Located directly northwest of The Commons on a well-marked cobbled path, The Storm Shelter is a massive cave system that is big enough to hold all the denizens of Syka in an emergency situation. Blissfully dry, the main cavern has an enormous freshwater pool that serves as a backup water source to the Settlement and is one of the main reasons the Founders picked the location they did to settle in.
Entering the cave from the south, the main cavern is enormous and mostly circular with a circular pool set in the northern center. A series of charming falls trickle into it, filling it from seeps and springs deep under the jungle. Above the pool - which is convenient for allowing the smoke of campfires out - lies an opening that is sheltered in a dense stand of incredibly tall trees. It lets in light, but not sunshine as the trees are thick and dense around this small section of the collapsed roof. Small corridors lead off to adjacent chambers, with the ones in use as storage areas well labeled with chalk on the walls reading things like 'wood storage' or 'arms and armor'.
In the initial days of the colony, the stone floor of the main cavern was covered with a thick layer of sand hauled in from one of Syka's many beaches that could be easily raked of any guano and droppings from the wildlife using it. As part of their weekly duties, the Syka Rangers see to the upkeep of the Cavern, often using it as punishment duty if someone is caught sleeping or slacking on the job.
Well stocked with firewood and supplies, The Storm Shelter has emergency cots, blankets, medical supplies, and stores of food enough to last roughly a ten-day. There are casks of dried fish, meat, and dehydrated fruits and vegetables. There are pots and pans for cooking, and about twenty cords of firewood put up to supply the many fire rings that litter the floor to make individual camps when the shelter is in use. Once the firepits are lit, the cavern tends to warm up considerably and quickly from its naturally cool nature. There is a full kitchen on one end, a small side cavern set up as a latrine, with another that holds spare weapons if such a thing were needed.
After each use, the Founders make sure supplies are laid in again. Visits to the cavern are welcome and there are blind fish in the pool that are beautiful in their pale iridescence.
