The Quest of the Gem

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The Quest of the Gem
A massive and heroic Therran campaign for 4-8 characters of levels 9-12

Scenario #2 - CAPTURED!

DM Overview:

The party is captured by House Vrielsevri and is questioned and then, amazingly, released and given aid on their quest!

This scenario can be used as a sort of failsafe by the DM should the party be captured by the drow. In addition, it can be introduced as a continuation of the previous scenario "Helping the Helpers". The scenario writeup here assumes it is being used as a continuation. Should the Dm wish to use it separately or as a way to run a party defeat and capture by the drow, then the DM should adjust the circumstances, including possibly the House involved to suit the situation.

For example, should the party be captured by the priestesses in the Ghaunadaur Temple (either the one in Helping the Helpers or even the one presented in the Entrance to the Underdark section), then House Quinilver could just as easily be motivated to let the party go and aid in their release in their efforts to topple Lolth.

Initial Setting:

The male drow rescued from the Ghaunadaur Temple in Helping the Helpers is scried for occasionally by House Vrielsevri, as they have not been able to contact the spirit of the spy and so believe he is possibly alive. In fact, given the nature of his deep cover, it is not unusual for him to be out of contact.

So it is that as the male drow elf aids the party, his masters have scried his location and have used various divination spells to determine with whom he travels and where he is heading. In response, House Vrielsevri sets up an ambush, both to capture the spy in order to debrief him and pay him for his failure, and to capture the party and determine what they are up to.

The DM can, if he likes, check the party to see if any detect Scrying (refer to the Crystal Ball description in the DMG). Should a party member detect the Scrying, the DM should make it subtle…a feeling of being watched, an uneasiness, a tingle, what have you. Should the male elf somehow detect the Scrying, allow him to get jumpy and nervous.

The passages of the drow roads are set with archways and carvings at regular intervals all along their way. Those drow well versed in such matters can, by carefully analyzing the carvings, tell exactly where they are Scrying. In fact, the drow purposefully introduced a system of carvings designed to allow a drow mage who is Scrying to tell exactly where on the drow roads she is viewing. The original purpose of this was to, of course, spy on enemies (notably the duergar) and be able to spot intruders into the drow empire and locate them precisely. Obviously, this system can be foiled by such means as casting illusions over the carvings to mislead any scriers. However, since the carving system is subtle, it is almost impossible that the party will be able to divine this means of the matron of House Vrielsevri locating them.

Nonetheless, in a matter of days, the ambush will occur.

The Ambush:

The ambush is a tricky thing for any DM. The ultimate aim of the ambush is to capture the party and encounter should be run with a very likely chance of this happening. However, it is rarely fair of the DM to simply decree the party as captured, and as such, this requires a bit of a balancing act. Should the party defeat the capture, then the entire ambush can be passed off as a rather nasty encounter, and the DM can throw further attempts at the party.

Should some of the party be captured, the scenario can still work, but the box holding the Gem of Power needs to be captured. If necessary, this can also be accomplished by having the drow dangle the captured party members as bait and using this to ensnare the rest.

The ambush is well designed. N'Araktheel, the Matron of House Vrielsevri, has dispatched her elite marksmen, backed by several house mages. The group will rely on surprise, some well-timed magic, and copious use of sleep poison to debilitate and capture the party.

Remember that the ambush leader has the ambush NWP. For purposes of this encounter, assume she has made her proficiency roll. However, characters with the alertness Nwp can get a normal surprise roll instead of a 1-10 surprise chance if they make their NWP roll. However, a normal surprise roll in this case must include a +2 because of invisibility and the well-trained drow suffer no penalties for their numbers.

Drow Elite Marksmen (24) (AC -3 (19 DEX), MV 15, CL Wa, LV 5, hp 46 ea, THAC0 16, #ATT 1, D by weapon, Weapons shortsword (Fa 1D6/1D8 kdD6), dagger (Fa 2/r 2/4/6 1D4/1D3 kdD6), hand crossbow (Av 1/r 4/8/12 1D3/1D2 kdD4), Armour chainmail +2, buckler +1, 19 DEX, SA mastery in hand crossbow (+3 to hit and damage at point blank [which extends 12 squares or 60'], +2 to hit at other ranges), ambidextrous, drow powers, +3 to hit with missiles (due to DEX), SD surprised on a 1 in 10, vulnerable to bright lights (90% likely to be seen, -2 DEX and -2 to hit, +2 to opponent saves if drow in the light, half that if opponent in the light, cumulative if both in the light), save vs. magic at +2, sense underground phenomenon as dwarves, sense secret doors as elves, MR 60%, AL CE, XP 6000 ea, Source: Drow of the Underdark)

NWP:

Blind-fighting and Ambidexterity

Drow Powers (1/day at 5th level):

Dancing Lights
Faerie Fire (+10' square)
Darkness (+2' radius)
Levitate
Know Alignment
Detect Magic

Magic Items:

Drow Cloak (75% undetected in shadows) [+6 save vs. fire for cloak only]

Drow Boots (as boots of elvenkind)

Drow Metal Chainmail +2

Drow Metal Buckler +1

Drow Metal Dagger +1

Drow Metal Shortsword +1

Drow Metal Crossbow Bolts +2 (10 of them)

20 doses of sleep poison for hand crossbow (save at -4 vs. poison or fall asleep for 2D4 hours, -4 to hit, move at half speed, and +4 to AC during the round hit, sleep occurs at the start of the next round, 1 extra phase to coat a bolt for the practiced and nimble drow [1 round for others])

Treasure:

5D20pp, house token (500gp)

These are led by a single female mission commander, who is lower level than the marksmen but, due to her female gender and her tactical expertise, is placed in command.

Drow Female Mission Commander (AC -4 (17 DEX), MV 14, CL Wa, LV 4, hp 34, THAC0 17, #ATT 3/2+1, D by weapon, Weapons shortsword (Fa 1D6/1D8 kdD6), dagger (Fa 2/r 2/4/6 1D4/1D3 kdD6), hand crossbow (Av 1/r 4/8/12 1D3/1D2 kdD4), Armour chainmail +2, buckler +2, 17 DEX, SA specialized in shortsword (+1 to hit, +2 damage), ambidextrous, drow powers, +3 to hit with missiles (due to DEX), specialized in buckler, specialized in weapon and shield style (may use a shield maneuver without losing AC benefit), SD surprised on a 1 in 10, vulnerable to bright lights (90% likely to be seen, -2 DEX and -2 to hit, +2 to opponent saves if drow in the light, half that if opponent in the light, cumulative if both in the light), save vs. magic at +2, sense underground phenomenon as dwarves, sense secret doors as elves, MR 58%, AL CE, XP 5000, Source: Drow of the Underdark)

NWP:

Blind-fighting, Leadership (13), Ambush (16), Ambidexterity

Drow Powers (1/day at 4th level):

Dancing Lights
Faerie Fire
Darkness

Magic Items:

Drow Cloak (75% undetected in shadows) [+6 save vs. fire for cloak only]

Drow Boots (as boots of elvenkind)

Drow Metal Chainmail +2

Drow Metal Buckler +2

Drow Metal Dagger +1

Drow Metal Shortsword +2

Potion of Healing

Treasure:

4D20pp, house token (500gp)

The fighting force is supported by six drow mages, all males.

Drow Mages (6) (AC -1 (16 DEX), MV 13, CL Wa/Wi, LV 6/6, hp 33 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 3/2 or 1, D by weapon, Weapons shortsword (Fa 1D6/1D8 kdD6), dagger (Fa 2/r 2/4/6 1D4/1D3 kdD6), hand crossbow (Av 1/r 4/8/12 1D3/1D2 kdD4), Armour chainmail +2, 16 DEX, SA expertise in shortsword (3/2 attacks), ambidextrous, drow powers, +1 to hit with missiles (due to DEX), specialized in buckler, double specialized in 1H weapon style, SD surprised on a 1 in 10, vulnerable to bright lights (90% likely to be seen, -2 DEX and -2 to hit, +2 to opponent saves if drow in the light, half that if opponent in the light, cumulative if both in the light), save vs. magic at +2, sense underground phenomenon as dwarves, sense secret doors as elves, Spell Points (16 INT): 60, MR 62%, AL CE, XP 8000 ea, Source: Drow of the Underdark)

NWP:

Blind-fighting, Concentration (10), Ambidexterity

Wizard Spells Memorized:

Magic Missile (4), Shield (4), Grease (4), Web (6), Web (6), Detect Invisibility (6), Invisibility 10' radius (10), Bands of Sirellyn (10), Three of the mages have Slow (10) while three have Dispel Magic (10) instead

Drow Powers (1/day at 6th level):

Dancing Lights (+1 light)
Faerie Fire (+20' square)
Darkness (+4' radius)
Levitate
Know Alignment
Detect Magic

Magic Items:

Drow Cloak (75% undetected in shadows) [+6 save vs. fire for cloak only]

Drow Boots (as boots of elvenkind)

Drow Metal Chainmail +2

Drow Metal Dagger +1

Drow Metal Shortsword +2

Travelling spellbook with the spells memorized as well as Detect Magic and Read Magic

Potion of Wizard Power (refer to Encyclopedia Magica V3 pg 882)

Potion of Extra-Healing

Treasure:

7D20pp, house token (500gp)

Along with the drow are 2 gargantuan spiders, servants of the mages.

Gargantuan Spiders (2) (AC 4, MV 9 wb12, HD 8+8, hp 59 ea, THAC0 11, #ATT 1, D 2-12, SA silent (-5 to opponent surprise rolls), web (shoot strands 20' to bind a foe, attacks AC 10 and substitute's for melee attack, victim caught is treated as if in a Web spell), poison (save vs poison at -2 or fall into a coma for 2D4 turns), SD flatten (becomes 80% undetectable), webs (form traps and shapes), AL CE, XP 3000 ea)

The ambush will take place in a portion of the passageway where several widenings allow the drow to lie in wait. The drow will be under the effects of invisibility, with two of the drow mages having cast Invisibility 10' r on the 24 marksmen, another having cast it on the mages and commander, and two others on each of the spiders. This leaves one such spell still available for emergencies.

The marksmen will be divided into two invisible groups, crossbows cocked and ready and awaiting the click of their commander's crossbow to fire their own. Since the drow know the party's exact composition, they will all have pre-determined targets. In general, the party mages will be targeted with 4 bolts each, while any leftovers will hit priests and warriors.

After the bolts fire, the mages will cast Web spells to catch the remaining party members, though one will cast a Slow to catch as many warriors as possible. Their Shield spells will all be up, and one will have Detect Invisibility up. They will have quaffed their Power potions roughly 40 rounds before the ambush (DMs can roll to adjust this by + or - D6 rounds to account for slight inaccuracy in the estimations of the mages).

The spiders will charge in, using their web ability to tie up any loose opponents and their bites on any who slip out of the webs.

Meanwhile, the mages will use their Bands of Sirellyn spells and Web spells to pick off the last party members. Grease will be used primarily to stop fleeing party members.

The warriors will, meanwhile, continue to pepper the party with crossbows, though those brought to melee will fight with shortswords.

When the ambush commences, the commander will say in Drow Elvish "Remember, the Mistress wants them taken alive!" Any party members able to understand her will at least take comfort in the fact that even if they lose the fight, they will survive…for a while anyways.

The drow will fight to the end, not wishing to face their mistress in a failed mission.

The ambush itself is very potent. It is assumed the commander has made her ambush NWP check, and so the party will be surprised on a 1-10, modified by any benefits the party has, including reaction bonuses or fleet sensed party members. Alertness NWP and Trouble sense can also help with this. Surprise results in a full round to act on the part of the drow. It is likely that, with surprise, most of the party will not survive the first round of combat!

See the end of this scenario description for some ideas on how to play a partial capture.

Should the scion of Orcus who followed the party from the Final Tower in a previous scenario be present, he will quickly fade to another plane and watch the party's capture and even follow the party in spirit form. The drow will not detect him and will do nothing to hinder or thwart him.

Imprisonment:

The party will be drugged into unconsciousness and hauled back to Yyered Nulthil. They will be taken by secret ways into the manor house of House Vrielsevri and into the House matron's personal dungeon. There they will be strung up and, for over a week, while still drugged, they will be probed, their possessions examined, and so forth.

After a week, the party will be roused and, although still strung up in the dungeon, they will get a personal visit from the matron herself, N'Araktheel.

Each party member will be imprisoned by adamantium shackles on the wrists and ankles, these being four such sets, two depending from the ceiling and two stretching up from the floor, so that each captive is thrust into a floating "X" position, with his feet off of the floor by about a foot. Each person's eyes will be bound by a cloth blindfold and each person's mouth gagged with a breathing tube thrust out of a metal muzzle so that breath may be inhaled but no speech may be made, not even to whisper the verbal components of a spell.

Furthermore, the wrist shackles are attached by hinges to a special hand gauntlet that balls the hands into fists. This prevents all somatic gestures needed to cast a spell.

The area of the dungeon chamber they are entrapped in is warded by a permanent Anti-Magic Shell, though its effects are not readily apparent unless magic is brought into the area. This shell can be deactivated by a simple touch of a switch located in the dungeon outside of the shell itself and this switch is hidden around a corner out of direct sight of the shackled area.

If any of the druids from the Entrance to the Underdark are with the party when captured, they will have been taken aside and ransomed back to the druids. The drow respect the druids as neutrals in their war against the duergar and have no desire to antagonize them at this time.

If the party has any constructs with them, such as golems or automatons, they will be stored with care.

N'Araktheel's Dilemma:

N'Araktheel has an interesting issue with the party. House Vrielsevri is at odds with the Priesthood of Lolth, for a variety of reasons, including the merchant house's outward-looking bent, its worship of money over Lolth, and its growing power in the drow community. In fact, House Vrielsevri's arch-rival, House Quinilver is also at odds with the Priesthood, and it has chosen to turn to a new god, Ghaunadaur, as its way of opposing Lolth.

House Vrielsevri refuses to turn to any other gods, not wishing to substitute one enslaving power for another. Instead, they desire to one day topple the priesthood and unite the drow under their banner.

House Vrielsevri despises the current war raging above. It sees no good outcome for it should the Deceiver attain victory. Any victory by the Deceiver would mean one of two outcomes…either Lolth is rewarded for her service to the deciver, and she is elevated in his sight, which in turn would elevate her priesthood and give them enough power to crush all drow opposition to them once and for all. This would mean the end of House Vrielsevri and centuries of torture for N'Araktheel.

Or, should the Deceiver once again spurn recognition of Lolth, it will embolden another Maug and its servants, now rulers of the surface world, to turn his attentions against the drow, defeat them, and enslave all the drow, priestesses and merchants alike.

Obviously, neither of these outcomes is palatable to House Vrielsevri.

However, N'Araktheel has wondered, what would happen if the Deceiver lost the great war raging above? Lolth would be defeated, or at least weakened and forced into hiding. This alone would decimate the priesthood, a great many of whom are fighting on the surface and who would be killed or scattered in any defeat of the Deceiver. With the Lolth priesthood crushed, a power vacuum would exist, one in which a drow house that was nimble, clever, and ready to move could step in and take the place of the priesthood and unite and rule all of the drow.

Once the drow were united under the banner of House Vrielsevri…then the drow could turn their attention to the surface world, ravaged by war and the mass famines that would follow. In no condition to defend themselves, the drow could invade and capture a portion of the surface world as their own and use this as a power base from which to expand domination of the surface world by way of conquest and economic exploitation. N'Araktheel even has fantasies of her crowned Queen of the surface and Underworlds.

Thus does House Vrielsevri, inadvertently, serve the same cause as the party.

So, when N'araktheel caught wind of the party after having scried for her spy, she sent an ambush team to capture the party alive. She wanted to determine who they were, get news of the surface wars and see if the free folk had any chance of defeating the Deceiver, and then decide if she should free the party or enslave them.

However, in examining the party's magic items in an attempt to try and divine their mission in the Underdark, she came across Flupnir's Box, which holds the Gem of Power. This most amazing box eluded all attempts by her most talented wizards and locksmiths to open it, and nothing could divine the contents of the box. This was a most puzzling development, and it intrigued N'Araktheel greatly, for what could be so valuable that a party of surface worlders have come into the Underdark to bear some box and its contents to some location and have used the most powerful means possible to secure the box against intrusion.

And after pondering this dilemma for some time, she could only come to two logical conclusions:

1. The box contains some super weapon for use against the drow, or

2. The box contains some means of harming the Deceiver or winning the war

Now, it does not in the least occur to N'Araktheel that the box contains a Gem of Power. She, like every other person in Therra, is convinced all of the Gems were destroyed by the deceiver millennia ago. But perhaps the box contains a weapon powerful enough to kill a god, or powerful enough to blow open the doors of slumber.

And so, N'Araktheel will finally determine to awaken the party one day about a week after the party is brought to her, and she will then go about the business of explaining herself to the party and trying to get them to reveal what is in the box and what their mission is.

N'Araktheel's Speech:

"Yes my dim-witted surface dwellers. Wake up. See whom it is who has caught you in her web…my poor, struggling flies. It is N'Araktheel, Matron of House Vrielsevri, richest and most powerful merchant house in the Drow Empire. You are in my dungeon below my manor house in the city of Yyered Nulthil.

It has been many days since we caught you. Yes indeed. You have been kept drugged for over a week now. Were your dreams pleasant? Well…by now you should have normally been awakened. Those of you who would be able to provide us with some amusement would have fought and died in the arena. Those of you more adept in other pursuits (and she will leer at the male with the highest CHA score) might have actually had a little pleasure pleasing me before you were dispatched. The rest (glancing at any surface elves in the party) would have been put to death in most inventive and excruciating fashion.

But that has not yet happened I fear. You see…I am presented with an enigma, and I do not like enigmas. In my world, ignorance kills. Knowledge is power. I cannot let this enigma pass.

While you were out, we studied your possessions. Indeed, I am most impressed. We determined much from them. For example, you are surface worlders working against the Deceiver. (She will then point to some party members and divulge facts about them….for example: You (pointing to Eracuss) are a staved wizard of the Brotherhood of the Rose, a guild of conjurors. You (pointing to Korvar) are a war priest of Aghorrit. And an adept bard (pointing to Canaris)). Yes, I could go on with the rest of you. But what is apparent is that for some reason, a party of very powerful and well trained surface worlders has eschewed the battles raging above, battles where, no doubt, your prowess is sorely missed, to come into the Underdark and the Drow Empire. Why is that?

Are you spies…come to scout out us Drow for a raid? Hardly likely. To what end? Nuisance raids while your surface world burns?

Assassins? Once again, the enemy is above us. Whom could you slay down here that would impact the above?

Your presence here made no sense, and you are too well armed to be simple robbers or mercenaries.

And then we came upon this (she slams the box containing the Gem of Power on the table). Here is a box that defies us. It cannot be scryed or opened or identified in any way. Yet it radiates magic of enormous power. We drow are quite adept in magic, and as a merchant clan, our scholars and wizards are as close to adept in the valuation and identification of items as is possible. Yet none, not even after a week of trying and not even after threat of death and even more dire punishment could any of my scholar wizards or ex-scholar wizards open this box or even gauge its contents, background, or nature.

And so…my enigma. You see…something so well protected must be of import. Something so well protected by a party as powerful as you must mean that this box, or what it contains, is central to your mission down here.

I wish to know what that mission is.

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are patriots. Dedicated warriors against the Deceiver and you would rather die than divulge what is in this box. Do I have it right?

Well let me tell you three things in that regard.

First, there is no hope for your escape from here. This dungeon is designed to hold drow, including drow mages. You live or die at my sufferance. Remember this.

Second, I do not know what methods of torture you surface dwellers employ up there in the burning light, or even if you use such methods. But we drow regard torture as something of an art form. We are very very good at it, and my own house torturer has been doing his job well enough to allow me to let him live for over 400 years. He is a master. I do not care how tough you think you are. You will divulge what I seek to know as assuredly as a spider spins a web. Some of you might last a bit longer than others. But it will make no difference I assure you.

But third, and most importantly…you will tell me because it is in your own best interest to do so. And if you tell me, I might be inclined to let you leave with all of your possessions intact. Including what is in this box.

Oh! Does this surprise you? Is it true what they say? That surface worlders know no subtlety but only see the world in terms of light and dark…good and evil…friend or foe? A pity. But we who dwell in the darkness, we learn, by necessity, to see shades of darkness. To determine one darkness from another.

Did you think the drow were a united people? Your little trek through that temple of slime should have told you differently. Did you think we all serve Lolth? Hardly! Did you think we all are fawning sycophants of the Deceiver and his minions? Then you are fools!

Let me explain a few things to you. We are a merchant house. As such, our aims and goals, our modus operandi run counter to the hidebound conservatism and paranoiac and xenophobic tendencies of the Lolth priesthood. While they seek to dominate by power, ensnarement, and warfare, we seek to dominate by trade and infiltration. The Drow Empire needs us. They need our trade. And that makes us powerful. And the priesthood does not like anyone rivaling their power. So my house is at loggerheads with the priests. Yes, we make our obeisance and go through the forms…but our enmity is well known.

Now, think on this. And try to shake the cobwebs from your dull, sun-addled minds and think logically like a drow for a moment. What happens to House Vrielsevri if the Deceiver should find victory above? One of two things I should think. Either Lolth's service will be spurned yet again and she will again fall out of favour of the Deceiver, and in the jockeying for supremacy that will come amongst the Maugs in a world ruled by the Deceiver, one will prevail and then turn his attentions to us here. We will be enslaved and made to serve the other Maugs and whatever beings are favoured by him. On the other hand, suppose this time, flying in the face of historical precedent, the Deceiver finally recognizes Lolth's contribution to his efforts and rewards her and favours her. This will raise her priesthood to newfound power and supremacy and they will use this to rule the Drow and to weed out their enemies…especially enemy houses long opposed to them. Like me and mine.

Either way, House Vrielsevri loses everything. We are either enslaved by non-drow or destroyed by the Lolth priesthood.

Now, what would happen if, by some miracle, the Deceiver were to be defeated in the battle above? Think on that. I have many a time. With the Deceiver defeated, Lolth falls with him. With her fall, the priesthood falls. In the power vacuum that arises within the Drow Empire, a house that was smart, bold, and ready for such an event could quickly seize the initiative while the other houses fumbled around in confusion. Such a house could possibly strike fast and hard and come to unite and rule over the drow.

But even more than this. What then? With the drow united, above us would be a surface world ravaged by war! The Deceiver's minions would be slain or scattered to the winds. The surface folks would be ravaged as well. Many dead, especially their most powerful who would have fought in the front lines against the Deceiver. Famine gripping the lands. Mass despair and starvation. Hardly in any shape to resist an invasion of the surface world by the united Drow!

There! That is what I am presented with. If the Deceiver wins, I lose. If the Deceiver loses, I win. Now, I pity you fools, because in all of the three scenarios you are doomed. You merely have a choice of masters…the Deceiver, Lolth, or me. But that is of no moment. That is in the future. But see instead that now, at this moment, we desire the same thing.

The only logical reason for you to be down here is if you had some sort of weapon that would turn the war. It is the only conclusion my mind can come to, wracked as I have been for a week now pondering the alternatives.

So, I have a proposition for you. Tell me what is in the box. If you tell the truth - and do not seek to mislead me. We drow eat and drink deceit and I can tell a lie before you even speak it - and it is some sort of weapon to use against the Deceiver, I would be inclined to free you. I would prefer this to torturing it out of you, for in doing so, valuable time would be lost and, given your strength of conviction, the torture would likely break you physically and mentally, and then, who would wield your grand weapon? Me? Not hardly. If I wielded your weapon, the drow houses would see my plan and move against me immediately. No…you need me and I need you. We must come to a bargain.

But, I cannot let you go without knowing what is in the box. For two reasons. First, I take a grave risk to myself and my house by freeing you. If it were found out, House Vrielsevri would be attacked by the Lolth priesthood, the other houses, and possibly the armies of the Deceiver. I refuse to take such a risk if it turns out what is in this box is not sufficient to possibly swing the tide of battle.

In addition, how do I know that the weapon you possess is not to be used against the Deceiver but instead the Drow? What if it were a magical device that could level a drow city? Would I free you to use it against my own city and thus kill myself?

No. So here it stands before you now. Tell me what is in the box. Tell me the truth the first time I ask, and if I deem it worthy, I will set you free to pursue your mission.

Refuse, and I will find out anyways, but you will all be lost, and me with you.

What say you?"

During N'Araktheel's Speech:

When the party awakens, their blindfolds will be gone. N'Araktheel will be present, in her house robes but with no armour and no weapons (though she keeps a poisoned dagger hidden in her robes, it is a drow metal dagger +5).

Behind her will be three drow males, adorned in chainmail and accoutred like males of some import. At least one will look to be a mage, with a wand tucked into his belt.

Nearby, near the only doorway, stand three bugbear guards, also tough looking and well armed and armoured.

During the course of her speech, N'Araktheel will walk around the room and fiddle with the party's items, which have been laid out on a table in the centre of the room. About halfway through her speech, a bugbear will snicker at something she says, and she will pick up a party weapon, saunter over to the bugbear, flirt coyly with him, and then slay him with a single slice of the weapon. She will then lay the weapon back on the table, pick up another, and slay another bugbear with it. She will do this a third time, until all of the guards are dead.

After N'Araktheel's Speech:

When her speech is finished, she will remove the mouth gags from the party and let them respond to her offer. It is up to the DM to try and convince the party to reveal their secret to her. If they protest about the presence of the drow males in the room, N'Araktheel will laugh and tell the party that their secret is safe with her males, as safe as if told to three corpses. As she says this, an ironic gleam will flash in her eyes directed to the party.

Should the party agree to tell her, she will walk over to the Anti-Magic Shell switch and turn the shell off. As the party tells its mission and the contents of the box, two of the drow males will cast detection spells. They will cast Detect Lie and ESP and use this to confirm the truth of their statements to N'Araktheel.

Should the Party Refuse:

If this happens, then the drow will torture the party. N'Araktheel will pick the least likely to last long and the torturer will work on him until he breaks and divulges what he knows. The victim will have to make a CON roll. If a CON roll is failed, the victim loses a point of CON and must make a WIS roll or divulge the secret. If the WIS roll is made, the victim suffers a loss of a point of WIS. Both WIS and CON loss are temporary, regained at the rate of 1 each per week of rest, but should CON reach 0 the victim dies, and if WIS reaches 0 the victim is insane permanently (though this is curable by Heal or other insanity-curing magicks). An Endurance NWP roll made can allow a reroll of a failed CON roll, but the reroll stands. An iron Will NWP roll made can allow a reroll of a failed WIS roll, but the reroll stands.

The torturer is one of the three drow males standing behind N'Araktheel.

Once the victim divulges what he knows, N'Araktheel will then attempt to drive her bargain with the party.

Should the Party Lie:

Should the party lie, they will almost certainly be found out by the magicks of the drow males. N'Araktheel will then proceed with torturing one of the party members. See "Should the Party Refuse" above.

Should the Party Divulge:

Once the party divulges the truth, N'Araktheel will have the three drow males attend her (or, if the party did not need to be tortured, the males will already be standing there). She will then remind the party that she promised her secret would be safe with her and that her males would never tell anyone.

As she says this, she will walk over to one of the males, grope his crotch, and say to him seductively "You, my beloved pet, would never divulge our little secret would you?" as he is about to answer, his breath comes in a gasp and N'Araktheel will reveal one of the party's smaller weapons (likely a dagger) in her hand. Down dead will go the male. Before the others can react, she will grab another party weapon from the table and slay a second male. His mouth agape in surprise.

By this time, the third male will know the jig is up and will draw his weapons on his matron. N'Araktheel will smile with glee and congratulate him, as she had hoped he would have enough guts to give her a fight before he went down. The combat will be brief and one-sided, for N'Araktheel is a master of weaponry and an amazing warrior and assassin. Once the last male is slain, again with a party weapon, the matron will free the party.

She will then outline her bargain.

N'Araktheel's Bargain:

Her bargain is this. She has slain the bugbear guards and her male escorts with the party's weapons, so that it would look as if the party had escaped their bonds, gained their weapons, and attacked the drow. She herself will allow the party to knock her out cold with a blunt weapon to seal the charade.

The party is to grab its equipment, knock her cold, and then leave the dungeon by way of a secret door that she will show them. The door leads to an escape passage that eventually lets into the sewers under the city. Following the sewers southeast should eventually lead the party out of the city and within sight of the drow roadway.

N'Araktheel will not reveal the exact route out of the sewers, for she says that drow trackers will eventually look for them and if the party heads straight out of the sewers in a direct path, it will be apparent they had drow aid. However, she will tell the party that the area they need to head towards is known to be covered in a turquoise coloured lichen, and within that area, the door out of the sewers is marked by the faint outline of a white dagger crossed with a blue lizard.

Similarly, although she will warn the party of traps in the escape passage, it is up to the party to find them and disarm them or avoid them altogether.

The party will have to leave without their mules, as there is no way to explain how they managed to free the beasts.

N'Araktheel will play the part of the enraged House Matron. She will vow revenge on the party and will demand to lead any group sent out to hunt the party, demanding the right of retribution upon those who humiliated her. She will then set to diverting the hunting parties away from the party's true route. This should give the party some breathing room to escape and make its way north towards the Fane of Lolth.

N'Araktheel will also explain to the party exactly where they need to go. It is said, she will relate, that the very passageway that the drow first descended into the Underdark from the Forest of Blanthil is rumoured to be located within the great Fane of Lolth in the first city of the drow, Rabat-wruinu'ili.

Of the Fane of Lolth, she will say that she herself has never been within its walls, but that it is said to be the residence of Lolth herself and the headquarters of her priesthood. Fortunately, Lolth is off fighting the war, as is a good portion of her priesthood. However, she will remind the party that the Lolth priesthood knows it has rivals within the Drow Empire, and as such, it did not fully deplete its strength, and the Fane is likely to be a place of immense danger to the party. Nonetheless, somewhere in the Fane is the bottom entrance to the tunnel leading up to the Forest of Blanthil.

Finally, N'Araktheel will warn the party that this bargain is for one time only. The drow are a very smart, clever, wary, and suspicious people, and it will only be with the greatest of difficulty that she will be able to convince them of this whole charade. She will not be able to throw them off of the party's true trail for very long, otherwise her complicity in this whole affair might be suspected. And should she and the party ever meet again, there will be no second bargain. It would be too risky to let the party escape her again. Instead, she will slay the party and take every effort to make sure no remains are left to even cast a Speak with Dead spell upon.

With that, she will remind the party to konk her on the head just hard enough to send her out. Should they kill her, accidentally or on purpose, then her spirit would make sure to reveal the party's entire mission and they would surely be lost.

N'Araktheel:

As the party will not likely be fighting N'Araktheel, there is no real need to give her statistics. However, just in case, here are some salient characteristics:

N'Araktheel is a triple-classed Warrior/Wizard/Rogue of Levels 15/14/16. Her CON has been unnaturally enhanced to 18, and this gives her 82 hit points. She has a Magic Resistance of 82%. Spells, and items beyond that are up to the DM, but she should be capable literally of slaying the entire party unless caught completely by surprise.

Partial Party Capture:

It is possible that one or more party members will escape the ambush. Should this happen, the scenario can still continue, it will just have to happen for those party members who were captured. If the captured party members include the person carrying Flupnir's Box, then the scenario can progress as written. The uncaptured party members can certainly try to effect a rescue, but infiltrating House Vrielsevri, making it to the matron's own dungeon, and attempting to rescue the party is more than likely to end up with the remaining party members getting caught and joining their fellows in imprisonment.

Should the party member with the Box evade capture, the scenario can still proceed, but the DM is going to have a more difficult time convincing the captured party members to divulge what is going on. N'Araktheel will certainly still be intrigued by the party's presence in the Drow Empire and will give essentially the same speech without reference specifically to the Box. Should the party refuse to divulge its mission, they will still be tortured and will likely still dilvulge it, and once that happens, the scenario is back on track.

The Escape Tunnel:

The secret door shown to the party by the now unconscious N'Araktheel opens into a tunnel that is 6' wide and 8' tall. It is unlighted and twists and winds its way in a generally southeasterly direction for several hundred yards. Many of the turns are designed, it can be seen, to provide cover against pursuers, baffles against lightning bolts and other spells, and to allow blind corners for possible ambushes by those being pursued.

There are several traps, listed in order, that the party will encounter before arriving in the sewers proper.

1. First is a Way Marker Rune which, when approached within 10' triggers a Wall of Fire at 7th level for 7 rounds. The hot side of the Wall points towards the activator. This rune may be bypassed by anyone wearing a House Insignia of House Vrielsevri or who thinks upon the Drow word for "Platinum Piece". The rune is triggered repeatedly whenever it does not have a Wall of Fire up and someone approaches within 10' who is not bypassing the rune.

2. Next is a pit trap activated by anything over 10 pounds of pressure. The pit is 20' long and as wide as the passageway, except for a 1' wide ledge along the right side, an easy ledge to negotiate for the nimble drow. The pit is 20' deep and the bottom is lined with spikes, causing 2D6 damage from the fall and subjecting the victim to another D6 spear attacks made for double damage and attacking as if a 6th level warrior (including critical chances).

3. At this point in the passageway, a niche in the ceiling holds a zombie giant spider, which will drop before any being not displaying the House Vrielsevri Insignia and speaking the drow words for "Peaceful Death".

Zombie Spider (AC 6, MV 9, HD 6, hp 42, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 4-16, SD undead immunities, strike last in the round, AL N, XP 650)

4. The final trap is a House Defense Glyph, once again activated by anyone passing the glyph without bearing House Insignia and thinking the Drow words for " Incorporeal Blessings". The glyph will activate a Blade Barrier that covers the hallway and is centred in the middle of the hallway even with the glyph. The blades whirl for 6 rounds causing 8D8 damage and then melt into nothingness. Normal saving throws apply. The glyph is enscribed at 13th level of ability.

The Sewers:

No map of the sewers is given. They are a huge mass of twisting passages, many connecting up with passages from the Underdark and it would be quite easy for someone to get hopelessly lost down there. However, with N'Araktheel's clues, the party should eventually be able to head southeast, stumble upon the area with the turquoise lichen, and then find the dagger and lizard marking that spots the door out of the sewers.

The door out leads to a small side passage that is within sight of the main drow roadway that leads from the city (C4 on the Drow Empire Map) northeast towards C6 (the fortress).

It is technically up to the DM how long the party should wander the sewers and how many encounters they should meet. What is given here is an encounter table. The DM should allow at least 2D6 hours of wandering assuming they head in a southeasterly direction.

Roll for an encounter every turn (10 minutes). On a roll of 1 on a D6, an encounter will occur. Should an encounter occur, keep rolling a D6 until a 1 does not show up. For each subsequent 1 rolled, another encounter should be rolled up. These multiple encounters can be introduced sequentially, simultaneously, or up to 1 turn apart as the DM desires.

01-05 Bugbear

06-07 Elf, Drider

08-09 Elf, Drow

10-12 Gelatinous Cube

13-14 Ghast

15-21 Ghoul

22-26 Goblin

27-33 Kobold

34-35 Minotaur

36-37 Neo-otyugh

38-42 Ochre Jelly

43-45 Otyugh

46-47 Pudding, Black

48-56 Rat, Giant

57-60 Skeleton

61-63 Snake, Mahogany Constrictor

64-65 Snake, Sewerm

66-70 Spider, Giant

71-77 Spider, Huge

78-87 Spider, Large

88 Spider, Phase

89 Vaath

90-94 Wererat

95-96 Wight

97-00 Zombie

Bugbear (2-16) - These are house slaves, usually sent down to hunt an escapee or to bury a murdered corpse or even to gain components for some exotic and depraved drow wizard spell. They will certainly attempt to question intruders.

Bugbear (AC 5, MV 9, HD 3+1, hp 17 ea, THAC0 17, #ATT 1, D by weapon or 2-8 (+2 damage with weapon due to strength), Weapons morningstar (Av 2D4/D6+1 kdD10 +1 to hit platemail), SA surprise (opponents get a -3 to their surprise rolls), AL CE, XP 120 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Elf, Drider (1 or 1-4) - These horrid creatures are generally rejected by drow except during times of war or muster. Until then, they are usually exiled into wretched existences far from drow cities. However, a few, yearning to be close to the lives they have lost, make their way into the sewers and haunt the place, often seeking to attack drow elves, especially lone ones. They will certainly attempt to attack weak-seeming parties. However, driders are usually encountered alone, though there is a 10% chance that a pack of 1-4 of them will be encountered instead).

Allow a 60% chance a given drider is a priestess of 7th level, the remainder will be wizards of 7th level. Wizards may have once been of either gender.

Drider Priestess (AC 3, MV 12, HD 6+6. CL Pr, LV 7, hp 40 ea, THAC0 13, #ATT 1, D 1-4 or by weapon, Weapons footman's mace (Av 1D6+1/1D6 kdD10 +2 vs mail), SA surprise opponents 1-5, poison bite (save at -2 or be paralyzed for 1-2 turns), SD +4 vs fear, climb walls, MR 15%, Spell Points (16 WIS): 90, AL CE, XP 5000 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Priest Spells Memorized [All (Major), Animal (Major), Charm (Minor), Combat (Major), Creation (Minor), Divination (Minor), Elemental (Major), Guardian (Major), Healing (Major), Necromantic (Major), Protection (Major), Summoning (Major), Weather (Minor)]:

Curse (4), Cure Light Wounds (4), Invisibility to Animals (4), Protection from Good (4), Command (4), Hold Person (10), Cure Moderate Wounds (6), Aid (6), Resist Fire (6), Dispel Magic (10), Spellweb (10), Protection from Lightning (22)

Drider Powers (1/day at 7h level):

Dancing Lights (+1 lights)
Faerie Fire (+20' square)
Darkness (+16' radius)
Levitate
Know Alignment
Detect Magic
Clairvoyance
Detect Lie
Suggestion
Dispel Magic

Drider Wizard (AC 3, MV 12, HD 6+6. CL Wi, LV 7, hp 44 ea, THAC0 13, #ATT 1, D 1-4 or by weapon, Weapons battle axe (Av 1D8/1D8 kdD10), shortbow (Av 2/r 10/20/30 1D6/1D6 kdD6). SA surprise opponents 1-5, poison bite (save at -2 or be paralyzed for 1-2 turns), SD +4 vs fear, climb walls, MR 15%, Spell Points (16 INT): 75, AL CE, XP 3000 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Wizard Spells Memorized:

Chromatic Orb (4), Shield (4), Magic Missile (4), Invisibility (6), Mirror Image (6), Summon Swarm (6), Lightning Bolt (10), Gust of Wind (10), Fireball (10), Wall of Fire (15)

Drider Powers (1/day at 7h level):

Dancing Lights (+1 lights)
Faerie Fire (+20' square)
Darkness (+16' radius)
Levitate
Know Alignment
Detect Magic

Elf, Drow (4-16) - The drow elves generally try to avoid the sewers, as they are dirty and dangerous. Nonetheless, sometimes they must enter the area, usually in search of an escaped slave or to retrieve something for a mistress. Almost exclusively, it will be male drow entering the sewers and usually low ranking ones at that. Any party will be mostly of 2nd level warriors, led by an additional single war leader who is a warrior/wizard of 3rd level in each.

Drow Elf Male Soldiers (AC 1, MV 12, CL Wa, LV 2, hp 17 ea, THAC0 19, #ATT 3/2 or 1, D by weapon (+2 with shortsword due to specialization), Weapons shortsword (Fa 1D6/1D8 kdd10, +2 vs mail), dagger (Fa 2/r 2/4/6 1D4/1D3 kdD6), hand crossbow (Av 1/r 4/8/12 1D3/1D2 kdD4), Armour chainmail +1, drow buckler +1, proficiency in buckler, SA +1 to hit with shortsword due to specialization, drow powers, SD specialized in weapon and shield style (may use shield maneuvers without losing shield AC benefit), surprised on a 1 in 10, vulnerable to bright lights (90% likely to be seen, -2 DEX and -2 to hit, +2 to opponent saves if drow in the light, half that if opponent in the light, cumulative if both in the light), save vs. magic at +2, sense underground phenomenon as dwarves, sense secret doors as elves, MR 54%, AL CE, XP 1400 ea, Source: Drow of the Underdark)

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

Blind Fighting

Drow Powers (1/day at 2nd level):

Dancing Lights
Faerie Fire
Darkness

Magic Items:

Drow Cloak (75% undetected in shadows) [+6 save vs. fire for cloak only]

Drow Boots (as boots of elvenkind)

Drow Metal Chainmail +1

Drow Metal Buckler +1

Drow Metal Shortsword +1

Drow Metal Dagger +1

Treasure: House insignia of silver worn on a silver chain around the neck (75gp), 2D10pp

Drow Elf Male Leader (AC 0 (15 DEX), MV 12, CL Wa/Wi, LV 3/3, hp 18, THAC0 19, #ATT 3/2 or 1, D by weapon, Weapons shortsword (Fa 1D6/1D8 kdd10, +2 vs mail), dagger (Fa 2/r 2/4/6 1D4/1D3 kdD6), hand crossbow (Av 1/r 4/8/12 1D3/1D2 kdD4), Armour chainmail +1, drow buckler +1, 15 DEX, proficiency in buckler, SA expertise in shortsword, drow powers, SD specialized in weapon and shield style (may use shield maneuvers without losing shield AC benefit), surprised on a 1 in 10, vulnerable to bright lights (90% likely to be seen, -2 DEX and -2 to hit, +2 to opponent saves if drow in the light, half that if opponent in the light, cumulative if both in the light), save vs. magic at +2, sense underground phenomenon as dwarves, sense secret doors as elves, MR 56%, Spell Points (14 INT): 19, AL CE, XP 4000, Source: Drow of the Underdark)

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

Blind Fighting

Wizard Spells Memorized:

Phantasmal Force (4), Sleep (4), Magic Missile (4), Web (6), 1 free cantrip

Drow Powers (1/day at 3rd level):

Dancing Lights
Faerie Fire
Darkness

Magic Items:

Drow Cloak (75% undetected in shadows) [+6 save vs. fire for cloak only]

Drow Boots (as boots of elvenkind)

Drow Metal Chainmail +1

Drow Metal Buckler +1

Drow Metal Shortsword +1

Drow Metal Dagger +1

Treasure: House insignia of silver worn on a silver chain around the neck (75gp), 4D10pp

Gelatinous Cube (1) - These scavengers make a good living scouring up the detritus of the sewers.

Gelatinous Cube (AC 8, MV 6, HD 4, hp 22 ea, #ATT 1, D 2-8, SA paralyzation (save vs paralyzation or be paralyzed for 5-30 rounds), transparent (opponents get -3 to surprise rolls), SD immune to electricity, fear, hold, paralyzation, polymorph, and sleep, cold attacks only affect if the save is failed and then only do 1-4 damage and slows the cube 50%, AL N, XP 650 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Ghast (1-4) - These horrid creatures lead ghoul packs, and will always be found with a full pack of the latter (use the entry below to generate the ghouls). Packs led by ghasts show less fear and more ferocity than do normal ghoul packs.

Ghast (AC 4, MV 15, HD 4, hp 32 ea, THAC0 17, #ATT 3, D 1-4/1-4/1-8, SA stench (10' r save vs poison or attack at -2 to hit), paralyzation (effects elves, 5-10 rounds unless save), SD undead immunities, cold iron inflicts double damage, Protection from Evil requires cold iron to keep at bay, AL CE, XP 650 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Ghoul (2-24) - These horrid undead are generally the desiccated corpses of goblins, bugbears, and even drow. They hunt in packs and try to surround victims, relying on their paralysis to catch their next meal.

Ghoul (AC 6, MV 9, HD 2, hp 12 ea, THAC0 19, #ATT 3, D 1-3/1-3/1-6, SA paralyzation (save or be paralyzed for 3-8 rounds except for elves, SD kept at bay by Protection from Evil, undead immunities, AL CE, XP 175 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Goblin (3-30) - Presume half of the goblins encountered are wretched escaped slaves, dwelling in this hellish environment for lack of any alternative. Such goblins are feral and vicious, but also smart enough to avoid anyone or anything that is likely to kill them. The stupid ones amongst them will have perished long ago. The other half of the time, these will be slaves in a war party, led usually by a single bugbear, and heading into the sewers on a patrol (as many of the sewers go right under manor houses and are a good way for a house to attack another) or to fetch someone or something known to be lurking down here.

While the goblin slaves and the bugbear are less feral than their escaped counterparts, they are still cowardly and willing to run or hide rather than fight tough looking foes.

Feral Goblin (AC 7, MV 6, HD 1-1, hp 5 ea, THAC0 20, #ATT 1, D 1-6, Armour rags and leather and bone, AL LE, XP 15 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Goblin slave (AC 6, MV 6, HD 1-1, hp 4 ea, THAC0 20, #ATT 1, D by weapon, Weapons hand axe (Fa 1/r 2/4/6 1D6/1D4 kdD8), dagger (Fa 2/r 2/4/6 1D4/1D3 kdD6), armour leather and small shield, AL LE, XP 15 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Bugbear Leader (AC 5, MV 9, HD 3+1, hp 17, THAC0 17, #ATT 1, D by weapon (+2 due to STR), Weapons footman's mace (Av 1D6+1/1D6 kdD10 +2 vs mail), hand axes (Fa 1/r 2/4/6 1D6/1D5 kdD8). Armour furs and leather, medium shield, SA -3 to opponent surprise rolls, AL CE, XP 120, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Kobold (5-20) - These vermin are generally used by the drow as the slaves of slaves or for sport, as they are too pesky to be of much use and too weak as well. As such, many escape and end up down here, running a feral existence and using their small size and cunning to survive the place. They will possibly attempt to pick off stragglers, but are cowards at heart and willing to use concealed cracks in the walls to hide in should they be chased.

Feral Kobold (AC 7, MV 6, HD 1/2, hp 3 ea, THAC0 20, #ATT 1, D by weapon, Weapons clubs (Fa 1/r 2/4/6 1D6/1D3 kdD8), armour rags and bits of fur, AL LE, XP 7 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Minotaur (1-8) - Most minotaurs in the drow city are gladiators, though a few are retained as house guards or even, in some cases, as lovers by perverted house mistresses (hung like a bull don't you know?). Some have escaped or have been rewarded with freedom and these have gravitated to the sewers, as they feel most at home in a labyrinthine environment. Here, they practically lord over what they consider to be their demesne, and even the drow have rumours of a powerful ex-gladiator minotaur pit fighter of surpassing skill who rules the beasts as a king.

Minotaur (AC 6, MV 12, HD 6+3, hp 39 ea, THAC0 13, #ATT 2, D 2-8/2-8 or 1-4 + by weapon type (+2 due to STR), Weapons 2-handed axe (Sl 1D10/2D8 kdD12), SA charge (30' away against 6'+ tall opponent does double damage), SD +2 to surprise rolls, tack by scent 50%, immune to Maze spell, AL CE. XP 1400 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Neo-Otyugh (1) - These dangerous carrion eaters are likely to attack on sight, as they see the party as intruders and potential food. They will often be found submerged in the waters or offal piles waiting for passing prey.

Neo-otyugh (AC 0, MV 6, HD 12, hp 59 ea, THAC0 9, #ATT 3, D 2-12/2-12/1-3, SA grapple (for 2-4 damage and grappling effects with one or both tentacles, bite gains +2 to hit vs grappled foes, use grappled victim as a shield improving AC by 1 [and causing damage to the shield if the attack roll misses by 1] or may actively attempt to have attackers hit the shield by foregoing the 2-4 damage and attacking the grappled victim's AC, STR 18 victims may break free by struggling for 1 round, all others below 18 STR must make an open door roll), disease (bite is 90% likely to inflict a debilitating [80%] or fatal [20%] disease, SD immune to disease, never surprised, AL N, XP 5000 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Ochre Jelly (1-3) - These scavengers, like the gelatinous cubes, scour the walls, floors, and ceilings of the sewers devouring organic matter.

Ochre Jelly (AC 8, MV 3, HD 6, hp 30 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 3-12, SD lightning bolt divides into one or more smaller jellies, each doing 1/2 damage, affected by fire and cold, AL N, XP 270 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Otyugh (1) - These scavengers are not overly aggressive, being quite content to find a pile of sewage to roll around in. Nevertheless, they can be dangerous if surprised, but for the most part they are content to travel the main sewer tunnels scooping up dead bodies and dung.

Otyugh (AC 3, MV 6, HD 7, hp 36 ea, THAC0 13, #ATT 3, D 1-8/1-8/2-5, SA grapple (for 2-4 damage and grappling effects with one or both tentacles, bite gains +2 to hit vs grappled foes, use grappled victim as a shield improving AC by 1 [and causing damage to the shield if the attack roll misses by 1], STR 18 victims may break free by struggling for 1 round, all others below 18 STR must make an open door roll), disease (bite is 90% likely to inflict a debilitating [80%] or fatal [20%] disease, SD immune to disease, never surprised, AL N, XP 975 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Pudding, Black (1) - Like the ochre jelly, the black puddings of the sewers travel the walls, floors, and ceilings devouring rats and anything else they can engulf and consume.

Black Pudding (AC 6, MV 6, HD 10, hp 52 ea, THAC0 11, #ATT 1, D 3-24, SA dissolve (2 inches of wood per round, chain in 1 round, plate in 2 rounds, add 1 round for each magical plus), SD immune to acid, cold, and poison, lightning and blows divide them into smaller puddings, fire and magic missiles cause normal damage, AL N, XP 2000 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Rat, Giant (5-50) - These furry vermin often form the prey herds of the sewers, and most of the other sewer denizens feed copiously upon the fast breeding creatures. However, they sometimes swarm in enough numbers to turn the hunter into the hunted. They are not used to fire or light and will flee either if strongly presented.

Giant Rat (AC 7, MV 12 sw6, HD 1/2, hp 3 ea, THAC0 20, #ATT 1, D 1-3, SA disease (5% chance per bite of transmitting a disease, save vs poison or contract the debilitating disease), AL N, XP 15 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Skeleton (varies) - These creatures roam the sewers usually as a result of their master having died. In other cases, they involve a neophyte drow mage or priestess learning to summon and control such creatures, and still others are here because their masters randomly enjoy sending them off into the sewers to cause harm. Still others guard approaches to manor houses.

Roll on the table below to determine the exact nature of the skeletons:

01-50 = Skeleton (3-30)
51-75 = Monster Skeleton (1-6)
76-90 = Giant Skeleton (2-8)
91-93 = Baneguard (1-10)
94-95 = Blazing Bones (1)
96-00 = Bonebat (2-8)

Skeleton (AC 7, MV 12, HD 1, hp 6 ea, THAC0 19. #ATT 1, D 1-6, SD undead immunities, half damage from edged or piercing weapons, AL N, XP 65 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Monster Skeleton (usually giant lizard or snake) (AC 6, MV 12, HD 6, hp 33 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 2-12, SD undead immunities, half damage from edged or piercing weapons, AL N, XP 650 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Giant Skeleton (AC 4, MV 12, HD 4+4, hp 30 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 1-12, SA fireball (1/hour may reach into chest and throw a fireball for 8D6 damage), SD undead immunities, half damage from cold, full damage from lightning, immune to fire, half damaged from edged or piercing weapons, 1 point of damage per die from missiles, AL N, XP 975 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Baneguard (AC 7, MV 12, HD 4+4, hp 26 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 1-6 or by weapon, Weapons footman's mace (Av 1D6+1/1D6 kdD10 +2 vs mail), SA magic missile (1/3 rounds, 2 missiles, 60' range, separate targets allowed), SD blink (1/turn for 4 rounds). Undead immunities, half damage from edged or piercing weapons, AL NE, XP 975 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 1)

Blazing Bones (AC 5, MV 12, HD 5+5, hp 35 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 2, D 1-4/1-4 (+2 fire damage), SA ball of flame (in lieu of one hand attack, hurled 20', does 1D6+3, ignites objects, forces item saves vs magical flames unless a save vs breath is made [the victim still takes full damage]), firestorm (foregoing both attacks, 1/turn, fireball in a 30' radius for 6d6 damage or save for half damage, may embrace a foe before erupting, making an attack roll and causing the victim to have no save), SD immune to fire and heat, gains hp from fire and heat (gaining 1HD per 8hp gained), undead immunities, cold attacks do normal damage, holy water does 4D4 (2d4 on a splash), water does 2d4 per bucket 91d4 per splash), half damage from edged or piercing weapons, AL CE, XP 3000 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 1)

Bonebat (AC 7, MV 3 fl18[C], HD 4, hp 27 ea, THAC0 17, #ATT 1, D 2-8, SA paralyzation (all but elves save or paralyzed for 3-8 rounds), undead suffer only 1-3 from bite, SD immune to paralyzation, undead immunities, see invisible 60' r, never surprised, AL NE, XP 1400 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 3)

Snake, Mahogany Constrictor (1) - These bizarre denizens haunt the sewers, originally being attracted to the city to hunt the rats and other vermin attracted to the squalor. These are fierce hunters and love to attack and ambush lone wanderers or stragglers.

Mahogany Constrictor (AC 3, MV 9 cl3, HD 4+3, hp 26, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D bite 1-3 or constrict 1-4, SA poison (onset d3 rounds, 3-18 damage or half if a save is made), constrict (no attack rolls after first hit, does +1d4 damage per round to a maximum of 4d4 per round), displacement (-2 to opponent attack rolls, +2 to saves), surprised on a 1, AL NE, XP 1400 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 4)

Snake, Sewerm (1-6) - These, like the constrictors, were attracted to the sewers by the abundance of verminous prey.

Sewerm (AC 4, MV 12 sw9, HD 3, hp 16 ea, THAC0 17, #ATT 1, D 1-4, SA camouflage (-2 to opponent surprise rolls), anaesthetic venom (victim who is surprised must check WIS every round to notice the snake or the damage), hold (successful STR check dislodges the snake), spring (1 round of preperation allows the snake to coil and spring, giving opponents a -4 to surprise), AL N, XP 175 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 4)

Spider, Giant (1-8) - These ravenous hunters enjoy the damp confines of the sewers, where their webs can be used to good effect, often being strung right across the water/sludge flow and acting as a sieve to trap items of interest. These spiders are often escaped servants of the drow or just beasts that enjoy the proximity of their elven cousins.

Giant Spider (AC 4, MV 3 wb12, HD 4+4, 28 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 1-8, SA poison (save or die), web (break free in 19-STR rounds, entangled victims are +4 to hit and lose all DEX AC bonuses), AL CE, XP 650 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Spider, Huge (1-12) - Similar to giant spiders, though attracted to the drow city more from instinct than malign intelligence. These spiders do not spin webs.

Huge Spiders (AC 6, MV 18, HD 2+2, hp 15 ea, THAC0 19, #ATT 1, D 1-6, SA surprise (opponents are at -6 to surprise rolls), leap (30'), poison (+1 to save, onset 15 minutes, suffer 15 damage if save is failed), AL N, XP 270 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Spider, Large (2-20) - These are similar to huge spiders as far as motivation, but they are also web builders, though with less cunning than the giant spiders.

Large Spider (AC 8, MV 6 wb15, HD 1+1, hp 7 ea, THAC0 19, #ATT 1, D 1, SA poison (save +2 or take 15 damage in 15 minutes), web (break free in 19-STR rounds, entangled victims are +4 to hit and lose all DEX AC bonuses), AL N, XP 175 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Spider, Phase (1-4) - These deadly creatures come to the sewers exclusively for the hunt, to keep their phasing powers at full tune and to enjoy the thrill of the hunt. They are usually the favoured pets of noble drow or powerful drow priestesses, but they are unlikely to, when away from their masters, return to them to report intruders in the sewers.

Phase Spider (AC 7, MV 6 wb15, HD 5+5, hp 38 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 1-6, SA phase (-3 to initiative rolls, if wins by 4 or more, it make attack and phase out before its victim strikes back [no opportunity attacks generated], phases usually behind an opponent getting +4 to hit [but no opportunity attack if the opponent chooses to turn right away], only -1 to initiative on the Ethereal Plane), poison (-2 to save or die), web (break free in 19-STR rounds, entangled victims are +4 to hit and lose all DEX AC bonuses),AL N, XP 1400 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Vaath (2-8) - A pack of these horrible beings was summoned by a drow mage a few years ago and when their summoner perished, they remained and fled into the sewers, where they now haunt the place. This pack is feared by all of the sewer denizens, though the drow above don't much care what roams their sewers. At the DM's option, only a limited number of vaath can be encountered and slain before the pack is diminished.

Vaath (AC 3, MV 15, HD 4+2, hp 27 ea, THAC0 17, #ATT 2, D 1-8/1-4, SA poison (save or die in 2-5 rounds), burrowing tentacle (range of 10', bites for 1-4, victim makes a STR check or the tentacle mouth burrows doing 1-4 damage per round automatically, after 3-6 rounds the mouth reaches the base of the skull, severing the skull from the spine and paralyzing the victim from the neck down and killing it in 5-10 rounds, anyone witnessing this burrowing must make a WIS check or be stunned in horror for 1-3 rounds, anyone who is burrowed and severed but not killed must save vs death magic or lose 1 WIS permanently due to sanity loss), AL NE, XP 975 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 3)

Wererat (4-24) - Unlike in human cities and sewers, where their cunning often places them into positions of power and intrigue, the wererats here are no match for the drow, and so lead the lives of sewer vermin, lording it only over their own sludgy domain. That said, they are numerous and intelligent enough to comprise the most potent force in the sewers, but when the drow descend into the sewers, the wererats flee. That said, they will be at least curious about the party, and possibly will wish to try to capture them and ransom them to the drow.

The wererats here are generally offshoots of the various humanoid slave races, bitten in attacks of opportunity and then escaping into the sewers when they started to undergo the change. There are a few drow wererats, usually males, and a couple of these are ex-mages with D4 levels of wizard to their credit (the DM can allow a 5% chance a group includes a D4 level wizard and a 5% chance of a D6 level rogue and a 5% chance of a D4 level warrior).

Wererat (AC 6, MV 12, HD 3+1, hp 19 ea, THAC0 17, #ATT 1, D by weapon, Weapons shortsword (Fa 1d6/1D8 kdD6), darts (Fa 3/r 2/4/8 1D3/1D3 kdD4), SA weapons are coated in rat urine and can cause lycanthropy [1% chance per point of damage done], surprise (treat as the Ambush NWP at 13-), summon and control giant rats (2-12), SD hit by +1 or better or silver weapons, AL LE, XP 270 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Wight (2-16) - Almost exclusively drow elvish in origin, these wights are the embittered spirits of male drow. Like ghouls, they hunt in the sewers in packs, both for strength and to allow them to survive. They hunger to drain the living of their souls and will attack with a fury tinged with jealousy at the lives they have lost.

Wight (AC 5, MV 12, HD 4+3, hp 21, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 1-4, SA energy drain, SD hit by +1 or better weapons or silver weapons, undead immunities, AL LE, XP 1400, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Zombie (varies) - Like skeletons, these creatures roam the sewers for various reasons. Refer to the skeleton entry.

Roll for the zombie type below:

01-75 = Common (3-24)
76-00 = Monster (1-6)

Common Zombie (AC 8, MV 6, HD 2, hp 13 ea, THAC0 19, #ATT 1, D 1-8, SA attacks last in the round, SD undead immunities, AL N, XP 65 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Monster Zombie (usually minotaurs or giant lizards or ogres or trolls ) (AC 6, MV 9, HD 6, hp 34 ea, THAC0 15, #ATT 1, D 4-16, SA attacks last in the round, SD undead immunities, AL N, XP 650 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Out of the Sewers:

Eventually the party will locate the turquoise lichen and then the secret door that pushes open into a small crack of a passageway that goes 20' straight to the drow road.

Scenario #? - Further Scenarios

The above two scenarios are sufficient to get the party past the first drow city and on their course towards the farthest drow city and the dreaded Fane of Lolth. The DM is encouraged to develop other scenarios to challenge or spur the party onward, depending upon how much time he wants to spend in the Underdark. In the historical campaign, the party ran through the above two scenarios and then proceeded to Part Four.

PART FOUR - BENEATH THE DARKNESS

DM Overview:

This part is a short series of encounters that introduces the party to the eldest and most dangerous of the denizens of the Underdark, the mind flayers and the aboleth. DMs are cautioned, and are advised to subtly caution players, that in Therra, mind flayers and aboleth are not necessarily what they are in other campaign worlds.

The party will flee a major force of drow hunters. In doing so, they will stumble into a lure designed by the mind flayers, So trapped, the party will have to bargain with the dreaded illithids for their lives and for aid.

Assuming the party succeeds, they will be taken by the mind flayers deeper into the earth, to the shores of the great Sunless Sea where dwells the aboleth. The party must then convince the aboleth to transport them to the outskirts of the eldest drow city, where the party can then prepare to enter the Great Fane of Lolth!

The party must then infiltrate the drow city, enter the Fane, and make its way up the passageway leading to the Blanthil Forest.

Part One - The Lure

This part of the scenario will start sometime after the party has passed the precincts of Yyered Nulthil. The exact location is up to the DM, but at some point the drow will be looking specifically for the party. If you used the scenarios from the previous part, then after the party escapes from N'Araktheel, she will rouse the drow, lead them astray for a short while, but then the drow will pick up the trail and begin to converge on the party.

In this instance, the drow will have finally spotted the party, by way of divinations and scryings, and will now launch their trap. Two large forces of drow will converge on the party from both directions of the drow road. These parties are not actually written up here, as the DM should simply describe them in terms that are sure to get the party running rather than fighting. A good census might be for each party:

· 50 drow male soldiers (level 2 warriors, all with hand crossbows and poisoned darts)
· 25 female warriors (level 4 warriors, all with hand crossbows and poisoned darts)
· 6 elite warriors (levels 4-11)
· 6 drow priestesses (levels 4-11)
· 4 drow wizards (levels 4-11)
· 50 bugbear warriors
· 20 goblin slaves
· 12 giant spiders
· 24 huge spiders
· 3-4 minotaurs
· 4-6 hell hounds
· A tanar'ri or yugoloth

These will not be marching in lockstep order down the passageway, but will be flanking down side passages and deploying scouts and the like. While the drow are silent and camouflaged in their boots and cloaks, their slaves do make a rattle and thud as they march down the passageways (at least the goblins do somewhat, though the bugbears are silent).

Nonetheless, the party should get warning of their coming, by way of noise or scouts or what have you. The idea is to allow the party the chance to flee down a side passage. In the historical campaign, a group of Urdunnir (or orecutter dwarves) met the party and warned them that a large drow force was approaching).

Should the party choose to fight, the DM should simply fight it out, and should the party prevail, throw an ever tougher drow force at them some time later. Eventually, the party will be outmatched.

As the vice closes in on the party, several side passages should present themselves. The party can choose to flee down one of them, but they had then better continue to run, for the drow, once converged, will certainly begin to deploy forces down the passages, and they will be able to track most parties by way of infravision and by way of the minotaurs, which can track by scent.

The chase should then ensue, and it is up to the DM to provide a good chase. The party should be running at breakneck speed through very twisty and uneven passages, always dreading that they will come to a dead end. Occasionally, crossbow darts should flick against the walls or spells blast behind the party urging them onwards. Spells the party casts might throw off pursuit temporarily, but the drow force will soon locate and hound the party once again.

If the DM likes, he can even throw some of the pursuing forces at the party, to provide some quick sharp combats. This is left to the DM, though it is recommended that should the party linger too long and not be able to dispatch their foes, more reinforcements should show up, forcing the party to disengage and flee once again.

Eventually, after the drow begin to close in on the party, flanking them and moving in for the kill, the party will notice an opening with a sickly lavender, pinkish glow emanating from it. As the party ponders it, they will hear a whisper in the depths of their minds telling them that they should enter the glowing cavern, for there is safety within.

The party can ignore this, but given their desperate straits and the approaching drow, they might be willing to go voluntarily. The mind whisper will continue to assure the party that safety lies within, but in any case, should the party decide to resist the whisper, a Suggestion will be planted. Each party must save versus the Suggestion at -4 (it is a reasonable one after all). Failure means those persons will head into the light.

Within is a largish cavern with a huge sinkhole, 30' in diameter, in its centre. All around are drow runes warning, in the Drow language, to leave, for great danger resides within. The pinkish glow emanates from deep within the sinkhole.

There are many psionic and magical powers associated with this sinkhole that are detailed below (and including the Suggestion effects detailed above and below). These powers emanate from the obelisk at the bottom of the sinkhole, which is an ancient illithid artifact called The Lure.

Anyone entering the cavern will be subject to more sibilant mind whispers urging them to jump into the sinkhole, assuring them that they will not be harmed and that a soft landing awaits them at the bottom. Once again, a Suggestion has been planted here, though this time the save is at -2. Anyone who does not enter the sinkhole will have to save or simply jump in. anyone falling to the suggestion will not then cast any magicks to fly or levitate; they will instead trust the whisper and take a leap of faith.

The sinkhole descends some 2000' into the earth. If the party does not jump into the sinkhole, eventually the drow war parties will arrive and attack, though no doubt some of them will also leap into the hole.

Some 20' down the sinkhole is an affect similar to Dispel Magic at 14th level. The effect pulses each and every round and extends down to the last 50' of the hole. This will likely cause flying or levitating persons to fall down the hole as well as ruining whatever potions the party possesses unless they elect to fall at normal speed down the hole. Someone falling at normal speed will fall down the hole in 2 rounds (some 8-12 seconds).

Some 1950' down the hole, another Psionic Effect comes into play, as a modified Body Equilibrium effect will cause all falling creatures to slow down as if under the effects of the Feather Fall spell. This effect lasts only as long as it takes the person to fall all the way to the bottom of the hole.

At the bottom of the sinkhole, thousands of feet below the mustering drow war parties, is a large cavern. The cavern is some 120' in diameter, and is water covered, except for its edges and an island at its centre.

The water is not deep, perhaps 2'-3' deep, but is cold and clammy. The island in the centre is some 10' in diameter and upon it sprouts a needle like obelisk made of strange rock. The spire is covered in strange illithid runes and is needle sharp at the top. As mentioned before, this obelisk is The Lure, designed to lure prey into the demesne of the illithid. The Lure also sends a psionic alert when someone of something has entered the bottom 50' of the hole, and this alert calls the mind flayers, a dozen of which are stationed as guardians/gatherers a few yards outside this cavern

Several passageways sprout from the cavern, these leading to ledges that descend to the water level. There are six such passages, all set at even intervals along one half of the cavern.

The pinkish glow emanates from the spire, which radiates Enchantment Magic, and similar pinkish radiances diffuse from the six passageways.

As the party falls, 2 male drow elves (2nd level warrior and a 5th level warrior) will fall with them. These will land in the pool of water along with the party.

A short time later, a squish will be heard as a giant spider, which also fell, lands on the spire and, even with its Feather Falling, slowly impales on the unreasonably sharp spire and dies.

A few rounds will go by, as the drow draw their swords and get ready to face the party. Before combat can occur, however, the drow will shudder and look towards one of the six entrances. There, casting a shadow on the wall from the pink radiance beyond, will be seen a humanoid shadow, with tentacles where the mouth should be and a three fingered hand upraised.

The drow will yell something in Drow Elvish and will have two reactions. The 5th level drow warrior will levitate, seeking to go back up the hole. The party can attack him and take an opportunity shot if he has not yet been killed in combat. The other will, a look of fear on its face, take its short sword, turn it inward, and gut itself…falling dead in the murky water.

As the party fights the remaining drow, more forms will emerge from the other passages, and these will round the final corners and stand upon the ledges, six in all. These are mind flayers, a half a dozen of them, and more shadows can be seen moving behind them. In total, there are 18 mind flayers here.

Part Two - The Brain Eaters

The mind flayers will do nothing until the drow are dead. However, if a drow looks to be escaping, they will mind blast it. Once the drow are defeated, the party will hear a voice in their heads that will query "WHO ARE YOU?" in a thunderous mind boom. This will be so powerful that some of the party members will bleed from their ears and others from their noses. Most will be stunned for a round.

The party will then hear a mental conversation going on amongst the mind flayers, one suggesting that the "brain cattle" are weak willed and must be whispered too, like tadpoles. With that, the mind flayers will telepathically communicate with the party at a less painful volume.

DM Background on Mind Flayers:

The mind flayers in Therra operate much the way they do in regular AD&D. However, there are some important differences. First, though mind flayers are evil, in a strict sense of the word, and certainly from the party's point of view, they are not malign, and are certainly not aligned to the Deceiver. In fact, the mind flayers are so old, so distant, and so remote from the Deceiver and his conflict that they barely know of him, save in rumours. Rather, the mind flayers view other races as food, and they regard them the same way a slaughterer regards his cattle. He takes no special relish in the death of his cattle, but neither does he emote one bit about it. Cattle are simply there to provide food and they are to be eaten. Thus, mind flayers are an uncaring race, but they are not malign and do not relish in their victims suffering. They frankly just don't care enough.

The mind flayers are old, claiming to have a communal memory that dates back tot he creation of the world, from which they were born. They used to have a large kingdom whose upper reaches occupied the area of the Underdark now occupied by the drow and duergar. The mind flayers were driven down into the depths in ancient wars with the drow and duergar, and now they are denizens of the deeps of the earth.

The collective memory of the ancient wars still lingers, and the mind flayers despise the drow and duergar and seek to harass and capture them whenever possible. In fact, the sinkhole and spire that the party has come upon was designed to lure and trap drow and other creatures upon which the flayers can feed.

Negotiations:

The party will be queried as to whom they are, where they came from, what race they are, and so forth. Their relationship to the drow will be questioned as well, though if the party has slain one of the drow who fell with them, the mind flayers will have empirical evidence of the party's antagonism with the hated drow.

Should the party answer any queries falsely, this will be detected via ESP and the flayers will begin to react hostily to the party. On the other hand, if the party convinces the flayers that they are enemies of the drow and that their mission will hurt the drow, the flayers are apt to be less hostile.

Should the party display any of the weapons or items obtained from the alhoon demi-lich's tomb (see the Entrance to the Underdark section), the flayers will mentally gasp and ask the party where and how they acquired those items. The flayers will then be almost as friendly as they can ever be to the party. This is especially true if the Psychic Sword from the alhoon's tomb is present, as this is an artifact in the eyes of the illithid, and one they have missed sorely over the millennia since its loss.

No matter what, the flayers will then pause as if communing with someone or something and will then request that the party follow them to the elder brain.

The party will then be taken through tunnels along a creepy journey of several hours before emerging into the illithid city. In the center of the city, filled with mind flayers ustilagors, intellect devourers, and enslaved drow, duergar, and other denizens of the Underdark, is a greenish pool filled with swimming tadpoles in which dwells the elder brain, surrounded by brain golems and attended to by ulitharid (greater mind flayers) and slave guards.

The elder brain will mind whisper to the party, questioning them further. It will, if the party possesses the alhoon's items, declare them to be long lost relics of the mind flayers and request a trade for them. Should the party not have the relics, then the elder brain will instead require a service to be performed. See below for the exact terms of the exchange.

In the end, the elder brain will want to determine what the party wants to accomplish. Should the party divulge that their goal is to reach the Fane of Lolth, the brain will offer to lead the party to the "Eldest of the Eld" who may be able to guide the party to their destination, in exchange for the following:

· If the party possesses the Psychic Sword, it will demand that be returned, along with any other items from the alhoon's tomb.

· If the party does not possess the Psychic Sword, the brain will demand return of any other alhoon items (if applicable) and will require a service (see below).

· In either case, the brain will also demand that the party surrender one of its members to the brain, as it wishes to study and learn about the surface races.

This last request is likely to shock the party, but the elder brain will make several things clear:

1. The party has no choice. If they do not accept the brain's terms, the entire city will come upon them and they will all be slain.

2. The person surrendered will remain with the mind flayers forever!

3. The victim's items may be taken from him by the party before he is turned over to the illithids..

None of the above is negotiable. The brain is perfectly comfortable with simply destroying or enslaving the entire party and is confident in the fact that an entire city of his race is capable of handling the newcomers.

The party does not have a choice regarding the Psychic Sword; in other words, they cannot refuse to turn over the blade and instead elect to perform the service.

Should a fight break out, the DM should handle whether and how the party escapes, but make it clear that there are literally hundreds of flayers here along with dominated slaves and other horrors. The DM can use the sample city presented in The Illithiad if necessary. Nonetheless, this encounter is not meant to involve combat, so the DM should try to impress the party with the horrid raw power that is present here.

In the chamber of the elder brain itself will be, immediately at hand, the following:

Elder Brain (AC 10, MV nil, HD 20, hp 124, THAC0 nil, #ATT nil, D nil, SA bud brain golem (up to 3, takes 1 hour to bud), psionics (see below), SD psionics (see below), telepathy in 5 mile radius, detect all non-shielded sentient beings in 5 miles, scry through eyes of willing or dominated being in 5 miles), under water (immune to missiles fired from above and melee attackers must enter the water to engage it), MR 90%, AL LE, XP 13000, source: The Illithiad)

Psionics:

Level = 20
Dis/Sci/Dev = 6/23/34
Att/Def = EW, MT, II, MB, PC / All
Score = 20
PSP = 610

Note: may use all psionic abilities at twice the normal range, also MB is a special illithid-only psionic attack form

Clairsentience - Sciences: clairaudience, clairvoyance; Devotions: all-round vision, know location

Psychokinesis - Sciences: create object, molecular rearrangement, telekinesis; Devotions: ballistic attack, control body, control light, control sound, create sound, inertial barrier, levitation, molecular manipulation

Psychometabolism - Sciences: complete healing, energy containment, metamorphosis; Devotions: body control, body equilibrium, suspend animation

Psychoportation - Sciences: banishment, probability travel, teleport, teleport other; Devotions: astral projection, time shift, time/space anchor

Telepathy - Sciences: domination, ejection, mass domination, mind blast, mindlink, mindwipe, probe, tower of iron will; Devotions: awe, contact, ego whip, ESP, false sensory input, id insinuation, intellect fortress, mental barrier, mind blank, mind thrust, post hypnotic suggestion, psychic crush, taste link, thought shield

Metapsionics - Sciences: empower, psychic surgery, ultrablast; Devotions: cannibalize, magnify, prolong, psionic inflation, psychic drain

Brain Golem (3 are present at all times guarding the elder brain while the party is present) (AC 3, MV 6, HD 12, hp 60 ea, THAC0 9, #ATT 1, D 2-24, SA sense weakness (roughly determine opponent hit points), attack wizards (attacks wizards in preference to others), metal blast (1/turn, 60' radius, save vs spells of take 2-16 damage and be stunned for 1-10 rounds, those who save lose initiative for the next round and suffer 1-8 damage), SD immune to poison and mind-influencing spells and illusions, immune to death magic, +2 or better weapon to hit, MR 70%, AL LE, XP 10000 ea, Source: The Illithiad)

Note: Brain Golems have 100 PSP to power their mind blasts.

Ulitharid (3) (AC 3, MV 12 sw14, HD 11+8, hp 79 ea, THAC0 9, #ATT 6, D 1-4 (per tentacle), SA mind blast (60' long cone 20' wide at the end, save vs spells at -4 or be feebleminded), arcane powers (see below), tentacles (attack holds its victim but can be broken with a bend bars roll, +1 to hit for each tentacle already attached, when three tentacles are attached it reaches the brain and kills in 1-4 rounds), SD arcane powers (see below), MR 95%, AL LE, XP 11000 ea, Source: Monstrous Compendium 1)

Arcane Powers as 10th level wizard at 1/round (all saves at -4 due to mental prowess):

Suggestion
Charm Person
Charm Monster
ESP
Levitate
Astral Projection
Plane Shift
Eyebite
Forget
Legend Lore
True Seeing
Telekinesis

Mind Flayer (12) (AC 5, MV 12, HD 8+4, hp 48 ea, THAC0 11, #ATT 4, D 2, SA mind blast (60' long cone 20' wide at the end, save vs wands or be stunned for 3-12 rounds), tentacles (attack holds its victim but can be broken with a bend bars roll, when all four tentacles are attached it reaches the brain and kills in 1-4 rounds), arcane powers (see below), SD arcane powers (see below), MR 90%, AL LE, XP 9000 ea)

Arcane Powers as 7th level wizard at 1/round (all saves at -4 due to mental prowess):

Suggestion
Charm Person
Charm Monster
ESP
Levitate
Astral Projection
Plane Shift

Mind Flayer (Psionic) (6) (AC 5, MV 12, HD 8+4, hp 43 ea, THAC0 11, #ATT 4, D 2, SA psionics (see below), tentacles (attack holds its victim but can be broken with a bend bars roll, when all four tentacles are attached it reaches the brain and kills in 1-4 rounds), SD psionic powers (see below), MR 90%, AL LE, XP 7000 ea, Source: The Illithiad)

Psionic Powers:

Level = 10
Dis/Sci/Dev = 4/7/15
Att/Def = EW, II, MB / All
Score = 18
PSP = 325

Note: MB is a special illithid-only psionic attack form, refer to The Illithiad for illithid-only psionic powers

Psychokinesis - Devotions: control body, levitation

Psychometabolism - Sciences: body equilibrium

Psychoportation - Sciences: probability travel, teleport; Devotions: astral projection

Telepathy - Sciences: domination, mind blast, mindlink, tower of iron will; Devotions: awe, contact, crisis of breath (illithid-only power), ESP, ego whip, id insinuation, intellect fortress, intrusive taste link (illithid-only power), mental barrier, mind blank, post hypnotic suggestion, psychic crush, thought shield

Intellect Devourer (3) (AC 4, MV 15, HD 6+6, hp 39 ea, THAC0 13, #ATT 4, D 1-4 (x4), SA psionics (see below), stalk prey (psionic sense at 60' at no cost), may dominate dead bodies with intact brains, SD psionics (see below), +3 weapon to hit (weapons which can hit do 1 point of damage per attack), Death Spell kills 25% of the time, Powerword Kill slays it, protection from Evil keeps it at bay, AL CE, XP 6000 ea, Source: Monstrous Manual)

Psionic Powers:

Level = 6
Dic/Sci/Dev = 4/4/13
Att/Def = EW, II / M-, TS, IF

Note: Split Personality is always up at no cost, Energy Containment is always on without cost and even if the check or save fails, only 1 point of damage per die will be taken

Psychometabolism - Sciences: energy containment; Devotions: body equilibrium, chameleon power, ectoplasmic form, expansion, chemical simulation, reduction

Metapsionics - Sciences: split personality; Devotions: psionic sense, psychic drain

Telepathy - Sciences: domination (even on dead, intact minds), mindlink; Devotions: contact, ego whip, ESP, id insinuation, intellect fortress, mind blank, telempathic projection, thought shield

Psychoportation - Devotions: astral projection

A Service:

If the party does not have the Psychic Sword from the alhoon's tomb, then they will have to perform a service. In addition, even if the party turns over the Psychic Sword, the elder brain will ask the party if they will be willing to undertake a service. If the party asks for something in exchange, the elder brain will offer them a headband made of strange pinkish metal shaped like writhing tentacles. This is an Empowered item created by the elder brain via the Empower psionic power.

Headband of Tentacles - This strange looking item is empowered as follows:

Discipline: Psychometabolism

Sciences: Energy Containment

Devotions: Body Control, Body Equilibrium

PSP: 28

INT: 17

Ego: 7

The headband is ultimately loyal to the elder brain, and the brain will expect the headband to make sure anything the wearer does ultimately benefits or at least does not harm the mind flayer community. In addition, the headband's outlook is akin to the mind flayers…it sees everything as either a thrall or food. Should it take control of its victim, the victim will begin to display an emotionless stoicism and will, eventually, begin to crave and consume raw brains.

The headband will only be offered if the party has given over the Psychic Sword; otherwise, the service must be performed merely to satisfy the negotiation.

The brain will not tell what the service is before the party accepts. The service involves killing a neothelid. These dangerous creatures are basically rogue tadpoles, and as such they are an abomination to the illithids and, what's more, a taboo subject for discussion amongst their community. The elder brain is embarrassed at the presence of the neothelid, and therefre does not wish to admit what the problem is nor to organize a mind flayer hunting party to destroy the creature. Thus, the party serves as an excellent tool to eliminate the rogue beast,

Should the party take on the service, they will be teleported, using the Teleport Others power of the brain, The brain can teleport 3 persons at a time, and so the party will end up in their situation 3 at a time in a somewhat random order.

The situation is a large cavern some 2 miles away from the illithid city. The cavern is some 200 yards lengthwise and half that crosswise. The ceiling is 50' tall. Both the floor and ceiling are littered with columns, runnels, flutings, and stalagmites and stalactites, in some places quite choked with mineral structures. Several small passages emerge from the cave.

Within dwells a neothelid. It is voracious and highly cunning and will certainly react aggressively to the party and its supply of sentient brains to consume.

Neothelid (AC 0, MV 9, HD 16, hp 99, THAC0 5, #ATT 1 (bite) or 4 (tentacles), D 6-36 or 3-18 (x4). SA breath (2/day, enzyme [not acid] that dissolves flesh [except for brains] in a cone 60' long and 20' wide at its end, living beings take 12D12+6 damage with a save vs breath for half damage, any creature killed is melted except for equipment and brain), psionic powers (see below), slime (trail behind the creature and on its skin, victims [except for mind flayers] must save vs poison or die in 1D10 turns), SD psionic powers (see below), MR 45%, AL LE, XP 20000, Source: The Illithiad)

Psionic Powers:

Level = 9
Dis/Sci/Dev = 4/4/15
Att/Def = EW, II, MB / All
Score = 18
PSP = 410

Note: Telepathy is innate at 360' and is aware of all non-shielded sentient beings within 360'. Mind blast is an illithid-only ability.

Psychokinesis - Devotions: control body, telekinesis

Psychometabolism - Devotions: body equilibrium

Psychoportation - Devotions: dimension walk

Telepathy - Sciences: domination, mind blast, mindlink, tower of iron will; Devotions: awe, contact, ego whip, ESP, id insinuation, intellect fortress, mental barrier, mind blank, post hypnotic suggestion, taste link, thought shield

The elder brain is psionically watching the battle via clairvoyance, and when the party has defeated the neothelid, the elder brain will send the party an empathic feeling of pleasure and will then be guided by way of telepathic massages, back to the city and the brain.

The Surrender:

An unwavering part of the negotiation involves one of the party being surrendered to the probes and experimentations of the mind flayers. The flayers demand a surface dweller, and the person must be sentient. A summoned creature will not suffice. Nor will The Dead. Any natives of the Underdark will also not suffice, including even human grey druids. The scion of Orcus, if he is present, will also not suffice. Familiars will not suffice.

The person surrendered will be given to the illithids forever, and the illithids are not shy about stating that the person will have every orifice of his body and mind probed and studied, and then he is likely to be dissected, consumed, or thralled. This is clearly a one-way ticket to hell for whomever is chosen to be left behind.

How the party chooses is up to the DM. Lots can be drawn, or the party could even gang up on someone and present him. A dramatically-inclined DM could have a henchman or NPC accompanying the party volunteer himself. In the historical campaign, it was Khenni the Thief who volunteered, for he realized that his thief skills were most expendable to the quest at hand and he saw himself often as a burden to the party.

Should someone volunteer himself before the party makes its choice, the brain will accept the volunteer and the mind flayers will then not accept any change to that plan. The brain will explain that the choice has been made, and mind flayers will immediately converge and grab the person, their tentacles already caressing his body as he is dragged away.

Fight!:

Should the party not be able to conclude an agreement with the mind flayers and manage to somehow escape, they can try to ascend the sinkhole, back into the waiting arms of the drow, or they can now wander the deepest portions of the Underdark. The DM must then devise new adventures and encounters, and the party can either eventually return to the regular Underdark somewhere in the Drow Empire or they might even stumble onto the next part on their own!

Part Three - The Eldest of the Eld

Assuming the party comes to an agreement with the elder brain, the mind flayers will take them to the "Eldest of the Eld". The flayers will not elaborate on this description, nor can they assure the party that these eldest will help them, but they also say that if the eldest cannot, no one can.

An escort of six arcane mind flayers will accompany the party, soundlessly guiding them ever deeper into the earth…so deep that the air becomes stifled and difficult to breathe and even underdark dwellers will feel uncomfortable with the unfathomable amount of earth pressing in above them. Only the mind flayers and those native to the Elemental Plane of Earth will feel truly at home here.

Down, down, and ever down the mind flayers lead the party, until finally they arrive at a stairway. This structure descends steeply, and there are no sides to it, such that a fall from the 20' wide stairway descends thousands of feet until reaching the hard bottom. The stairway, which radiates magic and must be enchanted in origin to support its own weight, twists on itself at least a hundred times as it descends into the very heart of the earth. For a least 2 miles it descends, until the party is some 100 miles underground. The journey from the illithid city to the stairway will take several days, with the stair journey taking a full 2 more (unless the party simply wishes to fly down the stairs).

At the bottom of the stairway is a small cave with a single passage leading from it. The cave is filled with runes that defy decipherment and are chthonic runes that predate the gods themselves. They emanate a sense of massive and elder power.

The passageway leads for several hundred yards before opening into the largest cavern the party has ever seen. There is no indication as to how this cavern supports its own weight. The party stands on the edge of the Sunless Sea, a massive sea of unknown depth and breadth that spans the deepest portion of the underworld. The party will find itself on a ledge shaped like a crescent, some 30' wide at its widest and approximately 200' in length. The only way off it either into the sea or pack into the passageway leading to the stairway up.

The water splashes monotonously against the edge of the ledge, and should the party test it, the water is icy cold and slightly salty. How such a sea exists so far below Therra's water level is also beyond comprehension. The place is also slightly warm, a change from what should be a rather frigid environment.

In actuality, the realm the party is now in is the oldest portion of Therra and a place where the raw elements from the elemental planes intrude upon the material plane in harmony. As such, it is the combined powers of earth, water, fire, and air that support each other, and therefore this environment in a way that, normally, such an place could not exist.

The party will have to wait here for some time, at least 3 days and possibly as long as 12 days. The mind flayers gave them no instructions, but should the party try to re-enter the mind flayer city, they will be commanded to return from whence they came.

Eventually, the party will meet the Eldest.

What the party will see is a huge dorsal fin break the water, followed by a fishy fluke. This will submerge, leaving quiet ripples, but then, suddenly, an aboleth will rear its face out of the water near the ledge. This is one of the "Eldest".

DM Background on Aboleth:

If the mind flayers are old and cthonic, uncaring and powerful, and removed from the mortal concerns of the surface, the aboleth make even the mind flayers look like active younglings. These creatures were formed out of the random blendings of the elements, even before the gods were born. They are entirely mortal, but retain a communal identity that transcends their lifepspans. In fact, aboleth pass their accumulated knowledge onto their progeny. While the mind flayers view other races as cattle, the aboleth regard them as bugs or grass underfoot. Again, like the mind flayers, they are uncompassionate and uncaring but are not align. They simply take no notice of crushing other races if they are in the way in the same way a human might crush a bug that wanders across its table and think nothing of it.

Negotiating with the Aboleth:

The aboleth will appear with 16 skum servants as an escort. The skum will be visible with their heads just popping out of the water and then occasionally submerging again as their forehead dries out.

The aboleth was summoned by a telepathic request sent from the elder brain of the mind flayers. The brain used its contact power to contact the nearest aboleth, the one who is charged with watching the stair entrance, and that aboleth swam to their great hidden city to notify the savant and then returned to meet the party,

The aboleth will communicate by mindlink after seeking to establish contact with all of the party members. It will ask the party who they are and why they have come to the lightless depths where none of their kind has ever come before. It will be difficult for the party to bargain with the aboleth. They need almost nothing the party has to offer in terms of material items, and they are so far removed from surface concerns that, unlike the mind flayers, they exhibit no curiousity about the party and its origins, and as such, even offering to surrender another party member to them will not assuage them.

The party essentially has two choices. First, they can inform the aboleth of their mission, including the existence of the Gem of Power. If this is done (and if the party tells of its mission the aboleth will ask to view the Gem), the aboleth will immediately offer to take the party to speak to the savant after seeing the Gem. It will not touch the Gem, however.

Second, the part can sing to the aboleth. There is no real indication that this will work, so it will likely happen by happenstance, but the aboleth have never heard music before, and it will be an absolute wonder to them. If the aboleth hears a song, it will seem agitated and surprised and then ask what that is. Once told, it will again request the party follow it to the savant.

The Savant:

The savant is one of the rulers of the aboleth. There are an unknown number of aboleth cities in the lightless depths of the Sunless Sea, and an unknown number of aboleth in total. The nearest city houses several hundred aboleth, and is ruled by a single savant of surpassing power.

The aboleth will take the party to the savant by first acclimating them to its environment. The only problem is that, due to the fact that it has no feelings and no regard for the party, it has not thought about how the party might react to its acclimation attempt. It will lash out with its tentacles. Those hit must save vs spells or have their skin transform into a clear, slimy membrane in 2-5 rounds. Once this happens, the membrane must be kept damp with cool water or the victim suffers 1-12 damage per turn. Cure Disease cast before the transformation is complete will stop the transformation, otherwise, Cure Serious Wounds will revert it to normal skin.

Should the party try to resist the transformation, the aboleth will act puzzled and ask if the party has changed its mind and does not wish to accompany it in order to determine if the aboleth should aid them. Eventually, it should become clear that the transformation is needed to survive the cold, lightless depths wherein lies the city of the aboleth.

That done, the party will be invited into the water. Of course, the party will have to deal with non-waterproofed items such as spellbooks and scrolls. Anything not water-proofed will suffer immense damage from watery exposure.

Once in the water, the aboleth will release its mucus cloud, and those within must save vs poison or lose the ability to breathe air and gain the ability to breathe water for 1-3 hours. If this cloud is resisted, then once again the aboleth will bemusedly explain that the cloud is necessary for them to travel to see the savant.

The journey to the city is bizarre, for the party is surrounded by and pulled along with the mucus cloud of the aboleth, and as such cannot see anything. Indeed, a long time passes, and occasionally the ability to water breathe seems to start to fade and the party member panics at the thought of drowning, but then the mucus cloud reasserts itself and the panic passes.

How long the journey is the party cannot say. In reality, 24 hours will have passed, for the aboleth must swim much slower than it normally does in order to carry along the party.

The party will see nothing of the city, though they will, towards the end of their journey, hear mentally a din of thoughts, all of them strange and powerful. Finally, the mucus cloud will disperse and the party will find itself in a spherical chamber full of water. The sphere is huge, almost 400' in diameter, and its walls are made of some opaque crystalline substance that is white in colour. The room has no furnishings, though at 8 points in the sphere membranes of slime seem to hint of egress into other parts of the savant's palace.

Within is the savant. The aboleth who journeyed with the party and its skum are nowhere to be seen. Only the huge savant and the party are present.

The savant is the ruler of this city. No statistics are given for it as it is assumed the party is not going to attack the savant in the middle of its own city. The savant is a 12th level priest (serving a power known as Cthon which is an aspect of Tul) and a 13th level wizard. It is also a Complex Master Glyph creator, which makes it one of the most powerful of its kind anywhere.

The savant will question the party mercilessly. It wishes to see the Gem of Power or to be taught the secret of music (whichever is applicable).

If it is shown the Gem, it will reach out to touch it and a thrill of energy will rush up the tentacle and the entire body of the savant will quiver. Its three great eyes will close and open and the savant will mentally sigh, as if remembering. It will then state:

Ah yes, within is power of the eld times, when the youngling gods ran amok in the new world and the aboleth did teach them the way of things and of how to order the chaos that was the universe. This gem contains such power, and it is good to savour the Cthon of ancient times.

Truly you have brought this touch of Cthon to me and I have partaken of it and will pass this knowledge to my people, so that we are envigorated and shall last another count of untold years. For this I thank you, and for this I shall aid you, for we must honour the Cthon of creation.

If it is taught music, it will do so by Psionically probing the most musically-inclined party member. This probing will, in some sense, drain the person of knowledge, so that the victim loses a point of CHA permanently. The person will also be at -1 to his Musical Instrument, Singing, and Dancing NWP and if he doesn't have these NWP he will be at -1 when it learns them. This penalty is cumulative with any NWP penalties associated with the CHA loss. If a bard loses CHA enough to put him below bardic minimums, he cannot use any bardic abilities (but may use rogue skills or cast wizard spells). This process will take several hours.

The aboleth will then begin to hum an absolutely eerie chant, one that must be telepathic in nature as it resonates inside the party's heads and seems to also resonate throughout the entire city. The savant will lead the party through a membrane to an even larger sphere, some 100 yards in diameter into which many membranes egress. As the humming continues, aboleth after aboleth will converge on the location and, one by one, begin to hum as well. This communal chant will go on for almost an hour, before the crowd breaks up and the savant leads the party back to his spherical chamber.

In either case, the savant will then ask the party how it can be of service. Assuming the party is at least somewhat forthcoming about its mission, the savant will offer to take the party to a location within site of the drow city of Rabat-wruinu'ili where is the Great Fane of Lolth and the passageway up to the Blanthil Forest.

Assuming he party accepts, the savant will summon an aboleth (the party will be unable to tell if it is the same one that brought them to the city or not). The aboleth will be given a strange piece of coral shaped like a brain. The party will then be transported in the mucus cloud for a long journey. This journey takes almost two weeks, and during this time the party finds it needs no water or food. The time passes in a dreamy haze, and little can be determined of their surroundings other than a sensation of underwater speed. The party may memorize spells during this period (though wizards will likely not wish to open their spellbooks).

The End of the Line:

The somnambulant journey will finally end as the aboleth, its 16 skum, and the party breaks through the surface of the water and the mucus cloud sloughs off of them. They will instantly start to feel the effects of their inability to breathe air, but the skum will offer the party mucus globs to eat which will return the party to its air breathing state. The party's skin condition will remain, and the party will start to, even now, feel uncomfortable outside of the embrace of the water. The aboleth will hand the party the brain coral, which glows with a pale sea-green light. The aboleth will explain that the coral holds 12 uses of Cure Serious Wounds and this magic will cure the skin condition (and may be used to cure wounds as well). The aboleth will then point a tentacle towards the city ahead and think to the party:

Behold! The first and eldest city of the drow. We remember still the day when they descended into the lightless depths and fought their first wars against the illithid. Somewhere within that city is the Fane of Lolth, home to the Queen of Spiders, and somewhere within the Fane is the passageway from which the drow descended from the worlds above. I leave you now strange ones to your fate.

And with that, the aboleth and skum will splash back into the water and depart.

The place the party has been left is a tributary of the great river that runs through the vault of the eldest drow city. The river is shallow and icy cold and fairly swift flowing. The city is atop a plateau in the center of a massive cavern. See the section entitled The Drow City for further details. The party will emerge in the river between area C11 and C15.

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01-05	Bugbear
06-07	Elf, Drider
08-09	Elf, Drow
10-12	Gelatinous Cube
13-14	Ghast
15-21	Ghoul
22-26	Goblin
27-33	Kobold
34-35	Minotaur
36-37	Neo-otyugh
38-42	Ochre Jelly
43-45	Otyugh
46-47	Pudding, Black
48-56	Rat, Giant
57-60	Skeleton
61-63	Snake, Mahogany Constrictor
64-65	Snake, Sewerm
66-70	Spider, Giant
71-77	Spider, Huge
78-87	Spider, Large
88	Spider, Phase
89	Vaath
90-94	Wererat
95-96	Wight
97-00	Zombie