over 2,000 occultists alongside several dozen bioconstruct organisms and Alureian warships and submersibles. Despite the M.E.G and S.P.E.A.R. Organization's best efforts to overrun the sanctum they have been warded off by its forces
Entrances and Exits
Entrances
A small tunnel composed of solid basalt can be found in Level 8, by swimming inside it will lead to level 145
Exits
Only two exits have ever been found. The first is a specific gap in an obsidian spire by entering it it will lead into Level 220. The second is found within the ruined framework of a skyscraper with a furnished basement. By descending its stairwell it will cause the traveler to enter Level 71