D&D Forgotten Realms Underdark - Underdark Dungeons.pdf - D&D 3e Forgotten Realms - magh24

A Web Enhancement for the F ORGOTTEN R EALMS ® Underdark Accessory

Underdark

Dungeons

The Underdark is a vast place, filled with fiendish challenges both

natural and contrived. The various inhabited and wilderness areas

feature many locations in which adventures can be staged, but sev-

eral sites are of particular note. Some of the sites below are merely

adventure hooks that you can develop as you see fit. The Partially

Keyed Dungeons section features two more developed areas that cor-

respond to the maps included with this web enhancement.

Lower Underdark

Why would any creature with reasonable intelligence or even a mod-

icum of common sense choose to live in such a terrible environ-

ment? Some races have lived here for generation upon generation,

and the Lowerdark is simply their home. Other creatures settle here

to take advantage of the Lowerdark’s unique magical properties,

rare ores, or shelter from the hated sun. Still others view a sojourn

in the Lowerdark as a temporary solution to a problem, since the

dead magic areas and hostile territory may be a wanted criminal’s

most expedient means of avoiding capture.

Shield dwarves have been known to establish temporary mining

camps in the Lowerdark to wrest particularly valuable ores from

the bowels of the earth. Those who thirst for knowledge or lust after

archeological treasures often find the Lowerdark tempting as well,

since the remains of the first empires of Netheril and Imaskar lie

here. Still others have personal or philosophical reasons for staying

in this inhospitable area.

Of course, not everyone is in the Lowerdark by choice. Some unfor-

tunates are here because they neglected to research the destinations of

the portalsthrough which they ventured. Others have been exiled here

from communities in the Middledark, the Upperdark, or even the sur-

face world. Some drow matrons get rid of potentially problematic sub-

ordinates by sending them on exploratory or expansionistic raiding

Upper Underdark

The Upperdark is well populated and well explored, but a few sec-

tions are still virtually unknown except to those who live nearby.

The School of the Penitents enclaves are among these.

School of the Penitents

Nine small groups, each consisting of four or five devout worshipers

of Ilmater, have taken it upon themselves to bring their deity’s creed

of enduring suffering to the denizens of the Underdark. They main-

tain small enclaves throughout the Upperdark, from which they offer

their deity’s own special kind of benefits to any who come their way.

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Underdark Web Enhancement

parties into the Lowerdark. A triumphant scout returning from a

mission into the depths might find her unexpected survival fatally

inconvenient to the matron who dispatched her.

Several Middledark races make frequent forays into the Lower-

dark. Some do so because of expansionistic desires, others because

they need the resources, and a scant few because they have some-

thing to prove. Grimlocks and orogs often set a coming-of-age trial

for their young warriors to mark the passage between adolescence

and adulthood. In a typical version of such a trial, the youth is sent

into the Lowerdark, sometimes armed only with a dagger, and told

to return with a trophy demonstrating his competence and ability to

contribute to the community.

Various intelligent creatures have formed small settlements in

the Lower Underdark. All these communities are fine places for

adventurers to explore.

Tobulux. Both were cast out of their communities because neither

held to the moral and ethical philosophies of their kindred—that is,

both are neutral good. Together, they’ve honed their survival skills

and made a home in the Lowerdark, where few bother to persecute

them. Ralayn is an illithid body tamer 9, and Tobulux is a ranger

1/cavelord 3.

H OME OF THE O UTCASTS

Even though they have escaped active persecution from their own

kinds, Ralayn and Tobulux still face hostility from every quarter.

Neither the illithid nor the beholder enclaves will have anything to

do with them. Other societies view mind flayers and beholders with

fear or repugnance, so they offer no welcome to the duo either. Out-

side the Underdark, their options are even more limited, since either

of them is apt to be killed on sight by surface-worlders.

The two make their way as well as they can in the Lowerdark.

Other races’ migrations force them to move frequently, so they take

care to own no more than they can carry.

Cloakers

What passes for high society among cloakers centers in the enclaves

of Cloakerhaven and Wingsweep. To the cloakers, these two very old

communities are cities, though actually their populations are not

even sufficient to make them villages by surface-world humanoid

standards. Nonetheless, these settlements provide the only commu-

nity environments that these creatures have. The architecture is

bizarre and not well understood by noncloakers. Below is a descrip-

tion of Wingsweep; Cloakerhaven is described in Underdark.

Driders

Where there are drow, there are also drow outcasts. Driders, forever

marked as failures by Lolth herself, often lurk on the fringes of

drow cities, longing for their former lives. Once part of the drow

community, they were rejected by family and friends and stripped

of their homes and goods upon changing to their current forms.

Thus, most driders are reduced to wandering homeless through the

Underdark, hunting for food as best they can. A few, however, have

banded together for safety in the Lowerdark.

W INGSWEEP

This community of approximately one hundred cloakers is located

in a three-dimensional complex in which dozens of interconnected

caverns radiate out in all directions from a huge, central cavern.

From a cloaker’s perspective, the primary merits of Wingsweep are

its thermal vents.

The floors and ceilings in the main cavern and many of the side

passages and rooms are pierced with small holes ranging in size from

1 inch to 1 foot. Through these holes rises hot air that has been

warmed by a slowly cooling magma lake many miles below. Cool,

fresh air comes in through an ever-open portal(nonliving-only) to

the Elemental Plane of Air.

The combination of hot and cold air creates some amazing air

currents, including thermal updrafts that the cloakers particularly

enjoy riding. The unusual airflow also causes frequent thunderlike

rumblings that can be heard for miles around.

F ORGOTTEN V ILLAGE

This drider community is located near the drow city of T’lindhet.

The drow there feel particular shame about their drider outcasts and

never speak of them. This curious attitude stems from the sheer

number of such outcasts that originate from this city. Almost 25%

of the drow in T’lindhet that reach 6th level fail Lolth’s test and are

transformed into loathsome aberrations.

These driders from T’lindhet call themselves “The Forgotten

Ones” after a heroic drider rebel who named himself The Forgotten.

Many of these creatures have settled in the Lowerdark in a sort of

encampment. But because their numbers have grown so rapidly, they

have found it expedient to organize after a fashion, and their set-

tlement is now the equivalent of a small village.

Recently, the Forgotten Ones have received some guidance and

aid from the Underdark Anarchists’ Fellowship (see Organizations

of the Underdark on the Wizards of the Coast website). A represen-

tative of that organization managed to negotiate a mutual defense

pact between the Forgotten Ones and a group of chitines. This

arrangement has worked so well that the drider-chitine alliance is

now poised to launch an attack on T’lindhet.

Disconnected Pair

An old adage states “If you think it’s impossible, it happens in the

Lowerdark.” Indeed, strangeness knows few or no bounds in the deep

realms. One of the most peculiar and unexpected oddities is a part-

nership between an illithid named Ralayn and a beholder named

Fiend Folioand

the Lower Underdark

Drow

Most drow choose to live in the great drow cities of the Underdark

and fill their days with scheming and ambitious plans. A few, how-

ever, strike out on their own and choose to live as hermits.

The Lower Underdark is an ideal launching point for a kaorti

invasion. A badly seeping portalto the Far Realms can provide

them with a stable core for their cyst.

Underdark Web Enhancement

T HE O RACLE

Hijith (CE cleric 7 of Lolth/arachnemancer 1) claims that the

Spider Queen speaks through her as an oracle. She is thought by

other drow who know of her to be quite holy and quite mad.

An interview with Hijith is quite unpleasant, partly because living

alone has dulled her social skills. When asked to tell the future,

Hijith stares at the many spiders that inhabit her dwelling place in

the Lowerdark and prays. She then whispers her question to the spi-

ders and watches their movements while casting a divinationspell.

When she is satisfied that she knows the answer, she orders the

person who petitioned her to swallow a live spider.

Few petitioners are curious or desperate enough to eat the spider.

Those who do not are ordered unceremoniously from the cave, with-

out the answers for which they came. Those who do obey Hijith gain

the benefit of her divining. Her predictions are invariably cryptic

and often couched in verse, but they are always quite accurate, at

least in hindsight.

sought an isolated area that contained both a zone of dead magic and

an area of wild magic. A team of guild wizards and sorcerers at last

located an area that fit these specifications. As best they could deter-

mine, it was unclaimed and inhabited by nothing larger than Tiny

vermin and animals.

Silverymoon Arcane Guild

Experimental Area

The area that the guild has claimed is about 5,000 square feet, with

about 1,000 square feet of dead magic and 500 square feet of wild

magic. Several wall of stonespells buttress these sections against

intrusion by mundane travelers.

Various structures have been built in this area in an arrangement

resembling that of a college. The dead magic and wild magic sections

are enclosed in large laboratories, and the rest of the area has been con-

verted into living quarters. The guild guarantees that there’s always a

skilled cleric (between 5th and 7th level) on duty to create food and

water for the researchers and provide any healing that may be neces-

sary as a result of either failed experiments or mundane mishaps.

Cautious researchers pay premium fees of up to 1,000 gp per week

for the privilege of studying in the safety of this prepared environment.

Formians

One formian colony has slowly and methodically begun to expand

into the Lowerdark. They’re relatively new to the area, having

recently entered through an intermittently functioning portalthat

lies at the center of their newly established hive. The formians know

little of portalsand do not understand the danger of having one so

close to their queen.

Illithids

A few among the mind flayers prefer to keep to the old ways. These

illithids worship Ilsensine while mourning the passing of the other

illithid deity, Maanzecorian.

L OWERDARK F ORMIAN H IVE

This settlement consists of 1 queen, 6 myrmarches, 5 taskmasters

(dominated creatures: 1 drow, 1 duegar, 2 humans, and 1 grimlock),

32 warriors, and 253 workers. Like other formians, these creatures

work diligently to master their environment and the other creatures

around them.

P EN ’S ERRE

This name of this small illithid settlement translates roughly as

“Place of Contemplative Study.” The illithids here follow the

Awaiter Creed, which focuses on patient fact-gathering followed by

careful planning that accounts for all variables and factors. The

scholars are busy analyzing the ramifications of Maanzecorian’s

death and what that event means to the mind flayers as a race. A

few of the group’s more esoteric thinkers wonder whether it is pos-

sible for Ilsensine to meet a similar end and what the repercussions

of the death of the only other illithid deity might be.

As part their studies, the researchers at Pen’Serre seek to locate,

retrieve, and preserve the remains of Maanzecorian’s extensive

library. What little is known of Maanzecorian indicates that the

deity had a fatal desire to know all. Thus, he collected books on every

topic in every language. Many of the books were in the texture- and

touch-supplemented form of illithid writing known as qualith.

Upon the god’s death, numerous factions raided his library, scat-

tering his collection across the multiverse. Regaining these books

will prove a difficult challenge for these contemplative illithids.

Gloamings

Gloamings live in small numbers within various other communities

in the Lowerdark, including drow and svirfneblin cities. Some also

form autonomous units that travel for a variety of purposes.

C OMPANY OF E IGHT

One group of nine gloamings has, for no reason that anyone else can

understand, chosen to call itself the Company of Eight. The group con-

sists of two bards, one sorcerer, two illusionists, two rangers, and two

druids. This band travels the Lowerdark extensively, ostensibly to map

the area and survey all the extraplanar portalsand gates that lead to

and from this portion of the Underdark. The gloamings sell some of

their maps to the Guild of Underdark Guides, and occasionally they

manage to supplement their income with a bit of treasure. The group’s

bards also bring in some coin by writing songs and poems based on their

adventures and occasional misadventures in the Lowerdark and per-

forming them in the cities of the Middledark and Upperdark.

Kobolds

A group of fifteen exceptional kobolds, most with at least five class

levels, travels nomadically through the Lowerdark. The members of

this band virtually worship a powerful being called Scaled Beauty,

whom they believe to be an avatar of their god.

Humans

The members of the Silverymoon Arcane Guild set up a portallink-

ing their guildhouse with a remote part of the Lowerdark. They

Underdark Web Enhancement

S CALED B EAUTY ’ S Q UEST

Scaled Beauty is actually a lawful evil half-blue dragon half-nymph

sorcerer 5. She loves the kobolds that accompany her and tries her

best to protect them, viewing them as something akin to devoted

pets. Keeping her companions safe, however, is proving to be more

and more difficult as her personal quest to find her dragon parent

leads her into ever more dangerous territory.

All that Scaled Beauty knows of her father is that he is a blue

dragon named Vr’tark. She recently consulted a cleric who cast a

divinationto help her determine his whereabouts. The spell indi-

cated that he resides in an area called the Boneyard.

In fact, the blue dragon became a dracolich a few years ago

against his will (see The Boneyard in Chapter 8 of Underdark). If

Scaled Beauty learns the truth of the situation, she may seek out

some adventurers to put her father to rest.

T HE V ERMIN L OVER

Vfush Sweetwaterlake (NG druid 5/ranger 4/verminphile 3) travels

with a giant cockroach (see Chapter 6: Monsters in Underdark) as

her companion. This independent slyth functions as a self-appointed

protector and warden of Lowerdark vermin. She keeps a sizable

library of books and scrolls about insects and arachnids in a tome of

books(see Chapter 5: Equipment and Magic Items in Underdark),

along with catalogues of Underdark vermin and many journals

detailing her personal observations. To date, she has found 248 dis-

tinct varieties, including many with celestial or fiendish traits. She

also claims to have found a kind of undead cockroach.

Undead

Undead, who need no water, food, or air, find the Lower Underdark

to be almost hospitable. The undead in this portion of the Under-

dark are matched in number and variety only by fungi at the deep

levels.

Lords of Lowerdark Waters

The aboleths and the kuotoas are rivals for supremacy in the Low-

erdark’s water-steeped areas. Aboleths have dominion over most of

the freshwater pools and rivers in the Underdark, while the kuo-toas

rule over most of the saltwater bodies. The status of the relations

between these two aquatic races varies from muted hostility to all-

out war.

D EATH , D ISEASE , AND D ESTRUCTION

This trio of undead haunts the caverns of the Lowerdark. Hamezaar

(see the Boneyard in Chapter 8: Geography in Underdark) endeav-

ored to recruit them into his forces, but they were uninterested.

Death (LE male dread wraith) and Disease (LE female mummy

monk 7) travel with Destruction, otherwise known as Jessek (LE

male beholder). The threesome is currently hunting for an annihi-

lator (see Chapter 6: Monsters in Underdark). When they find one,

Jessek will try to use his charm monstereye ray to control it.

After securing the annihilator, the trio plans to hunt down

Ralayn and Tobulux (see Disconnected Pair, above) and kill them.

The group has no special grudge against Ralayn, but Jessek main-

tains that Tobulux must die because he is an abomination—a good

beholder.

T HE H ALOCLINES

In the few places where fresh water from a subterranean river or

some other source intersects with salty ocean water, the water

becomes turbulent and cloudy. These areas, called haloclines, also

create overlaps between the realms of the two aquatic species. Such

a situation inevitably means war.

The aboleths usually keep a small cadre of kuo-toas under their

control with their enslave ability. Sometimes a dominated kuo-toa is

sent back to its community as a spy or a saboteur.

For their part, the kuo-toas constantly raid aboleth holdings,

wreaking as much destruction as they can. Groups of kuo-toa whips

work in concert to create devastating lightning bolts, and the pres-

ence of a kuo-toa leviathan (see Chapter 6: Monsters in Underdark)

is enough to give even the most self-assured aboleths pause.

Y URECK

One of the most capricious and dangerous of the Lowerdark’s

undead denizens is Yureck, a female nightcrawler. She travels the

unlit, sparsely inhabited passageways of the Lowerdark alone for

purposes entirely her own. When she senses the approach of a crea-

ture with her tremorsense ability, she summons undead—typically

shadows—immediately to help her bring down her prey.

Slyth

A few notable slyths travel in the Lowerdark. Most of them are

thought to be quite mad.

Partially Keyed

T HE S EER

Grrl Deepdelver (N druid 4/diviner 3/deep diviner 4) wanders the

lowest depths of the Lowerdark. He happily tells anyone he encoun-

ters that he is “deeply seeking what no one has sought” in order to

“know again what was forgotten.” These fragments of an ancient

prophecy have multiple interpretations. Grrl dismisses the common

belief that these words refer to the return of the Deep Imaskari.

Rather, he thinks the prophecy may have something to do with the

annihilators, of which he has heard only rumors and third-hand

reports. Grrl seeks to see such a creature for himself and perhaps

even to speak with it.

Dungeons

The following areas are keyed to the maps provided. As DM, you can

adapt these areas as you see fit for your own campaign. Each descrip-

tion includes a brief background on the situation and a few

encounter areas keyed to the accompanying maps. You can make use

of the areas that have been detailed and place encounters of your

own design in those that have been left open.

Underdark Web Enhancement

The Lost Mines of Mardaruk

Old legends tell of the splendid adamantine ores that the ancient shield

dwarf community of Mardaruk coaxed from the earth in the Lower-

dark. But few people realize that this area was once part of the exten-

sive holdings of the kingdom of Xonathanur. A successful bardic

knowledge check (DC 20) or Knowledge (local—Underdark) check (DC

25) reveals the following information. The kingdom of Xonathanur

fell in the perpetual goblin wars many ages ago. The few shield dwarves

who survived became Wanderers, forever traveling and homeless.

Most of them left the Underdark for the surface world and never

looked back. But the mines remain, unworked and virtually unknown.

Over the last few decades, a shield dwarf enclave in the Western

Heartlands exhausted most of its surface-world mithral and silver

mines. The leaders of the enclave realized that they were facing a seri-

ous problem. Without the community’s major industry—the mines—

the residents would move away, and their people would once more be

scattered. No one in the close-knit settlement wanted that kind of result.

A dwarven bard suggested the lost mines of Mardaruk as a solu-

tion, and desperation led to daring. The dwarves endeavored to trace

the legendary mines and reclaim their birthright. Through much

research and exploration, they managed to locate the Lost Mines of

Mardaruk. Most of the ancient tunnels had collapsed, but one sec-

tion was still suitable for mining. The dwarves were elated—an

untapped source of precious metal was within their grasp!

The dwarves immediately set up a limited-use portallinking the

Western Heartlands with the desired section of the Mardaruk Mines

and established a work schedule, which they still maintain. The

two-way portalopens once per tenday. The miners work the mine in

rotating tenday-long shifts, with each shift returning home via the

portalas soon as its relief arrives. A small contingent of guards on

the same rotating schedule ensures the safety of the miners while

they work.

The workers are acutely conscious of the dangers their environ-

ment poses as well as the importance of the mine to their commu-

nity. They have already learned the hard way that evil can

masquerade as innocence. Two different encounters with seemingly

friendly, good-aligned Underdark travelers turned deadly when dis-

guised and deceptive creatures took advantage of the shield dwarves’

good nature. Now, while in the Lowerdark, the shield dwarves are

extraordinarily xenophobic, and they are even wary of strangers

who appear to be shield dwarves. Thus, any intruder in the area of

the mine is attacked without hesitation.

The walls in this area are all stone tunnels shaped by miners. New

wooden posts provide support in less stable areas.

1. G UARDON W ATCH

Here, at the only connection point between the mining area and the

rest of the Underdark, a shield dwarf guard (female fighter 5, see

Chapter 4: Nonplayer Characters in the Dungeon Master’s Guidefor

statistics) vigilantly stands watch. If she hears any unusual sound,

sees the glow of light, or catches sight of any interlopers, she calls

to her fellows in the miner’s camp (area 2).

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