The Barony set up the Gauntlet. A brutal day of games to entertain the masses and sort the wheat from the chaff. The survivors formed the core of those who would be trained further as crawlers. Long ago, crawlers were called adventurers, but adventurers explored ruins and crypts because they had a choice. After the Sundering, exploring the Underdark was not a choice. Those who went into the Underdark were known as Crawlers. Crawlers were legendary figures who trained to go places and do things on the enigmatic direction of the Barony. They were tight lipped and intimidating, and the townfolk gave them a wide berth.
No one would want to be a Crawler voluntarily, but each lord often picked those in his employ to join the gauntlet. These decisions were based on merit, jealousy, and a host of motives that were not always pure. But each lord's word was law.
Now you find yourself in the Gauntlet. No time to worry about anything but surviving the day. Survival did not allow you to return to your friends and normal way of life -- no, it made you a Crawler!!
Madeera has the laws of the universe and the original covenants she made with the first men written upon her skin. Her brother Memnon has dedicated his eternal existence to rend these laws from her skin and destroy the world as we know it.
Ord the Unbending also known as Ord the Wise tried to intervene at some point by forcing Madeera into the Heavens, and Memnon into the depths of the Underdark. He and his worshippers believe there must be an equilibrium between the lawful and chaotic natures of both these powerful beings to preserve the world as we know it.
Inhabitants of the Barony have found serving one of these three deities can come with power and favor. The previous baron worshipped Madeera and advocated for putting their hopes in the goddess of Law. After a generation the eldest son has put the Barony's future in the hands of Ord. The Gauntlet was conceived by the new clerical advisors as a way to fairly advance knowledge, magic and an understanding of the secrets of the Underdark.
Before the Sundering, the Barony was part of a larger kingdom. The Baron had sworn allegiance to the King, and the King ruled by divine mandate keeping the covenant with Madeera.
Now, with the Barony effectively isolated, the Baron ruled under the mandates of the Priests of Ord. Under the Baron was the lords who owned land and swore their allegiance to the baron.
The majority of people in the Barony, the other 98%, did not own any land or property. The landless, although not officially property, were effectively subject to the laws of the lords they served under. Some lords kept a strict set of laws that the church of Madeera had passed down. Others, with the change to Ord, decided to improvise and pass their own laws that seemed to serve their self interest.
You are one of the Landless also known as peasants. You serve your lord, and your lord has sent you to run the Gauntlet.