The Mineshaft of Elbe is an abandoned magic-ore mine near Shiron, north-east of Hiderat. It forms a huge mortar-shaped pit, more than half submerged and over thirty merte deep, crossed by a suspension bridge. Its underground tunnels are honeycombed with old diggings.
About three hundred years ago the mine flooded when the multi-eyed aquatic devil beasts called Albensis gushed out with the water. They attack anything that falls into the lake. The hero Kodwar, the strongest of his time, died here; his Waterfall Slicer, said to have cut a waterfall in front of the King of Hiden, lay at the bottom for centuries, resting on the head of a gigantic dormant ancient beast, probably awakened by the mining.
The Crows built a palisaded hideout beside the pit and forced slaves to dive for the sword. During the events of the first volume Alicia drowned the gang in the lake and retrieved the sword herself, since drowning cannot kill her.