night below quick edit

After this brief discussion, the PCs should return to Milbourne, equip themselves to the hilt, and plan on a long stay below ground.

This book contains two distinct campaign phases. The first of these allows the PCs to pursue treasures, magic, and monsters throughout the caverns of the Deep. In this way, they can acquire sufficient experience and magic for the second campaign phase, assailing the City of the Glass Pool.

In the first phase of the campaign, the PCs should be allowed (indeed encouraged) to return periodically to the surface world to regroup, re-equip (with spell components, etc.), train to gain experience levels, and the like. The deep gnomes keep watch over the paths the Illithid take and should be able to warn the PCs if there are any mind flayers in the Orc caverns blocking their route back home. During their periodic returns to the surface world, the PCs should once, and once only, find two Illithids in the Orc caverns (Map 9 on Mapsheet 2) and have to fight them to escape back to the surface. The DM should not use this encounter until the average PC is 5th to 7th level. Otherwise, the PCs are free to move between the surface world and the Deep as they please.

The PCs' relative freedom of movement ends once they assault the City of the Glass Pool. Before that point, they should collect every experience point they can - they'll need it! Once their assault has begun, however, the way back may be sealed off with powerful enemies, as detailed in the chapter "The City of the Glass Pool." PCs should be able to find places to rest and recuperate in the Deep, though how secure these will be depends on whether they have met and befriended the Karkakeena Eldain (Rockeer).

The Svirfneblin, if asked, can tell the PCs that they are certain that there are other conduits into the Deep down which kidnapped spellcasters and others are taken into the depths. These are not shown on the strategic map, as the PCs will not find them in any event. The Svirfneblin seek to impress on them that the answer to the problem is to deal with it at the source. Trying to wipe out the surface servants of evil alone is pointless; these are only the small fry and can easily be replaced by new recruits. The PCs have to aim for the heart of darkness, deep in the Deep.

Lastly, the map on the inside front cover of this book is a strategic-scale map showing the major locations of the Deep. Cavern complexes that are individually mapped on Mapsheet 3 are shown on this map with numbers (10 through 21) that correspond to map numbers for these caverns. There are also a number of specific areas (labelled X1 through X7) where some particular feature of importance, or some clue, can be found by alert player characters. These maps and detailed points are dealt with in the following chapters:

• The Gnome Lands. This is the home territory of the PCs' new allies, their burial grounds, and the lairs of some nearby Trolls (Maps 10, 11, 12).
• Perils of the Long Path. These locations lie between the PCs and the route they are most likely to take to the City of the Glass Pool (Maps 13, 14, 15, 16).
• Scales before the Elves. Highly dangerous reptilian enemies stand between the PCs and contact with the elusive Rockseer elves (Maps 17, 18).
• The Derro at War. Two groups of Derro await the PCs; one implacably hostile, one with which the PCs may be able to negotiate (Maps 19,20).
• The City of the Glass Pool. The citadel of the Kuo-toa (Map 21). The king's throne room is shown, enlarged, on Tactical Map 113 on Mapsheet 4.
Returning to the Deep Gnomes

Suitably rested, re-equipped, and refreshed. the PCs should now return to the deep gnomes.

Again, Carmeneren speaks for her people. She repeats her concern about the PCs bringing down destruction on the deep gnomes if they meddle foolishly but notes that others have been here before and failed to deal with the menace. If asked about them, she says that they perished far below, but that signs of them may still have been left behind. She then explains the situation of the deep gnomes.

The Svirfneblin are not numerous. They are not strong enough to deal with the evil enemies below. They have been holding a keen watch, and they have learned much. They have been waiting for adventurers from above to find their way to them, so that they can help them with information. "We can also give you food and fresh water when you need it, though perhaps you will not like the taste of our fare," she smiles. ''If you must come back to us because you are badly hurt, then I can heal you. However, if you are followed you will bring death to my people, I have to be able to trust you not to make such a mistake. Do you see my problem?"

The PCs should see that the old gnome, who looks suddenly weary and almost fearful, has a good point. Carmeneren is much happier to have her people watch out for the PCs and to have them report what they have seen. The Svirfneblin scouts always maintain a watch in the uppermost passages and tunnels (between the entrance point and the spot marked X1 on the strategic map). They have filled waterskins and food (preserved fungi, yum!) which they give to the PCs (but thoughtful PCs should think of offering something in return; something as simple as pots and pans would be useful to the gnomes, and much appreciated).

If all goes smoothly during this parley, then Carmeneren has a first test for the PCs. If they are successful, then the gnomes help them with more information. Not far from the caves of the Svirfneblin are caves infested with Trolls. The PCs would be doing the gnomes a useful service if they eliminated this threat. This is the first test for the PCs. When they agree, proceed to the next chapter; if not, they are on their own down here.

Role-Playing Note

Do not play these deep gnomes as jokey figures of fun. They are emphatically not "tinker gnomes" or the more frivolous kind generally. The Svirfneblin are serious, grave little folk who do what they must to survive in an intensely hostile environment. While they have a sense of humor, it is a cynical one. They are smart and insightful and cannot easily be duped or taken advantage of. Carmeneren in particular should be a grave, considered figure of authority. to be treated with respect-after all, she commands more magic than all the PCs put together at this point.

The Passage Systems

As a general note for the whole of this Deep level, passages have a width of 5 to 40 feet unless otherwise noted. This is variable at different points. When a tactical encounter ensues (or is about to ensue), the DM should roll d8 and multiply the result by five to determine the width of a passage section. Likewise, ceiling height is 5 to 30 feet (d6 x 5). Hazards are indicated within passage sections on the DM's strategic map by symbols which are explained on DM Reference Card 3. These same symbols are also used to denote hazards within the cavern and cave systems shown on later maps for this Deep level.

Dungeon Dressing

This very extensive passage and cave network is one of limestone. There are patches of moss, lichens, albino fungi, phosphorescent fungi, and the like on walls from time to time. Likewise, along the passages the PCs may encounter small albino cave worms (no more than an inch or so long), moss-eating beetles, centipedes, slugs. small albino spiders, and similar fauna. Some passageways descend into flooded areas which PCs may wish to explore (using water breathing spells and potions, air-filled bladders, or other methods). These flooded areas never lead to anywhere of significance and are populated by giant albino eels, crayfish, and the like; only wandering monster encounters (from the Aquatic subtable on the inside back cover) occur in such places. Exceptions are noted in relevant chapters.

Needless to say, all Deep areas are unlit, unless otherwise noted. The temperature is a fairly constant 45 degrees Fahrenheit and varies hardly at all from place to place. While this is chilly, characters provided with cloaks by day and sleeping blankets by night should be able to cope. PCs wearing barbarian briefs and chain mail bikinis, however, may suffer from hypothermia unless they invest in some heavy furs.

Wandering Monsters

The DM should use the Wandering Monsters tables on the inside back cover of this book for random encounters in the Deep. Encounter checks should be made every four hours, with a 1-in-6 chance of an encounter occurring. The DM should, of course, be judicious about such encounters. A heavy encounter should not be inflicted on a PC party in desperate need of rest, low on hit points and spells. Note that there are also some locations where specific, scripted encounters with monsters take place. To avoid overkill, the DM should consider skipping wandering monster encounters immediately prior to the PCs entering these areas. Finally, there are some locations where the frequency or such encounters is different from the norm, and the specific changes to the normal rules are detailed in each case.

 
The Gnome Lands

Maps 10, 11, and 12 on Mapsheet 3 show the cave layouts here. There are three main cave systems and two detail points (X1 and X2) in this area.

Here, the PCS are faced with important decisions. Some actions which may benefit them in the long run will also alienate their newfound gnome allies: the PCs must balance the need to keep the deep gnomes friendly against some valuable treasure and later alliances. Wiping out the Trolls wins them the friendship of the Svirfneblin, but keeping it means they must pass up the useful magic hidden in the interdicted chamber beyond the Svirfneblin tombs. Decisions, decisions.

Svirfneblin City Maze
After the Trollkill

When the PCs have completed their work, Carmeneren clearly regards them with rather more respect. While a successful Wisdom check allows a PC to see that she is still slightly diffident, she does have two pieces of information for the PCs.

First the gnomes take the PCs to the point marked X1 on the strategic map (see inside front cover). There is a junction passage here, but it is disguised with a very powerful spell, an improved permanent Illusionary Wall which is actually semi-substantial. This illusion hides the northern direct route to the City of the Glass Pool which the Illithid take to avoid the much more perilous southern route. Carmeneren invites the PCs to stare at the Illusionary Wall. Each character should attempt a saving throw vs. spell at a +4 bonus. If successful, a PC still sees the solid stone, but it is subtly different from the surroundings. Tactile exploration makes the PC feel as if he or she were touching a thick, gelatinous substance which "gives" slightly, but even when the PC knows the wall is illusory, he or she cannot bring himself or herself to move through it. This continues to be true even if a spell such as True Seeing is used at this point later, when the PCs have gained more experience levels and can cast this spell. It also reflects the multiple Antipathy spells placed along the passageway beyond, repelling all non-evil creatures. Carmeneren explains that this is where the Illithids come. Experiencing this very strong and disturbingly strange magic should be unsettling for the PCs.

Carmeneren gives the PCs Player Handout 12 at this point. This is a map of the long passage Ieading down to the City of the Glass Pool. Carmeneren says again that an earlier party of adventurers took this route and perished. She does not know how far they got; the gnomes did not deal directly with them. This map also marks the extremely perilous southernmost route to the lair of the "great reptiles"; the gnomes know that some kind of evil dragon or dragon-like creatures lair here but not the type (for the DM's information, it is Behir and a Shadow Dragon; see the chapter "Scales Before the Elves").

Carmeneren suggests the following tactics. The PCs should explore the central path right up to the City of the Glass Pool and gain all the strength they can. They might even consider returning at that time to deal with the dragons. "But I am not sure I would advise that, though I sense they both have powerful magic, and they certainly possess great treasures," she says thoughtfully. At this moment, one of the younger gnomes pipes up.

"But it is what is beyond them that might be really worthwhile," he says. Carmeneren silences him with a look like thunder. The gnomes do not know what lies beyond the reptiles, but they have sensed very strong magic and very secure barriers against their own attempts to explore and detect this area (DM's note: this is the home of the Karkakeena Eldain (Rockeer)). If asked specifically about this, she says only that the gnomes truly do not know what lies beyond - there is something, something powerfully magical and seemingly not evil, but the gnomes cannot learn what it is. A Wisdom check allows a PC to detect that Carmeneren is troubled by what this might be.

"Then, when you come at last to the Kuo-toa city, you will first meet the Diregund," she hisses. All the gnomes suddenly look hostile, aggressive, and vengeful at this point. A query reveals that "Diregund" is the Svirfneblin term for Derro. "Destroy them all and then come back to me, and I will tell you more," she says. She looks as if she really means it. This old, helpful, kindly gnome has real hate in her eyes when she speaks of the Derro.

Gnome Talk

If there is a PC gnome in the party, he or she may be able to wheedle out of the Svirfneblin just why they hate Derro so much. No other PC will be able to get at the true story. A gnome who makes a successful Charisma check with a -2 bonus modifier to the die roll (add a further -2 bonus if the dagger found in area 9 of the Troll caves has been returned to the Svirfneblin) will hear the truth from Carmeneren. This particular group has an unusual creation mythology. It holds that the Derro are the sworn enemies of Palanos and have ever tried to destroy him and his realm, by the most evil and deceitful means imaginable. Many, many legends are told about this, and gnome stories go on for ages, so the PC is in for some down time here. The gnome PC should be fed well (and not just on fungus), wined, and made to feel like his or her deep cousins have really accepted him or her.

The DM should then pick a time, later in the campaign, when the PCs have just won a hard-fought victory. This can't be scripted; it depends on the drama and closeness of the situation. Judge it by when your players almost collapse with relief after a famous victory, but it should be before they have met any Derro. If they meet the Svirfneblin again, and relate their heroic deeds, now comes the killer punch. The priestess wants to see the gnome PC alone. After fine food and wine, Carmeneren gives the PC a drink of Cogondy, the special wine of the deep gnomes they give only to their most trusted friends. Accepting this drink essentially make the PC a member of the Svirfneblin community. The old priestess then produces, with due pomp and circumstance, a truly fine magical item. This should be a +3 magical melee weapon appropriate to the PC's class, and it also has the properties of a Ring of Protection +1. In addition, Derro attack rolls are at a -2 penalty against the weapon user. She lets the character examine the item but not take it yet. In return for this fine gift, reserved for the Svirfneblin’s champion through the generations. Carmeneren wants the gnome PC to voluntarily accept a quest spell from her.

Carmeneren asks the player character gnome to attack Derro whenever possible and never to offer them succor or alliance. This is not a kamikaze, "kill them on sight" proposition. However, once in combat the quest prevents the gnome PC from fleeing combat unless his or her hit points are reduced to below one-half his or her normal maximum. It means absolutely that any form of alliance with Derro is utterly repellent to the gnome PC (a significant liability late in the campaign). But the magical weapon is so beautiful and so powerful... Carmeneren asks the gnome to decide whether to accept the weapon, and the quest, on his or her own. She does not want other PCs involved.

If the PC doesn't want to accept the quest and offers a good reason (he or she doesn't want to constrain the actions of other PCs, his or her friends and trusted fellow adventurers, etc.) Carmeneren looks disappointed but does not hold this against the PC. However, she withholds the weapon in this case, as it is the appointed tool of their champion. A PC who accepts the quest becomes this generation's champion for the Svirfneblin community (+4 bonus to all reaction rolls involving deep gnomes).

Once the PCs are ready to venture along the long central route, proceed to the next chapter.

 
Perils of the Long Path
The PCs should have Player Handout 12 to guide them through this stretch. The Svirfneblin can add some comments to those notes marked on their map. These concern the first choice the PCs have to make; they can either attack a Grell nest or take a physically hazardous path which bypasses this. The problem with the latter route is that each time they return to the surface without dealing with the Grells, they have to go over and over this unsafe ground. In the long run, it's a better move to try and deal with the Grells. The specific Deep hazards of the dangerous passageways are detailed on DM Reference Card 3. Be cruel. Wandering monster checks are made with twice normal frequency when PCs are in this area.

The only monster-infested area which the PCs must enter is the slime caverns. Everything else here is optional. However, sidetracking earns experience, treasure, and clues.

 
The Troll Caves
 
The Grell Nest
 
Monsters at War (Quaggoth and Hook Horror lair)

The PCs now have the chance to mop up some easier prey, groups of Quaggoth and Hook Horror who are constantly at war with each other. This should be fairly simple hack and slash fare for the PCs, but the rewards include the magical sword Finslayer and a glimpse of the elusive Karkakeena Eldain (Rockeer). Nothing is entirely as simple as it seems…

The Smooth Caverns
What is this Place?

It's likely that the PCs may return to the Svirfneblin and tell them what they have seen here. The gnomes marked this place on the map they gave the PCs as somewhere to avoid because of a nest of Ropers. The gnomes admit they have never entered the caverns, due to the Antipathy effect, relying instead on the descriptions of passing adventurers. At the description of the statue of the elf, they become quite animated and a hubbub breaks out. Gnomes mutter things like "It's true then", "Elves crafting rocks! What next? flying pigs? Dwarves that don't smell?", "Why haven't we ever seen them then?", and the like. They clearly know something. Carmeneren gestures the deep gnomes to silence. She says that the Svirfneblin know of no subterranean elf race save for the Morwen, and she does not know the meaning of what the PCs have found. Period. She is clearly unwilling to speak further. If shown Player Handout 14, she shrugs her shoulders and says she can say nothing about some scrap of paper written by someone she has never seen.

The PCs can only extract more information if one of them has befriended a Svirfneblin, or if a PC gnome has accepted the quest spell from Carmeneren, and then only after a successful Charisma check. The PC will then be told that the gnomes suspect that there is some unknown subterranean race, clearly very magical and not evil, beyond the caverns known to be occupied by the "great reptiles" (the Behir and Shadow Dragon). To find out more, the PCs would have to enter that perilous area.

At this stage, the PCs have the option of pressing on toward the City of the Glass Pool or making for the reptiles. The second option is covered in the following chapter.

Special Event

If the PCs discover the statue at area 8, then the following event should occur to a PC (preferably an elf) at some later stage, after a delay of a day or two at least, while the PCs are moving through some passageways. The PC sees a very tall (7'), extraordinary pale Karkakeena Eldain simply melt out of the stone of the passage wall, look at the PC rather quizzically, and just melt right back into the stone again. No other PC sees this, but if Detect Magic is employed the area where the elf appeared radiates faint Alteration magic for d4+4 rounds after the elf has vanished. There is no portal where the elf appeared, however.

Caves of the Slime Lord
The Next Step

From here, the PCs can go on to the City of the Glass Pool or backtrack and take on the Behir and Shadow Dragon. In either case, this is a good time for them to return to the surface world, train to gain experience levels, re-equip, and consider their options. They may delay this until they have scouted the margins of the City, but they should certainty retire and regroup before launching any fullscale assault on that dire place.

 
Scales Before the Elves

This chapter details two locations. First, there are the large caverns of the Behir Azzuzir and its arch-enemy, the hated Shadow Dragon Fandruzsch. There is excellent treasure here. but the risks are great. Shadow dragons, particularly, are very dangerous opponents indeed. Beyond these creatures lie the caverns of the Rockseers, the enigmatic elves of the depths.

The DM has to check the script for these areas especially carefully. The Shadow Dragon, especially, is a lethal opponent. Don't pull punches. He has a fine treasure haul and the PCs shouldn't get it without earning it. Realistically, the PCs have little chance of success here unless they use Negative Plane Protection spells to soak up the utterly destructive effects of the dragon's breath weapon. If they don't, they're probably all going to die!

 
Caverns of the Great Reptiles
 
The Halls of the Rockseer E lves
 
Characters of the Rockseers

In dealing with these elves, two NPCs are of major importance. One is Aljayera, the chieftain of the Rockseers; the other his rebellious young advisor, the wizard Darafayen.

Dealing with the Rockseers

This encounter should be role-played with only the player(s} of abducted PC{s) present. It should not take long, so this is a good time for other players to take a break.

When a PC is abducted it is by Darafayen, who brings him or her to the bubble at area 1. If there is a PC elf here, Darafayen is intrigued. She virtually ignores anything the PC elf says and starts to bombard him or her with questions about his or her race. How do surface elves live? How do they raise their young? What do they do? Do they have great empires? Who are their heroes, who are their enemies? And so on. If no elf has been abducted, Darafayen begins instead to ask the PC what his or her party has been doing - why are they in the Deep? If a PC has the Lifestone, Darafayen asks to see it, takes it and looks longingly at it, then returns it with an obvious expression of regret. She begins to interrogate the PC concerning how he or she came by it. Let the PC begin the story, so that Darafayen begins to hear of the halls where the item was found. Her eyes grow wide with surprise, and then she looks fearful. At this instant, a Karkakeena Eldain wizard stone walks into the bubble and informs Darafayen drily that she and her "guest(s)" are expected to attend Aljayera immediately (if the PC does not have a Lifestone, this happens just when the conversation is winding down). Darafayen looks rather guilty and exits the bubble with the PC in tow. She guides the PC through the long passageways to area 6, possibly taking the scenic route through areas 3 and 4 (the better for the DM to impress upon the players the extraordinary nature of this place).

Aljayera waits impatiently in area 6, sitting with three senior wizards flanking him; they are silent until Darafayen brings the PC before the throne. The great chieftain-wizard is clearly very angry but controls himself perfectly. Nonetheless, the magnitude of his anger is clear in his words. He berates Darafayen for having brought the "creature" into their halls. If no PC elf is present, one of the other wizards murmurs into the chieftain's ear that it might be best if there was no one to return and tell tales of what has been seen here. Aljayera nods, apparently in agreement (this apparent death threat won't be issued against an elf PC). Another of the elders objects that this would be a breach of courtesy, at which the others look grave. Aljayera then says, reflectively, that the creature's fate depends on whether the stranger can be trusted - whether he or she is honest or not.

The chieftain now demands to know everything about the activities of the PCs. He knows some things already from the activities of his spies; certainly enough to know whether a PC is being wholly truthful or not. In addition, he has magic at his disposal to detect and, if necessary, compel truthfulness.

Allow the player a little time to decide what his or her character is going to say here, but conduct the grilling in real time. Aljayera wants to know also what the PCs plan. The character will have to admit to their plan to assail the City of the Glass Pool and see what menaces lie beyond that; the chieftain will drag this out of him or her. The wizards mutter and look distinctly unhappy at this.

It is now crucial whether the PC has the Lifestone. If so, Aljayera suddenly breaks off interrogation, sensing the item. He takes it and turns it over in his hands, passing it to one of his wizard-attendants without any obvious sign of emotion. The wizard given the stone looks amazed, delighted, and then fearful, in that order. "You have brought us a dubious gift," the chieftain observes drily. "We have lost the secrets of creating such things. But, then, those of our kind who knew them perished from a curse laid on those other halls. We know better than ever to enter them again. If you have brought anything of that curse with you, you will wish that you had never seen the darkness." Aljayera breaks off to cast a Stone Tell on the Lifestone, and then orders one of his attendants to Contact Other Plane to try to discover whether there is a lingering curse on the stone. He will retain this stone, not returning it to the PC.

The PC is taken away to the living halls and given some food and water while the Divination is in progress. He or she is kept under guard at all times, of course. Trying to fight free should be strongly discouraged: the character has no means of escape. Darafayen accompanies the prisoner and keeps bombarding the PC with questions about the elves of the surface world during this time. After this break, the PC is returned to Aljayera and given the good news that he or she hasn't brought a lingering curse into the Rockseer’s halls.

By this stage, the chieftain will know what the PCs have done and what they are planning. If the PC is an elf, he also wants to hear about the world of the surface elves. Despite his calm demeanor, the chieftain is intrigued. Make the player of the elf PC do his or her very best describing the life of elves above; their rituals, beliefs, deities (Aljayera is intrigued by these), families, and homes.

Darafayen has kept silent until now, but suddenly she asks to be heard by her chieftain. Aljayera nods, but the younger elf makes it plain she wishes to speak with him privately. The chieftain waves his attendant wizards to one side and the younger elf whispers in her chieftain's ear for a few moments. The older elf looks surprised, like one who has heard a good idea from an unexpected quarter. Darafayen returns to the PC's side.

Aljayera motions the PC to come right before him, no more than a yard or two from his throne. He asks that the PC agree not to reveal their existence to anyone. Without such a promise, he or she will not be released. Once the PC makes the required promise, the chieftain cups his hands, and a shimmering shape takes form there. Aljayera holds a sapphire dragon statuette, no more than 10 Inches long, of beauty so wondrous that it is almost painful to behold. Every facet of the brilliant little creature shines and shimmers with reflected light, every color of the rainbow in perfect harmony with each other. The thing is unutterably beautiful and it radiates a deep yearning and longing for something lost. For a second. the chieftain allows the PC to touch it (if there is more than one PC, an elf takes precedence). The sense of longing fills the PC wholly, and the character faints. Any other PC present also falls into a deep slumber at this moment.

The PC wakes up back at the "grab point" (area 4 on Map 17) one week after he or she was abducted. Everything that has happened since the abduction is vague and hazy. like events in a dream, except for the crystal clear image of the tiny statuette and the strong sense of yearning still associated with it. However, he or she is prevented by a powerful Geas from speaking about anything that occurred in the past week. If the PC is an elf, there is a chance that he or she has a gift from the Karkakeena Eldain. If the elf brought the Lifestone, or was abducted with another PC who had this item, he or she gets this gift automatically. Otherwise, this chance is a base 15% with the following modifiers:

• +5% if the character is a priest or mage
• +5% if the character has Int 17+
• +5% if the character has Wis 17+
• +5% if the character is of neutral (LN, N, CN) alignment
• +0 to 20% depending on the DM's appraisal of how well the elf PC was role-played during the encounter in the halls.

This gift is a spider sapphire of value 10,000 gp. The PC gains XP for this but will not part with this gem. Indeed, the PC feels compelled to hide the gem and keep it to himself or herself, not telling other PCs that he or she has this. It is too precious a secret to reveal. Deep inside it (and only visible to the elf PC) is a tiny image of the dragon statuette. It impresses itself on the mind's eye more than anything else, since it is magically created inside the gem and is perceived intuitively rather than by the senses directly.

After this strange and disturbing encounter, the PCs are ready to move on to the City of the Glass Pool. From the Svirfneblin, they should know that Derro protect the margins of the city. This is a good time for them to rest, re-equip, and make plans during a return to the surface world. The Rockseers will be encountered again later in this campaign if the PCs retrieve the sapphire dragonette from the Derro outside the city.

 
The Derro at War

This chapter details two clan of Derro in violent conflict. The larger clan serves the Kuo-toa/Illithid alliance of the City of the Glass Pool. Their servants have been controlled using Potions of Domination, and the other Derro slavishly follow their savants' orders. The splinter group has defected from this clan and survives in a wholly separate set of caverns and passageways. The defectors are highly suspicious of intruders, but there are strong personal animosities between their savants and those of the dominant clan. So great is this hatred that the defecting Derro will assist the PCs in striking against their fellows, though they will also be ready to stab the PCs in the back subsequently. However, there are two staged encounters which take place before the PCs reach the Derro.

 
The Wormholes

These are found at point X4 on the strategic map (see inside front cover). The passageways here are 60 feet wide and have the appearance of being cut through a gigantic Swiss cheese. Ceilings and floors are dotted with holes some 4 to 7 feet in diameter. The holes are not a hazard in themselves, being very obvious. If the PCs explore them, they simply find a huge maze of wormholes which endlessly crisscross itself (the DM may add a location - say, an umber hulk lair - or a random encounter if he or she wants the additional drama). Obviously, the PCs are going to be attacked by a Purple Worm here. The DM should attempt to stage this in as crafty a way as possible. Make players anxious by telling them of disconcerting sounds, stones falling from a ceiling hole, rumblings deep in the earth, etc. Wait until their protective spells have run out. Let them progress through almost all of the area (a mile and more in length). Shake your head and mutter "I don' t believe it" as you roll some dice, as if the PCs are going to get lucky and get through unmolested. Then the worm strikes from below!

The interest value in this monster is a half digested Illithid in its gut. If the PCs cut the worm open, they can find these remains. The Illithid wore a gold neck circlet set with moonstones (value 1,200 gp) and has a silver brooch pinned to the remains of its robes. Give the players Player Handout 17 if they take this. The brooch is a dominator symbol and may be helpful to them inside the City of the Glass Pool.

 
The Slavers

This encounter should take place at location X5 marked on the strategic map (again, see inside front cover). Passage width here is approximately 20 feet. The PCs encounter a group of slavers returning from the City of the Glass Pool, having taken kidnapping victims to the Illithidsthere. There is a tough NPC party, and the PCs will have a difficult battle with them. The thief Prentyss scouts ahead of the rest some 200 feet, protected by Invisibility; in the normal course of events she should be able to return to her fellows and bring warning of the PCS' approach, allowing the slavers two rounds of preparation time to cast spells and get into position to waylay the PCs. Note that the thief can automatically Detect Invisibility, so even if all PCs are invisible she will detect them. There is not enough cover, nor side-passages, for a proper ambush, and the NPCs are arrogant enough to think they can overcome the PCs anyway. They fight until two of their number are killed, when they try to flee. Their tactics follow their character descriptions.

Both wizards have traveling spellbooks which contain the spells they have memorized plus d3 spells of 1st to 3rd levels (and one extra spell of fourth level for Crystenna4)) as the DM determines.

If this group has advance warning of the PCs' approach, they will take the following preparations:

• First Round: Farayenel casts Minor Globe of Invulnerability from her scroll. Haragswald casts prayer. Crystenna4) casts Blur on herself.
• Second Round: Farayenel casts Mirror Image; Haragswald casts protection from good 10' radius; Crystenna4) casts shield to improve her AC and negate Magic Missile attacks.

When combat ensues, Crystenna4) uses her Wand of Illusions to create the image of two hefty fighters standing before Groznyj, to distract oncoming PC fighters and hopefully also draw off some spell attacks. Farayenel dumps a Fireball toward the back of the PC party, ignoring fighters at the front and trying to do most damage to thieves and spellcasters further back. Crystenna4) casts a Lightning Bolt along one half of the passage amidst the PC party. Haragswald casts Hold Person at an oncoming PC fighter. Groznyj waits to melee, and Prentyss lurks nearby invisibly and waits for an opportunity to backstab. Later attacks obviously depend on the PCs' actions, but after her initial attack Prentyss keeps back from melee rather than risking another backstab and fires paralyzing arrows or Magic Missiles at anyone heading toward her or at front-line fighters. Haragswald will join Groznyj fighting at the front. Farayenel drops back: to attack with spells and paralyzing arrows. Crystenna4) always keeps well away from melee, relying on her spell attacks.

If things go badly for the NPCs, they will try to flee back towards the City of the Glass Pool. Prentyss has Boots of Striding and Springing and, since she can become invisible at will, has a good chance of escape. Crystenna4) uses her Dimension Door scroll to get a head start and then runs. Farayenel will keep a Web spell in reserve to cover her escape, if she can. The other two will have a more difficult time escaping, of course.

 
So, Tell Us What You Know...

If the PCs just kill all these NPCs, they garner a fair haul of magic Items. If they capture one, however, the captured NPC tries to barter information for his or her release. He or she admits to being a freelance kidnapper who knew from Haragswald’s cult that illilhids in the City of the Glass Pool pay well for kidnapped spellcasters. The NPC group operates in a locale adjacent to Haranshire. They have taken the same route down here the PCs took (since the PCs have presumably been side-tracking, this is eminently feasible). The gold, pearls, and platinum they possess are their payment for services rendered. Anything more than this, the captive reveals only if offered his or her freedom (or at least having his or her life spared). One of the more intelligent NPCs (Farayenel, Prentyss, Crystenna4)) remains unworried by threats of violence, remarking knowingly to a paladin PC or a good-aligned priest that she knows that person will not allow her to be killed in cold blood (she may be wrong, of course, but that's what she believes). The DM must make judgment calls about any torture (real or threatened) and other unsavory activities on the part of good-aligned PCs toward their captive(s). A Charm Person spell is the obvious solution to these difficulties.

What the PCs may be able to get out of this group, in addition to information already given, is not extensive, for this is only the kidnappers' second trip here. They know that Derro patrol the margins of the City of the Glass Pool. They take their prisoners to a watch post (marked as X6 on the strategic map), and from there they pass east and south to the city itself. There is another Derro/Illithid watch post at the entrance. At the city gates, which are open, they are made to wait by Derro until Illithids arrive to take their captives. They are then paid. They have not been given any Potions of Domination and don't even know these exist. They do not know of the alternative southern route which evades the watchpost. They can say that the guard complex at the city gates is packed with Derro. Crystenna4) and Prentyss have also seen the Ixzan, and either can speak quite colorfully of having seen one of these creatures actually flying above the city. These creatures have a pool just inside the city gates. What becomes of their captives, the Slavers do not know. They do not know the exact size of the city, but they know that it is fairly sizeable and must contain several hundred Kuo-toa at the least. lIlithids are present among them, which makes Farayenel in particular rather puzzled, given that the gogglers (slang for Kuo-toa) normally hate Illithid. They saw no Morwen but one other small party of humans and demihumans. They know nothing of the fate of their captives and have never heard of Jelenneth. They do know that there is a renegade Derro group somewhere which fights their own kind.

Prentyss knows one more crucial detail, and she won't reveal this even under a charm spell unless offered a major inducement (for example, a fine gem). Being curious and able to sneak about, she saw the stone pipes leading to the great resting pool (areas 11 and 12 in the city) and briefly considered getting in that way to see what she could loot. This may be a useful scrap of information for the PCs if they do not manage to befriend the renegade Derro and learn about the city from them, so the DM may have Prentyss use this clue as an ace in the hole when begging for her life and liberty. Of course, she can paint a quite moving picture of a pathetic childhood and youth in an attempt to excuse her later misdeeds and win their sympathy.

If the PCs adhere to any bargains struck and free any NPCs, what happens to them depends on what the PCs do. If they release them with no arms or equipment, the NPCs will be killed by wandering monsters. If they release them with normal equipment, they'll try to escape to the surface world (some of them might actually make it!). If the PCs let them go with some magic items left, the NPCs pretend to return to the surface world but actually double back to the City of the Glass Pool, whence they're frog-marched back out with an Illithid leading a search party for the PCs (serves the PCs right). This also happens if any NPCs escape. The search party consists of a Kuo-toa Captain, two Lieutenants, two 3rd/3rd level Whips, and 10 ordinary Kuo-toa. The PCs may prefer to take their prisoners back to the surface world and hand them over to the authorities. The DM may then determine that a relative of yet another abductee hears of this and offers the PCs a goodly sum for recovering his or her lost brother/sister/husband/wife/son/daughter etc., allowing the PCs to gain a new patron contact.

 
The Watch Post

This is marked at point X6. Within six miles of this point, wandering monster encounters should be taken from the "City Margins" column of the tables on the inside back cover. This position is always protected by a pair of Illithids and six Derro, who watch over the junction of passageways here. Ceiling height is 40 feet, passage width is 18 feet at this point, and the area is lit with light globes: translucent crystalline spheres some 8" to 10" in diameter which radiate a faint continual glow in a 40' radius (Derro have very poor infravision and need such a light source for spellcasting and missile fire). The guards are always vigilant and can only be surprised if the PCs take extraordinary precautions (invisibility 10' radius, silence 15’ radius, and the like). If subjected to a major assault, two of the Derro here try to flee for their lair and summon reinforcements (see "Warrens of the Servitors," below). The Illithid, of course, always use their mind blast as a first attack. One of them (the larger) enjoys melee, while the other uses its plane shift power to dispatch victims to one of the more unpleasant Outer Planes (this requires a successful attack roll on its part, and the target is allowed a saving throw vs. spell to prevent the journey).

The larger Illithid has a gold brooch set with three pearls (value 3,200 gp the other has an unusual choker around its neck fashioned of a coral-like roseate rock set with tourmalines and bloodstones (value 2,600 gp). The Derro here all wear a silver brooch with the same design, as shown in Player Handout 18. Note that any Derro patrol encountered as a result of a wandering monster check in this general area will all have the same brooches.

The Renegades

The lair of the splinter faction of Derro is shown on Map 19. Derro here have the same stats as those detailed above unless otherwise noted. There is always a guard group of d4+2 Derro who hide 100 to 400 feet away from the entrance to the lair complex. If they sense any approach, they funnel back to the long north-south passage which joins areas 1, 2, and 3. This is the area where the Derro try to confront enemies, since it offers long lines of fire for their light crossbows. Savants will be summoned from area 4 in the event of a pitched battle; the DM should select d2+2 savants from there to join the fray (the rest move to join the chieftain in area 5). Tactics follow the room descriptions.

In each given location, some 25% of the Derro will be asleep at any given time. Ceiling height here ranges from 20 to 30 feet. This area is lit with continual glow light globes identical to those at the watch post. These Derro do not wear the brooches displayed by their kin to the north. Ordinary Derro have 2d10 gp and 2d10 pp each, with a 50% chance for 1d2 gems with base value 100 gp.

 
Tactics and Strategy

On their first encounter with the PCs, the Derro fight. They are strong enough to repulse the PCs, in all likelihood, and the PCs may decide to leave well enough alone, especially since these Derro do not block their direct route to the Kuo-toa city. However, the Derro are vindictive and will send patrols to pursue them. A subsequent staged encounter should be with a force of d6+3 of these Derro led by one of the lieutenants on a spider steed and accompanied by a savant. Before the renegade party catches up with them, allow the PCs to also encounter Servitor Derro from the rival group, so that they see that some of these Derro wear brooches and some do not (the players should now receive Player Handout 18 if they have not already done so). From Player Handout 16 they should have a clue to the fact that there is dissension between the Derro.

If the PCs seek an alliance with the renegades, the following strategy offers the best chance for success: displaying brooches from slain Derro of the rival group, accompanied by an offer to negotiate. If they don't have brooches to display, no deal; the renegades attack. If they do, then the Derro are highly suspicious at first. The PCs have to let them know that they understand the Derro rivalry, and that they are sworn enemies of the master clan (laying this part on thick). The renegade Derro savants then offer to parley with the PCs.

At the start of these fraught negotiations, the savants vent their spleens with respect to the other Derro, abusing them constantly and in extreme terms. The PCs should realize that hating their kindred has become the consuming passion of these Derro. The characters should make it very clear that they intend to wipe out the other Derro (if they've already done so, of course, this script needs amending!). The renegades then offer valuable help.

The renegades can give the PCs a map of the Servitor Derro’s lair (Player Handout 19). This has important notes on the defenses of that lair. The Derro urge the PCs to kill their kin without mercy. The Derro will not help on the initial strike, saying that they wish to see whether the PCs are good enough to do the job. They offer, however, to assist the PCs in the final destruction of their hated. enemies. For this assault they send a force of two lieutenants on spiders, 10 ordinary Derro, and three savants (including the chieftain's savant-adjutant). Their plan is to keep out of melee, look after themselves, then tum on the PCs. The chieftain himself will arrive with all the other surviving lieutenants and savants d4+4 rounds after the PCs start to battle the Servitor savants. The PCs should be suspicious regarding this possibility; the Derro are chaotic evil and any pact with them is not wise. Their best bet is to take the map and be grateful. There's nothing to stop them returning and wiping out the renegades in tum, after all.

However, the PCs may be able to learn more than this. Whether they do so depends on how cunningly they court these renegades. The following actions will increase their chances of gaining further information:

• Bringing Derro magic items from the master clan back to the renegades (“we can't use this, we thought you'd like it").
• Bringing back the heads (or bodies, etc.) of slain savants from the rival Derro.
• Bringing slaves to the Derro from the slave pens of the master clan (unlikely for good-aligned PCs, but they might be able to persuade the slaves to accept this as a temporary measure, promising to return and free them later).
• Bringing Potions of Domination back to the Derro for ritual destruction.

What the PCs may learn from the Derro savants is as follows; the DM needs to decide what to feed the PCs, depending on how he or she wishes to advance the campaign, how kindly he or she feels, and how well the PCs have cultivated their new contacts:

• The Illithid somehow control the Derro of the Servitor group. Some form of magic was used to warp their minds and to make them subservient to the Illithid. The Derro renegades fear a similar fate.
• The ultimate source of the magical control lies beyond the City of the Glass Pool. Some deeper and darker force is behind the Kuo-toa/Illithid alliance. The Derro savants, being intelligent, know that the Kuo-toa and Illithid are deadly enemies. Something, somehow, has changed this, and it must have taken powerful magic to do it.
• There are other Derro deeper into the Deep. They are crazy; they should be avoided at all costs (the chieftain alone knows of Diinkarazan, and he absolutely will not reveal what he knows to the PCs; hence he warns them off meeting any other Derro).

The Derro also have information about the City of the Glass Pool itself (they were, after all, once part of the clan which patrols it). They can give the PCs some rough directions for travel inside the city. However, they regard this as a side-issue. What they want is for the PCs to kill their controlled kin. For the PCs to gain any information about the City of the Glass Pool, the trick is to work on one of the savants-puff him up with compliments, give him a magical item taken from the master clan, and the like. If this is done, and done skillfully, then the savant will draw a rough sketch map of the part of the city which he knows. Give the players Player Handout 20 at this time.

Negotiating with the Derro requires that the characters be smart; they must be aware of the possibilities for backstabbing and display a sensitivity to how to get information out of the Derro. The DM should make individual XP awards for PCs for role-play here, with a bonus of anywhere from zero up to 2,500 XP for this. Also, the PC party as a whole should receive a 2,000 XP bonus for each piece of information they get out of the Derro (the three points listed above) and another 3,000 XP if they are sufficiently persuasive to get a savant to draw them a map of the City of the Glass Pool. However, all this useful information has a price: once the PCs have entered into any kind of negotiations or alliance with these Derro, the Svirfneblin will no longer aid them in any way.

 
Warrens of the Servitors

Map 20 on Mapsheet 3 shows the lair of the Derro clan. At any given time, over half of them will either be on patrol or in the barracks of the City of the Glass Pool; the PCs should be able to deal with these divided forces. However, the clan has defenses, and the PCs should need more than one assault to root them out. Tactics and strategy are dealt with after the location key.

Ordinary Derro have 5d10 gp and 5d10 pp apiece, and a 50% chance for a gem of base value 250 gp. Savants have jewelry items with a value of 5+1d8x100. Ceiling height in these chambers is 30 feet, and the area is lit with continual glow light globes. Some 25% of Derro in each location will be asleep at any given time. All the Derro wear the brooches the PCs will have already encountered from the servitor Derro on patrol or those at the watch-point (area X6 on the strategic map). Note that losses from patrols (that is, wandering monster encounters with Derro) are not subtracted from the following totals.

 
Tactics and Strategy

The desperate combat here, of course, is that with the mass of spellcasters in area 9. Play testing shows that this is exceptionally dangerous. The Derro are not fools; only those with levitate, potions of flying, etc., wiIl fight from the air (it's a long way down if your spider-mount happens to be killed out from under you). They do not use up their major offensive spells all at once. Some will use cloudkill or Lightning Bolt for starters, but others will try to dispel magic in other areas to negate PC defensive spells. Those with Magic Missile always try to stay out of melee and weaken PCs with this spell. The mind flayer uses its mind blast and then melees at once, as do the spiders. Play testing again reveals that a Haste spell is almost essential for success here. Antimagic Shell can be a vital defense also for protecting PCs who otherwise might be overwhelmed by magical damage. Players must realize that this is going to be the toughest fight yet; the renegade Derro can appraise them of that. Unfortunately, it's a fight to the finish here. The Derro will pursue fleeing PCs and hunt them down remorselessly. The PCs can withdraw after making a first strike against the guards in the outer caverns and return to deal with the savant nest after resting and regaining spells and hit points, but when they reach the savants the climactic battle is joined and continues until one side or the other is dead.

What if the PCs simply do not come here? They could, after all, head down the southern passage to the hidden entrance to the City of the Glass Pool and ignore the Derro lairs altogether. Unfortunately, if they do this then wandering monster checks are made with double normal frequency, and such an encounter is 50% likely to be with Derro of the Servitor clan, 25% with renegade Derro, and 25% a normal encounter from the "city margins" column on the Wandering Monster table. That is, the Derro will harass them and keep turning up until the PCs tum back and deal with them for once and for all.

After the Derro threat has been eliminated, the PCs have good reason for backtracking. Freed slaves are crying out for safe passage, and PCs who have been among the Rockseers now remember what has happened to them and strongly desire to return the sapphire dragon to them.

 
Returning to the Rockseers

The Rockseers sense the sapphire dragon's recovery (assuming it has been taken out of its coffer, even momentarily) and come looking for it even if the PCs don't intend to return it to them. If the PCs choose to return to the elves, the Rockseers wait and meet the PCs close by the entrance to their halls. The elves take the sapphire dragon; if the PCs don't intend to give it up, they take it by stealth (using their stone walk and meld into stone abilities) or by force if necessary (they are accompanied by an archmage whose spells can easily overwhelm the PCs, though she will not kill the PCs if she can possibly help it). A messenger will be sent politely requesting the return of the dragon if the PCs have decided to keep it for themselves. If the PCs don't reply favorably, a Mordenkainen's Disjunction will be dumped on them and the corridor ahead and behind sealed with multiple Walls of Stone. The messenger will then ask again. Nicely. Unless they all want to die over a 10" statuette, they should hand the dragon over. Just to prove they are not mere bandits, they reward the PCs with 150,000 gp value in gems before departing (the XP reward for this haul is half that of the gems themselves - that is, 75,000 XP).

If the PCs already wanted to return the dragon, and do so freely, then the Rockseers are delighted. The dragon is an heirloom of their tribe, lost to them for centuries and they had almost abandoned hope of ever regaining it. In addition to the gems mentioned above, they offer the PCs two further benisons, namely:

• Any wizard PC is offered tuition concerning the magical flux points of the caverns. This takes one month and one day. At the end of this time the PC must make an Intelligence check and, if this is successful, the mage can now teleport without error between these flux points, taking up to 10 other creatures (of medium or smaller size) with him or her. This tuition does not, however, teach the wizard where all the flux points are; he or she can only travel between those he or she knows, It also does not enable him or her to use the flux point within the halls of the Rockseerss without the consent of the Rockseers. A failed Intelligence check means the wizard doesn't master the talent, but he or she can continue the course of tuition and try again after another month and a day (this time with a +2 penalty to the Intelligence check). Two failures mean that the character simply cannot master the techniques required: no further attempts can be made. Learning to master flux points will allow the PCs much swifter travel through the Deep, and in particular it can get them out of the Sunless Sea area and back to less perilous reaches of the Deep when they are in desperate straits.
• Any one elf PC will be given a Robe of the Rockseers. If there is more than one elf among the PCs, then the robe should go to the one who, in the DM's view, has shown the most concern and interest in the Rockseers.

As the Rockseers part from the PCs, the elves wish them well in their dealings with the Kuo-toa and say that "the stones say" they will see the PCs again. Now, after resting and planning afresh, the PCs are ready for their great trial and test: the City of the Glass Pool itself.

 
The City of the Glass Pool

Map 21 on Mapsheet 3 shows this fortress. This chapter assumes that the PCs have fought and overcome the Derro guards outside the city. If they have not done so, then these guards will be available to reinforce city garrisons as the PCs weaken the city with repeated strikes, or (worse yet) to ambush PCs returning from the city when they are low on spells and hit points. Strategic notes below cover reinforcements available. The city guards are watchful, and they become doubly vigilant if their outlying guards (the Derro) have been repeatedly attacked.

The PCs must decimate this city to reach the great gates which give admittance to the passageways leading down to the Sunless Sea. Little or no effective opposition can be left behind in the city, or the PCs will have to fight their way through the Kuo-toa each time they wish to return to the surface, unless they discover the flux points of the Sunless Sea. Even so, it is an uncomfortable situation leaving a powerful garrison of foes at one's back when one advances. Their best strategy would be to strike against the forces of the City of the Glass Pool in a series of hit-and-run raids. They cannot afford to tarry between attacks: the City holds more exceptional Kuo-toa (Whips, Monitors, etc.) than are found in most Kuo-toa societies, making the opposition tough indeed.

There are key goals which the PCs must achieve before they have succeeded in this stage of the campaign. One concrete goal is that they must destroy the statue Blipdoolpoolp in the Glass Pool itself (area 26). Another is that they must slay the Priest-King and all three Dukes of the city. Finally, the PCs must destabilize the remaining Kuo-toa society. Kuo-toa are prone to chaos and insanity, and their social organization will collapse if key mechanisms of control are destroyed. Obviously, killing off the Monitors who normally deal with Kuo-toa who have become insane is one good way to undermine their society, and many others, will occur to devious players.

To monitor the growing chaos, use the Social Collapse Point system described on the back of DM Reference Card 4. Specific PC actions are assigned specific SCP (Social Collapse Point) awards. The PCs must gain a total of 100 SCPs in addition to the main goals listed in the preceding paragraph (destroying the Priest-King, the dukes, and the statue of Blipdoolpoolp intermediary totals of 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 also benefit them by weakening the opposition, as detailed on the card. When they have achieved this, the Illithid abandon the city and retreat back to the Sunless Sea (that is, if the PCs have not already killed them or forced them to plane shift away to avoid certain death). The City of the GIass Pool will be sealed off, and defenses mounted further down in the Deep (this is dealt with in Book III). All that will be left in the city is a number of largely deranged gogglers who offer no serious, organized threat to the PCs.

 
Strategic Notes

ln their assaults on the City, the PCs have the following complications to deal with:

• Slaves. Human and demihuman slaves are kept in the city as laborers and future sacrifices. Good-aligned PCs, in particular, cannot be indifferent to their fate. They have to find ways of ferrying these hapless folk back to safety without disrupting their series of rapid strikes. The most obvious possibility is to try to have the slaves returned to the surface world by couriers, or else protected in some Deep area while the PCs finish off the city. If the PCs are still on good terms with the Svirfneblin, the deep gnomes might be prepared to look after the slaves, though they will be unwilling to pick them up at any point less than three days' hard march from the Kuo-toa city. The Rockseers might be persuaded to help by cloistering the slaves in some secured cavern area. Given their abilities at securing, warding, and disguising caverns, this would not be difficult. However, they will not welcome so many strangers into their own caverns, and also do not care to travel so close to the city. They will only be willing to help in any event if the PCs free at least one elf among the slaves, for the Rockseers are eager to interrogate such a person. They are very uncertain of other races.

  A third possibility, just, are the renegade Derro. If the PCs take the Crown of Derro Domination from the Illithid priest Zanticor, the Derro might be trusted not to harm the slaves in the short term. Since these renegades are not very far from the City, this is a practical solution. However, Derro are not gentle with their slaves, and use of the crown is not without its hazards.

  Finally, the PCs could pay hirelings to accompany them to the outskirts of the city and wait outside for the specific purpose of collecting slaves and returning them to the surface world. Such henchmen would need to include a few of decent experience level (5th to 7th) to brave the hazards of the return journey. This is perhaps the best solution, because the PCs are taking responsibility for slaves in their own hands and making advance plans. XP awards for freeing slaves should be increased by 50% if the PCs are this thoughtful. Note that some PCs may have attained name level by now, and thus will have followers, but the majority of these are 1st to 2nd level types and should not be brought into the Deep unless accompanied by much tougher hirelings.

• Magical Items. There are certain magical items within the city which will expedite the PCs' attempts to overcome the city defenses. One is the Crown of Derro Domination, which will allow the PCs to compel Derro to fight to assist them. They can even use this to compel renegade Derro to fight alongside their hated Servitor brethren. This should make life a great deal easier for the PCs.

  Secondly, some Illithid in the city wear Dominator Symbol. This design is related to that found on the Crown of Derro Domination. Derro faced with this symbol, if PCs display it readily, react uneasily. When the PCs first visit the city, if news of their attacks has not yet spread, the Derro will assume that the PCs are powerful agents in the service of the Illithid, and though they ask them their purpose in the city they will be fearful and try to avoid conflict if not attacked. Likewise, Kuo-toa will not attack unless news of PC attacks has gotten around the city. Illithid, however, will be extremely suspicious and will challenge the PCS on sight. After the PCs have attacked, the Derro will still be fearful even though they know the PCs are enemies; so strong is their conditioning that when combating any PC bearing this symbol they suffer -1 penalties to all attack and damage rolls and to saving throws. Ordinary Kuo-toa suffer the same penalties, but their leaders are unaffected.

  A third item of importance is a set of Cloak of Elvenkind and Boots of Elvenkind of Rockseer design. The PCS can just keep these for themselves, but they may choose to return these to the Rockseers, since they have special abilities which only function if the garments are worn by a Rockseer elf. If they do this, then an interesting contretemps ensues. The PCs walk into the middle of an unusually heated argument between Darafayen and Aljayera. The younger wizard is hot-headedly yelling that she wants to investigate what the Kuo-toa are up to (DM's note: she does not, in fact, know about the Aboleth, but she knows full well there is some major threat m the deepest Deep which Aljayera is concealing from her. Since Aljayera won't tell her, she wants to go and find out for herself). If the PCs found the sapphire dragon statuette in the servitor Derro's lair and have returned this to her people, Darafayen now grabs the cloak and boots of elvenkind and waves them at Aljayera with a theatrical flourish. "These people will find out," she yells. "Look what they have brought us already from the fruits of their valor!"

  At this, the chieftain finally loses patience with Darafayen and, for once, says something he regrets later: "Then go with them!" Darafayen asks the PCs if she can accompany them, to help them raid the City of the Glass Pool. Wise PCs will agree: Darafayen is an 11th-level wizard and will be a major help to the PCs. She is entitled to a full share of all earned XP but has no interest in treasure except for a fair share of gems and magical items. The DM should play this character and ensure that, without being greedy, she gets her fair share of what the party acquires. She also takes the traditional wizard's role, staying at the back of the party and casting spells - she may have an AC of -3, but she didn't get to 11th level by rushing into melee!

• Reinforcements. The City of the Glass Pool is not the only waystation for kidnapped spellcasters being taken to the Aboleth. Still, it is an important part of their plans that will not be sacrificed lightly. Therefore, reinforcements are certainly going to be dispatched here when the PCs start to take toll of the city defenses.

  After a first attack, no reinforcements will arrive. The defenders assume that they have merely experienced a typical raid by those despicable surface-worlders. Only when a second attack ensues will they realize that they are under siege. Subsequent levels of reinforcements depend on the length of time between attacks, and on whether the PCs have destroyed the Derro garrison outside the city.

  If the PCs haven't destroyed the Servitor Derro, then the Dena garrison receives specific instructions to patrol to cut off anyone trying to retreat from the city after attacking it. If the Derro have been wiped out, the city forces attempt to place a garrison here for this purpose. The PCs cannot just take as long as they please in their hit-and-run strikes on the city; if they dawdle, place a stiff garrison here to give them a very hard time.

  Alter the second raid on the city, the following reinforcements arrive:

  Every four days, d2+2 Illithid will come to the city. They take up position at points where the PCs attacked with greatest effect in previous onslaughts. No more than 10 Illithid in total will arrive as reinforcements in this way.

  One week after the second attack, a battalion of Kuo-toa from another city will appear. These include a Kuo-toa Captain with two Kuo-toa Lieutenants, two Kuo-toa Monitors, four Kuo-toa Whip, and 20 ordinary Kuo-toa.

  One week after a third attack or 12 days after the second attack, whichever is later, a major reinforcing squad of Kuo-toa will arrive. Led by a Kuo-toa Duke and two Kuo-toa Captains, this squad boasts four Kuo-toa Monitors, six Kuo-toa Whips, and 40 ordinary Kuo-toa (adding one to the total number of Dukes the PCs must kill to insure total societal collapse). Play testing shows that this group should only turn up if the PCs tarry needlessly or if the players have not got their act together in the matter of returning freed slaves to the surface world. After this time, no further reinforcements arrive, and in any case all reinforcements cease once the PCs have gained 100+ SCPs.

DM Planning

The DM must be ready to reorganize forces within the city between attacks. Key areas will always be secured. These include the barracks, the Purifying Pool, the Food Pools, the residencies of the Duke and the Priest-King, and, of course, the Glass Pool itself. The forces of the city are, unfortunately, strategically organized by the Illithid "advisers" to the Priest-King, and these are genius creatures.

 
The City and the Kuo-Toa

The City of the Glass Pool is unlit except where noted. Kuo-toa and Illithid have infravision and do not require light. Derro have poor infravision, however, and they use continual glow light globes similar to those encountered in the Derro lairs (see preceding chapter).

The city walls are detailed below. City buildings are roofed unless noted otherwise. Typical ceiling height is 12 feet for simple locations. Buildings which are not listed in the location key below each are 90% likely to contain a group of d3+2 ordinary Kuo-toa), 10% likely to be empty. Buildings, and the walls, have been crafted by many slaves over the centuries, and both dwarf and gnome PCs will fancy that they see something of their race's handiwork here. There is little "dungeon dressing" included in the following location descriptions simply for reasons of space, and the DM should embellish freely, adding atmospheric detail as needed.

Kuo-toa for which no special statistics are listed are ordinary 2 HD types. Note that the XP award for Monitors is 2,000 XP, not 975 as stated in some early printings of the MONSTROUS MANUAL tome. XP awards for Whips of different levels are given on DM Reference Card 4.

Because repeating stats would be very space-consuming, profiles for monsters which are repeatedly encountered in the city are found on DM Reference Card 4; only individual hit point totals are given in the text. Only exceptional individuals (spellcasters and the like) have profiles given in full. Thief skills are only given for most relevant abilities (Move Silently, Hide in Shadows). The MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM entry for Ixzan should be kept to hand by the DM; again, stats are not repeated endlessly for space reasons, although hit point totals and spell lists are provided for each Ixzan. All Derro in the city wear the servitor brooches the PCs have seen earlier (PH 18


).

The location key gives the initial position of monsters before attacks are made. Obviously, they move around in response to PC actions. Tactics here are somewhat complicated by the fact that PCs can enter the city almost anywhere. Storming the front gates is the most spectacularly stupid option, but almost anything is possible. They might get in by climbing the walls (very difficult!) or by casting enough fly spells to get over en masse (not wise, since it leaves the embarrassing problem of how to get out when the spells have expired). Stone shaping a way in isn't impossible, given Darafayen's abilities, and the PCs might get in through the great stone pipes of the city.

The Grand Cavern

At the spot marked X7 on the strategic map, the passageway appears to be blocked by a massive fall of rubble. However. this can be safely cleared. It takes 60 PC hours of work to do this (six PCs would have to work for 10 hours each to clear it, for example). For rock-clearing purposes, PCs with Strength 16 to 18 count as two PCs and those with exceptional Strength count as three; a PC with a Strength penalty counts as half a person here. Wandering monster checks should be made at double normal frequency unless pes can mask the noise they make for the duration of their work. The passageway beyond this blockage leads to area 1 on Map 21.

 
Victory!

The PCs triumph when they have destroyed the statue of Blipdoolpoolp, slain the Priest-King and all three Dukes, and earned 100+ SCPs. When this is done, the city falls into chaos. The Illithid evacuate and the Kuo-toa degenerate into wholesale anarchy. This does not mean they are no longer a danger to the PCs - they will attack the hated intruders whenever they see them. However, the population of the city fight among themselves, and their numbers drop by 10% per week until reaching stability at one-tenth the original total. Effectively, this city is now lost to the Aboleth and Illithid as a way-station to the surface world.

The PCs have struck their enemies a serious, but not fatal, blow. Now they have much planning and preparation to do before they venture onward into the deepest darkness. They may still have loose ends to tie up, and they ought to want to see the Rockseer again. Book III deals with these points in its introduction.

  Book 3
The Deepest Darkness

The player characters should now each be of 9th to 11th level or so. They should also be equipped with a variety of potent magical items acquired in the course of the campaign, including armor and weaponry. They have rendered the City of the Glass Pool an uncontrolled anarchy, and a long and desperate path lies before them.

The passage way behind the back gates of the Kuo-toa city (area 32 on Map 21) stretches on for many, many miles, ever downwards, until it leads at last to the gigantic cavern of the Sunless Sea. The PCs have much to do, however, before setting their feet on this dark road. This introductory chapter details the most likely preparations and also briefs the DM on this climactic phase of the grand campaign.

 
Returning to Friends

After giving the coup de grace to the Kuo-toa city, the PCs may wish to return to the Svirfneblin, the Rockseers, or the surface world to lick their wounds, get advice, or simply tell others of their progress.

 
The Svifneblin

The deep gnomes may be lost to the PCs as allies, of course, if the characters have themselves allied with Derro or entered the Svirfneblin burial grounds without making due restitution. The latter crime is unforgivable. The former crime may be expiated, provided that the PCs hand over the Crown of Derro Domination to the deep gnomes. If they do this unprompted, old Carmeneren is deeply grateful and forgives the PCs for their lapse. After a delay of 21+2d10 days - Carmeneren needs time to sell gems and acquire the items concerned - she presents the PCs with the following gifts as a token of renewed friendship: two Potions of Extra-Healing for each PC, a scroll of priest spells scribed at 14th level (Conjure Animals, Heal, Protection from Evil 10' Radius, Water Walk) and a scroll of wizard spells scribed at 14th level (Disintegrate, Eyebite, Otiluke's Freezing Sphere, Stone to Flesh (Flesh to Stone)). Delighted that they no longer need fear the Derro, the deep gnomes also give the PCs all the preserved food and water they can possibly carry.

However, if the PCs only give up the crown grudgingly when asked for it, or if a gnome PC accepted the position of Champion and then later betrayed that trust, no gifts are forthcoming. The old priestess, ever practical, still accepts the crown and renews the alliance, but the broken trust is not restored. In any case, the deep gnomes can tell the PCs relatively little about deepest depths. What Carmeneren does know, and can tell the PCs, is as follows.

There is definitely a vast underground cavern far below the City of the Glass Pool. Since victims are being taken that way, the ultimate origin of the kidnappers no doubt lies there. However. the Svirfneblin have only secondhand reports of what that grand cavern holds (being sensible folk, they don't go anywhere near the place). Illithid are certainly part of the whole picture. since they are the ones who move between that unknown place, the Kuo-toa city, and the surface world. Rumor has it that some other, more powerful, race of creatures has a great settlement in that cavern, but the deep gnomes do not know who, or what, they are. Certainly not the Morwen, as the Svirfneblin have observed that the dark elves shun the cavern with great care.

Carmeneren hesitantly offers three further snippets of information, without vouching for their veracity. First, there are said to be deep crevasses in the great cavern leading far down in the lava-filled depths, where flame-loving creatures dwell. Second, a powerful wizard is said to have fled to the great cavern (the rumor can name a major NPC from the campaign world, at the DM's discretion), having taken much in the way of magical treasure with him. Perhaps he has allied with the unknown masters of the cavern. Perhaps not. Carmeneren does not know. The third snippet is the most detailed, and probably the most interesting to the PCs.

"A fortnight before you returned to us, one of our younger and more foolhardy fellows found himself close to the passageway the Illithid use. He saw two Illithid approach with slaves, heading for the Kuo-toa city. He says that four other Illithid emerged from the hidden tunnel and greeted their fellows, then suddenly slew them with poisoned daggers. They took the slaves and disappeared back down the tunnel. I am not sure of the meaning of this, but this is not the way Illithid normally behave. They are not so chaotic, after all. Perhaps there are some of their kind who have plans of their own. I do not know, I am at a loss to explain it. But I am sure young Gavenered is telling the truth - who would make up such a thing? - and it is surpassingly unlikely that the event was an illusion. What would be the point of it?" If the PCs want to talk to "young Gavenered," such a spell as ESP or Detect Lie reveals that he is being entirely truthful. The DM can embroider the same story a little in Gavenered's retelling, as he explains that he was on a mushroom-gathering expedition at the time and could not follow them into the tunnel because of the Antipathy effect, but all the essentials are as Carmeneren gave them.

The deep gnomes urge the PCs to prepare with all caution if they intend to enter the final depths, and wish them well.

 
The Rockseer Emissaries

The Rockseers will know when the PCs have decimated the City of the Glass Pool. If Darafayen is with the PCs, she urges them to return to her people and then to the surface world, to make plans for what lies ahead. She knows some of what lies below but won't reveal it at this stage, saying that the PCs should seek a conclave with her elders (even this headstrong young elf does not want to give away too many Rockseer secrets to comparative strangers).

If Darafayen isn't with the PCs, the Rockseer will send her as their messenger. She finds the characters some 10 miles or so away from the City of the Glass Pool and invites them to a conclave with Aljayera, telling them that her chieftain knows much of what lies below. If the PCs foolishly decline this invitation, she sighs, shakes her head, and retires. Very shortly afterwards the PCs have a very unpleasant wandering monster encounter (chose randomly from the Deep Underdark tables on the inside back cover, upping the number of monsters encountered by 50%). If they still head on downwards, hit them again. And again. It's possible for truly stubborn characters to bludgeon their way blindly onward, step by bloody step, but most will wise up and head back to the surface world. When they do so, Darafayen turns up once more and gives the PCs that smug, told-you-so look. What follows assumes that the PCs have retrieved the sapphire dragon from the Derro and returned it to the Rockseers. If they have not done so, then they get no further help from the elves, this conclave does not take place, and the PCs can progress down to the Sunless Sea without the relentless wandering monster encounters suggested above.

First, Aljayera wants a complete account of events in the City of the Glass Pool. He knows if the PCs are lying, of course. He nods his head at the mention of Illithid and of the strange freshwater magic-using rays. He can tell the PCs that these monsters are the Ixzan. He does not, of course, know the name "ixitxachitl," but if these are described to him says they are no doubt the surface-world equivalent. He nods at descriptions of key city areas (the dome of the Glass Pool, etc. he has often scried the area and knows exactly what it looks like. He's simply testing how perceptive the PCs have been. At length, he dismisses all of the PCs save for the following: the wisest one, the most intelligent one, and any elven PCs. The other characters (and players) can go for a meal/snack break.

If there is an elf among the PCs or the freed slaves, Aljayera confides first that he has a problem among his people. Having seen this elf, they are intrigued. Many want to see more of their kin. There are rumblings about sending emissaries to the surface elves to learn about them. Others are uncertain - the burden of millennia of guilt for their ancestors' cowardice during Corellon's battle with lolth still hangs heavy over them. But, at long last, curiosity is beginning to overthrow the shackles of shame. If Darafayen has been with the PCs, it is clear that she has much to do with this change of heart. So, Aljayera wants to take steps to send a small number - no more than two or three of his wisest elves - to an elven community in the surface world. They will take magic, art, and a stone dragonet as gifts. They hope to return with samples of elven lore. culture, and - he hesitates - perhaps even a tree from the surface world. Aljayera wants the elven PC, with his or her friends, to travel with them and take them to such a community. There is none such in Haranshire, of course, but the DM should select a suitable location in his or her own campaign world. Clearly, this is going to take some time away from the dungeon, but this "down time" (or "up time," as the case may be) also allows the PCs to equip, train, trade magical items, and the like, which they should be doing anyway for the final stage of the adventure. If there is no elf among the PCs, then Aljayera will ask the same favor of the wisest among the PCs.

Assuming the PCs agree to this, Aljayera then speaks of the Sunless Sea. He tells the PCs that within the huge cavern is a vast underground lake (freshwater, although he will not think to mention this unless asked, as the Rockseers have forgotten that surface seas are generally saltwater). The cavern expanse is vast, and many creatures infest the Side-passages and lairs around the shores of the sea and on its many dark islands; Derro, Gotri (Duergar), Illithid, a few beholders, cloakers, and shadows, among others. The waters themselves hold Ixzan, vast eels, squid-like creatures, and - here the elf pauses for dramatic effect - the rulers of the Sunless Sea: the Aboleth, in their city of Great Shaboath. This is where slaves have been taken. The savant Aboleth, the great priest-wizards of that race, are constructing some vast magical device and sacrificing their kidnapped victims in the process of so doing. Aljayera does not know that spellcasters have been the prime targets of the kidnappers, but if so told he will draw the natural inference that their magic is being used to power the device, whatever it is. Note that Aljayera does not know that Shaboath has been raised to the surface of the Sunless Sea and may accidently mislead the PCs into thinking that it lies underwater.

Shaboath, then, is the source of the evil the PCs have been tracing for so long. Aljayera warns the characters to beware the Aboleth. They may not be numerous, but the savants in particular are enemies of staggering magical powers. Even the Rockseer archmage would not relish the prospect of encountering them. Their powers of domination will guarantee that they have many slaves and servitor creatures. Aljayera does not know the exact nature and range of magical powers and spell use available to the savants, though he is certain that they command magic from the spheres of Elemental Earth and Elemental Water, as well as Summoning, Weather, Guardian, and Protection. Attacking their city will be a titanic enterprise. Aljayera commends the hit-and-run tactics the characters presumably employed against the City of the Glass Pool and suggests strongly that they should consider this option when dealing with the Aboleth.

Aljayera also notes the existence of an Ixzan citadel in the Sunless Sea, and he warns the PCs about a place called the Isle of Shadows. The Rockseers know this place to be infested with some dread, brooding evil, now quiescent. Aljayera suspects the place was once sacred - if sacred one can call it - to a Power of unmitigated evil. He suggests the PCs avoid the place entirely.

The old elf looks over the PCs a long while as if silently judging them, then states flatly that he thinks the Savant Aboleth are simply too strong for them. He does not doubt the guile, resourcefulness, and intelligence of the PCs (at least, not of the ones in front of him), but he feels that they are just not powerful enough. Yet.

The archmage rises from his throne and takes a thin tablet of stone from one of his silent attendant wizards. He gives this to the PCs (to the elf, if there one). Give the players Player Handout 21 at this point. This is a map of the cavern of the Sunless Sea. Aljayera urges the PCs to confirm what is noted on the map (which has often been ascertained through scrying) from their own experience. He urges them further to spy out as much of the area as possible, and to gain experience and strength from combating monsters and creatures in areas well away from Shaboath. "Frankly, assailing the undead servitors of the lost god is safer than entering Shaboath itself," Aljayera concludes. "Travel far and learn all you can. When you are at last determined to assail the city, come back to me.” He hesitates. “There is more that I could tell you, but I want to see if you will take wise counsel first."

The Rockseers now take three or four days to make preparations for their emissaries to travel to the surface world. The excitement among the people is obvious. Darafayen is one of the chosen three, so she is not available to accompany the PCs to the Sunless Sea; she becomes the chief emissary to the surface world, an ambassador for her people.

Bringing The Elves Together

Don’t skimp the role-playing element of accompanying the Rockseers to the surface world. Give the PCs some encounters with monsters or bandits along their journey also. The Rockseers will need several days to adjust to the light of the surface world, and even then this adjustment will only mean that moonlight doesn't blind them. Sunlight is simply too intense for their sensitive eyes; eventually they will be able to develop a partial darkness spell to help them here (a muted form of continual darkness), but that lies beyond the scope of this adventure. Certainly, they will prefer a nocturnal experience. The hardest adjustment of all will be getting used to the idea of not having a roof overhead; at least one of the ambassadors should be strickened with severe agoraphobia.

Their eventual meeting with the surface elves should be poignant. The PCs will have to send an advance messenger to the elven community and make arrangements for a reception for these pale kin-strangers with their paradoxical mix of anticipation, excitement, guilt, and apprehension. They walk towards their cousins like squinting hermits emerging from a long, long darkness. The surface elves, even primed by the PCs' account of the Rockseers, will be almost incredulous. An elven wizard will probably check that this is not an illusion. Many tears of delight, relief, and lingering uncertainty and guilt will be shed. Then, food and water and wine will overflow and the tales will go on for days - no, we're dealing with elven lifespans here. Tales will go on for weeks.

Rockseers will be staggered by things the PCs don't even notice in their lives, like trees. How can anyone explain a tree to someone who has lived all his or her life in rock caverns? The Rockseers are fascinated by them yet afraid of them at first. They think they must be vast monsters, staying still in order to trap them (they do know about Ropers!). When they are reassured this isn't so, they just stand and gawk at them for hours. It takes them some time to pluck up the courage to touch one (naturally, Darafayen will be the first to do so, following it up with a passionate hug). Likewise, surface elves have much to learn: the secrets of the stone dragonets and the astounding skills of their brethren.

After a suitable period of days of elven feasting and taletelling, PCs may slip away and attend to other business. Any elven PC, however, should want to stay involved with this new rapprochement. This is an historic event It should change part of a campaign world. Here is a new demihuman subrace whose existence was not even vouchsafed to surface elf priests by their Powers. The ramifications of this will last for decades and beyond, and an elven PC, or any PC with an usually strong interest in elves, should give this new dialogue between his kindred priority over all other business. The DM should award a suitable XP bonus to such a PC if he or she arranges for other PCs to deal with re-equipping and magical trade so that this character can have time with the elven gatherings.

 
The Surface World

The PCs will need to re-equip, train, and indulge in magical trade. They may also wish to enchant potions and scrolls for use in the Sunless Sea area; this should be encouraged by the DM as long as they don' t plan to spend years doing it.

The PCs may also consult powerful NPCs and seek help from them. Direct help won't be forthcoming, for reasons spelled out in the Introduction to Book I. However, there are some ways in which trying to get such help is reasonable and should be rewarded. The NPCs involved depend on the DM's wider campaign world. Tauster and Lafayer, of course, should have already been used by the PCs to gain access to a wider circle of NPC contacts. Temples and guilds offer other possibilities for consultation, and so on. How much help the PCs get now should depend on how hard they have worked to acquire such contacts.

Mundane requests (supplies of holy water from temples, etc.) will be readily met, for the usual charge ("donation"). Requests for help with information require a little more work on the PCs' part. From the Rockseers, they should now know that the Aboleth are behind the kidnapping of spellcasters. Indeed, during the PCs' latest sojourn below the world, one or two more notable NPC spellcasters may have been abducted. The characters will now no doubt seek as much information as they can get concerning the Aboleth.

If the DM does not allow players access to the MONSTROUS MANUAL tome, the PCs can be fed the material therein if they consult a sage with a field of study of zoology or oceanography (this can be allowed to include aquatic but non-marine species). Finding such a sage should be possible, though a little time-consuming. The sage coughs up the required material after a week's research (this is considered a general enquiry) for a fee of 5,000 gp.

If the PCs come up with a specific or exacting question, the sage says sadly that he simply cannot give any more information. However, the sage does know something of the symbolic language of Aboleth. Of course, he is extremely reluctant to part with what he knows. His knowledge is his living, after all. He can, as a personal favor and of course he wouldn't do this for just anyone, etc., etc., let the PCs have a scroll showing the major runes and glyphs of the Aboleth. This will set them back a hefty 7,500 gp (a successful Charisma check reduces this to 7,000 gp). If the PCs decide to buy, give the players Player Handout 22. They will also have to sign a long-winded contract promising not to duplicate or copy the scroll for the purpose of sale to anyone else, nor communicate the contents to anyone else. The DM may wish to draw up such a document and compel the players to sign it on their characters' behalf if he or she wishes. The reason for all this rigmarole is that sages don't want their competitors getting hold of their knowledge gratis. Since they are likely to have magical divinatory skills, they're going to know if their customers welch on a deal, and since they earn ridiculously inflated fees and often act as consultants to major temples and wizard's guilds they can create some real unpleasantness if this happens. Sages will sometimes point these facts out prior to signature.

Finally, the PCs may consider taking hirelings or henchmen to the Sunless Sea. This is acceptable, provided the PCs don't intend to use them as sword fodder. Using such NPCs to maintain a way-station camp and safe retreat, keeping supplies of food, water, and spare equipment in readiness, is acceptable. Of course, the PCs should ensure that there is such a safe place and secure it as best as they can. Areas near to flux points are an obvious choice, as are spots close to the Rockseers or Svirfneblin. The PCs should cast suitable spells to protect and defend their associates. If they have helped the Rockseers to meet with surface elves, the Rockseers will be able to protect such an area and watch over it provided it is not too far from their own domain.

Nonetheless, the PCs should employ some NPCs of suitable level (5th to 7th or so) to be capable of handling most Deep menaces, just in case. They will have to recruit them in the normal way (through guilds, advertisement, word of mouth, etc.). For simple campsite guard duty, fees will be 150 gp per month for nonspellcasters and 300 gp per month for spellcasters. If any fighting is involved, the fee doubles, and no one below 5th level will agree to go fight in the Deep anyway. Hirelings above 8th level are not available. The PCs should certainly not just leave some poor band of 1st and 2nd level followers holed up behind them. If they do, a suitable XP deduction should be made if they come back and find that their followers have become a roper's dinner.

 
The Campaign Climax

At last, the PCs should be ready to enter the deep Deep. There are three further chapters in this book, as follows:

• Exploring the Great Cavern. This chapter describes locations around the Sunless Sea and the personalities that inhabit them - some maleficent and some potential allies for the PCs. In addition, here they finally learn the fate of the mage Jelenneth.
• Isles in the Sunless Sea. This chapter describes islands and other locations in the Sunless Sea other than Shaboath itself - the lair of the enchantress Szandur, the Isle of Shadows, and the Pyramid of the Ixzan.
• Great Shaboath. This long chapter bids farewell to the Rockseer elves before giving an overview of the Aboleth city and detailing the goals the PCs must achieve for success in the campaign. Sights, sounds, locations, and major NPCs of Great Shaboath follow, culminating in the Tower of Domination and the Grand Savant.

Strategically, the PCs would do well to gain all the experience points and magic they possibly can before they assault Shaboath itself. Fortunately, there are plenty of possibilities to choose from. For the most part, the Aboleth will take little note of these activities - the scale of the Sunless Sea is so vast that it's possible for cunning adventurers to operate quietly for some time before being discovered. The Aboleth’s arrogance increases as their plan nears fruition, and simple sightings of humans and demihumans will not in itself alert them of their danger. Dungeon delvers have blundered into this vast place before, and most either wound up slaves of the Aboleth or left their bones beneath the dark waters. Evil humans visit Shaboath itself from time to time (indeed, the PCs will encounter a handful of such people there). Naturally, if the Aboleth discover the PCs' purpose here, they will either lure them into a trap. dispatch a contingent of NPCs to wipe them out, or both. Once the characters have launched their first assault on Shaboath, this "state of grace" no longer applies and the Aboleth begin to harass the PCs as explained in the "Active Response" section of the "Great Shaboath" chapter (see page 40).

The following chapters allow considerable scope for DM expansion. Certain locations (the Isle of Shadows, the Ixzan Citadel, the settlement of the renegade Illithid, Szandur’s Isle, etc.) are thoroughly detailed, with full maps on Mapsheet 5. These locations allow the PCs to gain plenty of experience points and plunder and to find possible allies, clues, and help (including flux points which will enable them to travel from the Deep to the Sunless Sea and back again rapidly).

A number of other adventure locations are suggested for the DM, usually placed along side-passages stretching miles away from the vast cavern of the Sunless Sea itself. In these cases, an adventure hook is provided for each locale along with notes on the monsters and treasures encountered there. The DM can develop these locations as he or she likes, customizing them to suit his or her players and PCs. He or she can devise additional side-adventures or just ignore the lot of them - that is, determine that the side-passages don't even exist and get on with the material fully detailed in the following chapter, thus shunting the PCs back into the central action arena.

 
Exploring the Great Cavern

The long passage which exits east on Map 21 from the rear gates of the City of the Glass Pool winds downwards and predominantly eastwards for some 30 miles before reaching the cavern of the Sunless Sea. There are some stretches of significant hazard here. Starting five miles down is a stretch of two miles of treacherous footing. Fourteen miles from the City of the Glass Pool begins a three-mile-stretch of Glassrock. Twenty-two miles down the wormhole hazard occurs, and four miles past it the Ledgeways hazard. All these hazards are detailed on DM Reference Card 3.

Passage width for this long tunnel varies from 5 to 40 (5 x d8) feet, ceiling height from 10 to 35 feet (5+5 x d6). For the first 25 miles, wandering monster encounters should be taken from the Deep tables in Book II; for the final five miles the DM should consult the Deep Deep (Passageways) table on the inside back cover for this book (Book Ill). The entire length of passageways is unlit. There are numerous side-passages, but if the PC's have Aljayera’s map they should not be side-tracked. Otherwise, they should use divinational spells (or have traded for a magical item such as an arrow of direction) to help them find the path. Getting bogged down in side-passages along a 30 mile journey is tedious, so steer the PCs in the right direction if they really don't know where they're going and throw some extra wandering monster encounters at them for being so careless.

The DM's map on the inside front cover shows the cavern of the Sunless Sea. A number of passages lead away from this place, and for encounters here and on the wide shores of the Sunless Sea the DM should use the Cavern and Passageways tables from the inside back cover. Ceiling height in the great cavern is some 400 feet on average, though it varies from 50 feet or so near the walls to over 550 feet directly above the center of the sea itself. The cavern has a natural, very low level of lighting. This comes from phosphorescent worms and plants which live in the Sunless Sea itself, from luminescent lichen and glowmold growths on the cavern walls, and from a very dim luminance of the vast stalactite growths which cover the ceiling like mold on a rotting peach. The light level in the main cavern is equivalent to pale moonlight for the purposes of visibility - characters without infravision can see dimly but do suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls.

Ordinary flora and fauna in the cavern are unusual. The worms, small eels, and fish found in the sea are albino or, in the case of the worms, phosphorescent, etiolated things. All are almost like ghostly versions of their counterparts on the surface world. Moss, lichen, and the like grow freely, and riotous growths of fungi can be found in many places (where these are important for some reason, they are noted below). Beetles and centipedes run around on the rocks and stones of the caverns, feeding from decaying organic matter. Crabs with carapaces like stone scuttle along the stony shoreline of the great Sea.

The air (and water) temperature in the great cavern is an unchanging 45 degrees. The waters of the Sea circulate very slowly, with little in the way of tides or changes in water level. The Sea is fed by streams from far above, and its own waters seep through sunken water-filled side-passages into even deeper caverns and rifts. Water takes a long, long time to circulate in this cycle. At its deepest. the waters are some 800 feet in depth. The air is cool, kept breathable by minute algae in the Sea itself that have evolved to photosynthesize using the faint light which exists here.

The cavern floor is generally strewn with small stones and, in a few places, with enough larger rocks and crashed stalagmites to create the treacherous footing hazard. The one feature of real note is the Fire Rift, around which largely inactive geysers sometimes send huge spouts of steam and cascades of hot water into the cavern. Of course, the DM may choose to determine that these geysers are most likely to be active when there are PCs close by them.

The "islands" of the sea are a mixture. Some, like the Ixzan pyramid, are artificial, floating islands. Others, like Szandur’s Isle and the Isle of Shadows, are huge natural rock formations rising from the bed of the sea. Individual location descriptions give details.

This chapter and the one following detail all locations in the Great Cavern other than Shaboath itself. This is done in two sections: the first (this chapter) describing enclaves along the shores of the sea and in the walls of the cavern, the second (in the next chapter) describing the islands of the sea other than Shaboath. Some of these locations (the Illithid, Szandur’s Isle) are tied to the central storyline. Others (the Isle of Shadows) stand alone. This mix is deliberate; it is not plausible that everything that exists in this place is automatically associated with the Aboleth.

There are three groups of creatures here the PCs might be able to ally with, or compel to assist them, to aid in their final assault on Shaboath. There are Derro who could be dominated by PCs who still retain the Crown of Derro Domination. There are renegade Illithid, deeply opposed to the Aboleth, who might come to an agreement with the PCs to work together. Finally, there is a group of Tanar’ri, here to keep an eye on the Baatezu of Shaboath, who are desperate to ally with anyone. All three of these groups are evil, but each has interests in common with the player characters. Role-playing is a necessity here, as alliances and negotiations can get very complicated. The adventure has been designed on the assumption that at least one of these three factions will assist the PCs in attacking Shaboath. Without any allies, the PCs may still succeed, but it's going to be a desperately tough ride.

 
The Deranged Derro

These caverns are found at the end of a four-mile stretch of passageway, traversing which is dangerous in itself. Map 22 on Mapsheet 5 shows the layout of the Derro warrens.

The Derro here are all wholly insane. They were once part of a band which accompanied Darlakanand to Shaboath but were affected by a disastrous early experiment of his and fled the city, insane and driven by fear. There are few survivors from the original band, though these include a disproportionate number of savants (Darlakanand had many savants assisting with his experiments). There are two reasons why the PCs may be interested in these Derro, despite the fact that their craziness makes them impossible to negotiate with or interrogate. First, if the PCs still have the Crown of Derro Domination, they may be able to compel these Derro to assist them in attacking Shaboath, using them as decoys or sword fodder. Second, the most powerful of the savants in this group has a magical key which makes access to the Tower of Summonings in Great Shaboath much easier for the PCs than it would otherwise be (see page 59). There's also a very desirable magical item any (half) elven PC should desire here.

The effects of the insanity the Derro suffer from are as follows. First, they are prone to hallucinations and illusions, so their perceptions are inaccurate. This gives them -1 penalties to melee attack rolls and -2 penalties to missile fire. Second, savants have to make Intelligence checks to be capable of casting spells (separate check for each spell) and saving throws against these spells are made with a +2 bonus. On the other hand, the Derro are absolutely fearless (ML 20) and fight with insane strength (+3 to all melee damage rolls). They are immune to magical fear and to further insanity. They resist the effects of the Crown of Derro Domination (or, indeed, any mind-controlling spells) with a bonus of +2 to saving throws. They are also immune to phantasmal killers and are permitted saving throws against the chaos spell just because these Derro are mad, it doesn't make them stupid. They are prone to intragroup bickering and fights, but because there are so few of them left (compared with the size of the original group) they actually try to fight together when attacked. However, for every Derro there is a 25% chance at any given time that he is actively hallucinating and too crazy to follow others to safety or to reinforce an attacked area and will be left behind when other Derro move to defensive positions, gather together for protection, or move to attack PCs.

Trying to negotiate with or interrogate these Derro is impossible. They are wholly irrational. Attempting any mindreading spell (notably ESP, but even detect lie) with these Derro is 75% likely to make the PC spellcaster insane if he or she fails a saving throw vs. spell. Treasure: 4d10 gp and 4d10 pp; other items are individually listed. Note that they may have unusual spell lists, thanks to tuition from Darlakanand and/or Aboleth. Ceiling height within the Derro nest is 15 feet in passages and 30 feet in caverns (varies slightly but trivially from place to place). The area is lit with a few continual glow light globes.

 
Rift of the Fire Giants

Fire Giant do not habitually dwell anywhere in the cavern, but at some stage during the PCs' explorations - and before they have entered Shaboath - one sizeable group visits here. Below the great fissure of the cavern lies a system of huge sub caverns with a site sacred to Surtr, the Fire giant deity. An old fire giant chieftain in failing health, with his witch-doctor and picked warriors of his tribe, will visit this site invoke the blessing of Surtr upon his son, preparing him for tribal leadership. If PCs make a beeline for the fissure early on, the giants will not be here. At some later time, the PCs should see the last of the giants descending into the fissure, alerting them to their arrival. Map 23 on Mapsheet 5 shows the layout.

A treacherous descent of rock "stairs", descending slopes, and the like leads 800 feet down to the great rift sub caverns, heading northwards during the descent. Each PC has to make a Dexterity check during this descent. Failure results in a fall at some stage, inflicting d8 x d6 points of falling damage. Dexterity checks can be made with a -4 bonus to the die roll if PCs are roped together, but if there is a failure then the PCs on either side of the unlucky character will fall as well unless one or both of them makes a successful Strength check at a +2 penalty (assume that the rope tying these characters to the rest of the party snaps).

The sub caverns are huge, with ceiling heights varying from 100 to 160 feet, varying from place to place. This area is hot (as is obvious from increasing heat during the PCs' descent). The air is steamy, and PCs will sweat heavily. Anyone in metal armor must make a Constitution check once each hour here, as well as after each combat; if failed, the PC loses d4 hit points from fatigue. The sub caverns are naturally lit with a rosy warm glow in areas 4 and 5; in the other chambers the giants use huge torches to illuminate the area.

After the Battle

Once the battle is over, the PCs can examine the chest to see what treasures it holds (unless they just hung back and watched the whole ceremony, in which case they lose much useful treasure). The offerings comprise a casket of 10 emeralds (each worth 2,000 gp), a pouch of three rubies (value 5,000 gp each), a sack with 4,000 gp, and certain magical items, taken from enemies the Fire Giant have slain over the years: thus these are of normal size and usable by PCs. The items are a wand of fine ebony wood banded with silver (a Wand of Negation with 17 charges), a fine engraved war hammer (of +2 enchantment unless used by a dwarf; in dwarven hands it is a +4 weapon with the ability to cast Cure Critical Wounds on its owner once per day), a silvered mirror with topaz settings around the rim (a cursed Mirror of Opposition), an ornate silvered necklace with peridot and chrysoberyl settings (a Necklace of Adaptation), and a large stoppered steel flask (containing four doses of Potion of Frost Giant Strength). Lastly, note that the statue of Surtr here is a magical flux point and may, as such, be very useful to the PCs.

The PCs might consider trying to charm one or more of the giants and using them as shock troops to attack Shaboath. This is possible, but the savant Aboleth are masters of Enchantment/Charm magic and will easily detect the charm and either dispel it (in which case the giants will flee) or, worse still, use their domination talents to acquire the giants for themselves. This strategy is very double-edged, and only likely to work if the PCs send the giants into a very heavily fortified area where they do as much damage as possible in a short time before being killed by Shaboath's defenders.

However, play testing shows that the normal course of events will be a fight to the finish between the giants and the player characters. The giants make some excellent sword fodder for PCs; they will be outraged at outsiders intruding into their ceremony and fight furiously. They will not negotiate. This may be the PCs last chance for some heavy-duty simple-minded hack-and-slash, and they need all the XP they can get. However, should Snardurg perish in the lava, the entrance to the cavern is suddenly sealed with a Wall of Fire and the whole chamber begins to grow uncomfortably warm (even characters with magical protections against heat begin to suffer d6 points of damage per round and will take full damage if passing through the Wall of Fire - this is Power-level magic at work). The gigantic image of Surtr forms and silently surveys the characters who just slaughtered his worshippers. PCs would be very wise either to leave in haste via Dimension Door, teleport, and similar magics, or make a very generous offering.

 
The Desperate Marilith

Map 24 on Mapsheet 5 shows the layout of the caverns of the fiends. These are lit at regular intervals with continual light globes, which flicker redly. Cavern ceiling height is 20 to 30 feet. This area is accessed after a passageway stretch of some 4 miles, the middle 2 miles of which has the Ledgeways hazard.

The Tanar’ri here are desperate. Their position is a hopeless one. Their Marilith leader, Lillianth, has been sent on what she regards as an impossible mission: to kill Pallestren, the Pit Fiend emissary to Shaboath, and every Baatezu accompanying him, and to return with a complete report of the structure of the city itself. Lillianth is a brilliant strategist but knows she has no hope of success, given the puny force accompanying her: two attendant Alu-fiends, Janelle and Villiane, and a Succubus, Lynnara. Lillianth got this hopeless assignment after her tactical brilliance won a minor Blood War skirmish that her superior had considered a lost cause. Unfortunately, this made her Marilith commander, Shesinellek, look bad in the eyes of her own Balor superior; this assignment is Shesinellek’s revenge. Officially, Lillianth is leading "an elite strike force" to eliminate a single Baatezu; in reality, her group lacks the fire power needed to fight their way through Shaboath, much less take out a well-guarded Pit Fiend as well.

In short, Lillianth has been set up by her hated rival. Either she'll be killed on the Prime Material or else be doomed to return in failure, Shesinellek reckons, enabling the latter to regain face with the Balor. Then into this tangle enter the PCs, in whom Lillianth sees one faint hope of fulfilling her mission.

 
Tactics and Negotiations

The fiends will initially try to use ESP to learn something of the nature and intent of their opponents, but the range for this power is limited and they may not have sufficient time. They will defend themselves if attacked, seeking to subdue as many PCs as possible via charm, in the hope of capturing PCs as minions they could use in an attack on Shaboath. If combat erupts, Lillianth uses her Telekinesis to send a wizard PC hurtling into the air, where she shakes him or her like a rag doll, making spellcasting on the victims part extremely difficult (the wizard must make successful intelligence check, at a +2 penalty, each time he or she wishes to cast a spell, as well as a Dexterity check at a similar penalty if the spell has a somatic or material component). Lynnara and Villiane initially rely on their charm powers, while Janelle will opt for confusion, resorting to cone of cold and Lightning Bolt only if the PCs are unremittingly hostile.

Important: None of these fiends will attempt to gate. This is absolutely precluded given their mission to the Prime Material; gating help has been refused them and would result in automatic failure of their mission.

As soon as the PCs enter area 4, Lillianth’s Projected Image appears in the center of the room, a sword in either hand, while the other women rise from their hiding places behind boulders against the walls. Characters able to detect invisible will see what appears to be a ranger (Janelle) with an arrow notched and ready but pointed downwards, not at the PCs, another fighter or ranger (Villiane) with a javelin similarly out and ready but not in throwing position, and a mage (Lynnara) leaning against the wall, smiling. The spokes-woman (Lillianth) orders the intruders to halt and demands to know if they are minions of the "foul Aboleth" and their Baatezu allies. Should the PCs for some reason reply "yes," all four Tanar’ri attack. Assuming the PCs try to parley, the fiends cease hostile actions at once and emerge from hiding, still in their human guise.

Through the negotiations that follow, the Alu-fiends and Succubus will use their ESP powers covertly and employ very subtle gestures to keep Lillianth, their spokeswoman, informed of what they learn of the PCs. It should become clear early on to Lillianth that the PCs intend ultimately to attack Shaboath; she makes no attempt to conceal her delight. She explains her position as best as she can without revealing her group's infernal nature, keeping as close to the truth as possible (the better to lull their suspicions and foil any detect lie or similar Divination spells). Without mentioning the name of her superiors, she claims to represent a cabal from another plane, who sent her here on a desperate mission. She informs the PCs of the presence of Baatezu in Shaboath (information they will not gain elsewhere) and of her nemesis there, the Pit Fiend. Lillianth makes it clear to the PCs that she intends to destroy this Pit Fiend, even at the cost of her own life and those of her three companions - and this means inflicting major damage on Shaboath. An alliance could be on the cards.

Note that Lillianth doesn't know about Jaziritheil, the wastrilith Tanar’ri (see page 35), and if told about this creature she becomes very angry, claiming (rightly) that it has been sent by her enemies to sabotage her mission. If the PCs haven't killed this creature, she immediately proposes a joint venture to destroy it. If they have, she's impressed by their prowess and is actually sincerely grateful. All the female fiends perk up at this good news and at once warm to the PCs, treating them as trusted allies.

The PCs can cut a deal with the Tanar’ri, but the fiends' only interest is slaying Pallestren the Pit Fiend and his Baatezu retinue, after which they will depart at once to return to the Abyss. They may, however, be persuaded into accompanying the PCs as they attack other locations prior to an assault on Pallestren, but this will take careful negotiating on the PCs' part (and good role-playing on the part of the players). If the PCs strike them as greedy types, the ladies will offer their entire treasure (that is, everything in their war chest) in return for their aid. They will retain their human disguise as long as possible. If negotiations fall through and the PCs resume the attack, the fiends all fight to the death (whereupon they are banished back to the Abyss).

Can the PCs possibly trust the fiends? To some extent. They share a common enemy, the Baatezu, and it's in their interest to work together toward destroying this mutual foe. Once this is done, all deals are off. If the PCs have treated the Tanar’ri well, they may simply drop their disguise, thank the mortal fools for their timely help, and depart with promises of "be seeing you." After all, the characters have prevented the fiends from suffering the eternities of torture that await those Tanar’ri who fail in special missions of this importance.

On the other hand, the Tanar’ri are both chaotic and evil, so gratitude may not be enough to save the PCs. If any enmity has developed between one of the fiends and a PC, she may try to kill him (or her), drag him off to the Abyss, or whatever, especially if the character is wounded or weak. The DM will have to adjudicate matters on a situational basis. Remember that the Tanar’ri are, individually and collectively, no fools. Has that ranger really been weakened enough after the battle that the Succubus would consider that she could take him out? If she thinks she can charm him, get him away from his friends, and give him that sweet little kiss that will leave him sadder and a lot less wise, then she'll do it. Be merciless. If a deal is being cut, the Tanar’ri are smart; they know a suicide mission when they see one, and they will insist on an integrated strike by themselves and the PCs. Remember Janelle’s genius-level intelligence and Lillianth’s tactical brilliance. They won't be dispatched to one area while the PCs head for another; they will suspect that the PCs are sending them into a hornet's nest while the PCs take a soft option. When it comes to planning their joint assault, note that Lillianth can sense Pallestren’s presence, though she has no idea of the layout of the city. She will automatically be able to feel his presence within 200 feet, negating magic resistance and any magical barriers or wards.

Finally, the major exception to the previously described behavior of the Tanar’ri is the Alu-fiend Janelle, the only one of the ladies who is not chaotic evil. It is just possible that she may stay with the player characters when the rest of the fiends return to the Abyss; this depends on so many factors (whether she has formed a strong friendship or romantic attachment to a player character, how well the PCs have treated her, whether or not they have made her feel welcome, etc.) that it cannot be scripted but must depend upon developments in each individual campaign.

 
The Renegade Illithid

This faction is important, because they may be willing to ally with the PCs. Since Illithid are of lawful evil alignment, they can be trusted (up to a point). These Illithid are very strongly opposed to what the Aboleth are attempting to do in Shaboath. In this, they are at variance with most of their kind. They are led by an extremely charismatic priest of Maanzecorian, and they may be willing to negotiate with the PCs. Initially, however, they may be hostile. Tactics are dealt with following the location key.

The ilIithid can be reached by traveling a passage length of some 7 miles which has its own hazards. Map 25 on Mapsheet 5 shows the layout for the Illithid retreat. The location key below details the Illithid (and slaves) present in different locations. The location key is followed by a tactical and strategic guide for the DM. Note that the Illithid have many charmed slaves: Fomorian Giants, Broken Ones, and a half-elven thief. Ceiling height varies between 20 and 50 feet from place to place, and the entire complex is unlit. Illithid have diverse coinage and minor trinkets of value 1,100 to 2,000 gp (1000+ 100xd10) apiece. Their slaves do not have treasure. Exceptions are detailed below.

 
Tactics

The first response to an incursion here depends on the PCs' actions. PCs who do not immediately attack will not be attacked in turn; in this case, go straight to the negotiation section below. PCs who do wade in, weapons slashing and spells flying, will probably be repulsed by Illithid counterattack. Given the number of mind flayers and their allies present in these caverns, it is unlikely that the PCs will be able to overwhelm all the creatures in this complex in one assault. At some point, they will probably beat a strategic retreat.

How Ipshizeen (the effective commander) reacts to a PC incursion depends on how successful they are. PCs who do attack and manage to slay or disable a goodly number of the defenders in a single raid gain Ipshizeen’s respect. He casts Divination spells to learn what he can of them, thereby learning that their general purpose is to deal with Shaboath. He then offers an alliance. His likeliest tactic is to send Shasurita out flying and invisible with a message on a scroll, written in the elven tongue and attached to an arrow fired close to the PCs; Shasurita then returns to the Illithid. If this happens, give the players Player Handout 23. Ipshizeen’s intentions are wholly sincere. He has no desire to die, and he has the same goal as the PCs. If the PCs obey the instructions on the letter, negotiations can begin.

Alternatively, if the PCs kill only a few defenders, Ipshizeen will use the same divinational spells and come to the same conclusion, but he decides to try to argue from a position of strength. He and three other Illithid will plane shift close to the PCs and try to abduct one or more of them, plane shifting away with the PC in tow and taking him or her to the Illithid lair. Repeated suggestion and modify memory* spells follow until the PC hardly knows what time of day it is; Charm Person will also be used repeatedly until successful (all 20 Illithid in the complex can try this, one at a time). Ipshizeen then dispatches the same message to the remaining PCs, but this time add a P.S. to Player Handout 23, along the lines of "if you wish to see your friend again, you would be well advised not to attack us." Ipshizeen may, if the PCs put up a truly pathetic showing, try to mount an ambush. Ever cautious, he will try to use charm powers and such spells as Emotion Control and Mental Domination* to subdue them so he can employ them as slaves for his own planned assault on Shaboath. If the PCs then deal out some serious damage to the Illithid and Ipshizeen fears defeat, he orders the attack broken off and offers treasure and information in return for opening negotiations. He will plead that he did not know whether the PCs could be trusted and, after all, they attacked him and his people first. The ambush was only returning to the PCs the same treatment they had originally dished out to the Illithid, after all If the PCs agree, then again negotiations can begin. Ipshizeen coughs up 10,000 gp equivalent in treasure to mollify the PCs.

It's always possible that the PCs might use divinational spells to discover what Ipshizeen’s community are and what they intend. Given their magic resistance, it's unlikely this will be successful, but it's just possible. If the PCs initiate an offer of negotiations, Ipshizeen delays for 24 hours while he uses Divination spells to check them out. Then he offers to open negotiations, only mounting the ambush scenario described above if they seem unusually weak. However, this time if things go ill he offers 20,000 gp in treasure for a truce. If the PCs agree, negotiations can begin.

Finally, if Ipshizeen is slain, then young Bilikant can take his place; if both priests are slain, then this Illithid community lacks leadership and they can no longer function as effective allies. No negotiations will be offered or accepted.

 
Talking to the Mind Flayers

Set the scene! Ipshizeen is sincere but he likes to have every situational advantage he can. He keeps Shasurita invisible and out of the frame, but he gathers all the Illithid in a conclave, with every fomorian available standing around the circle of mind flayers and PCs. Broken Ones will be dispatched to the guard points. The conclave will be held in area 6, but Ipshizeen will keep the PCs waiting and will appear from area 7, resplendent in his ceremonial robes with the largest surviving fomorian behind him.

The priest begins by saying that he knows about the PCs and what they are doing. He is confident that his magic resistance will defeat any Divination spells they have attempted and that he can stretch the truth a bit, He says that he is interested in alliance with the PCs, because he also wishes to destroy Shaboath. He explains that the Aboleth are constructing a huge magical device which will extend the range of their domination abilities for miles, perhaps even hundreds of miles. He notes that some Illithid have allied with the Aboleth and even act as their couriers, but he and his community, being far more insightful and intelligent than those poor dupes, realize that the Aboleth will control everyone if they succeed. "That means you, and us. We are very different, but our differences are not significant compared to the mutual threat we face. We could fight, and we Illithid would destroy you. But we would be weakened and unable to prevail against foul Shaboath. This would be senseless. We offer you the hand of friendship and alliance. We will, of course, need to discuss our understanding and terms of alliance. Those of you of trustworthy nature (he pauses and looks at lawfully aligned characters) might wish to discuss the details with me."

Ipshizeen’s intention is sincere. if the PCs ask for some time to consider the deal, he nods wisely and agrees, pleased that his potential allies are not "small-brained." In the end, the PCs can reject or provisionally accept and discuss terms. If they reject alliance, Ipshizeen will be angry but will not attack them. If attacked again, the Illithid will fight to defend themselves to the end; they have nowhere to go. so raise their morale to 19.

If the PCs provisionally agree, then Ipshizeen offers further information about Shaboath as a sign of good faith (if they ask for this before he offers, a successful Charisma check gets Ipshizeen to agree). However, Ipshizeen only agrees to talk to characters who are (a) lawfully aligned or (b) have Intelligence scores of 15+. Neutrally aligned characters have to make successful Charisma checks to be accepted into the further conclave. Chaotics are unacceptable, and Ipshizeen demands guarantees from lawful PCs regarding the behavior of their associates.

The Illithid here have been spying on Shaboath for some time, via Shasurita’s flying, invisible excursions (keeping well out of range of invisibility detections) and Ipshizeen’s own time pool investigations. Ipshizeen knows the broad nature of what the Aboleth are doing, although not all the details. He tells the characters that to stop the Aboleth, they must destroy "the Tower of Domination." However, this is not a single building but rather a complex of five different magical towers, each of which generates a field of magical power. The Aboleth are working to fuse the fields and generate a transcendent effect. "This is difficult for them, for two of the magical fields are hard to fuse-those of Enchantment/Charm and necromancy," Ipshizeen comments. "But they are close. The field generated by each tower is strengthened as they sacrifice spellweavers and magic-using creatures - including your kin and mine - to their infernal tower-machines. We cannot afford dispute. We must fight together." Impress on the players that beneath his cold, controlled exterior this Illithid really means what he is saying. They should not doubt his sincerity.

Ipshizeen knows also the general nature of defenders of Shaboath, and he has a partial map of the city. There are limits to the accuracy of his divinations, and some areas have been warded against Divination, so only certain areas are mapped out. He offers this, once terms have been agreed, if this happens, give the players Player Handout 24.

Now, the deal comes down to accepting terms of agreement. It is not possible to script these in this book, because the complexity of the possibilities are too great. However, as guiding principles Ipshizeen demands first some evidence of the PCs talents. Thus, he will want them to move first in any assault upon the city. His Illithid and slaves will follow up right behind them, but they want to see the PCs go in first. Second, he also wants to see that the PCs bear two things in mind: (a) it will obviously need more than one attack on the city to destroy the multiple towers therein, and (b) the PCs and Illithids should use every possibility for spying, Divination, and strengthening themselves before any incursion is made. Thus, for example, if the PCs say that they wish to return to the surface world to re-equip, get every one-shot magical item they possibly can, bring as many henchmen as possible for logistic support, etc., Ipshizeen will regard this favorably. The Aboleth breakthrough isn't going to happen next week; when Ipshizeen says "soon," he means "soon" in Illithid timescale, and Illithid live around twice as long as humans. PCs should not be over-hurried. Give them time to earn some more experience (for example, by carving up Fire Giant in the rift), but not an indefinite period. The DM must count the number of weeks of game time which expire after the PCs meet the Illithid, and make a note of elapsed time. During this time, the Aboleth magic constructs grow stronger. The PCs cannot tarry forever.

At the conclusion of negotiations. the PCs and Ipshizeen should sign a written document of agreement, each retaining copies. Ipshizeen wants to swear oaths invoking both his own Power and that of each lawful PC (preferably lawful neutral, but lawful good will do in a pinch), to seal the agreement. The DM should get players to draw up their own contract (an essential clause is that both parties agree not to undertake any form of hostile action against the other at any time in the future, of course!). Then, evaluate it. Make sure your players give you this document well in advance of game play. Illithid are geniuses, and you need time to get your genius hat on and check the small print. Think like an Illithid. Ipshizeen will certainly try to make sure that he minimizes risks for himself and his own faction, and that there are holes in the agreement which allow the Illithid to provide minimal support by default and let the PCs take most of the risks. The morality and ethics of entering into an alliance with the Illithid is dealt with in the next section.

 
Further Locations

On Map 25, passages lead away from the Illithid lair southwest and southeast. Those leading southwest lead, after a 5-mile stretch, to the caverns of a tribe of Gotri (Gotri (Duergar)), some 70 strong including 20 superior types (10 of 2+4 HD and five each of 3+6 HD and 4+8 HD). The illlithid regard them as an agreeable food supply. If the PCs want to attack the Gotri (Duergar), the DM should design a cavern system or modify one of the many earlier maps to accommodate them. The Illithid are not interested in the Gotri (Duergar), save for food, though they will happily enjoy fresh Gotri (Duergar) brains if the PCs go dwarf-bashing. The idea of enslaving or charming the Gotri (Duergar) and using them in the assault on Shaboath does not appeal to Ipshizeen, who regards the Gotri (Duergar) as too weak to be of much use. The nest of Gotri (Duergar) should have a total of some 60,000 gp in treasure; the suggested magic haul is a Ring of Protection +2 +2, slippers of spider climbing, and a scroll of wizard spells scribed at 14th level bearing Magic Missile, shield, Wall of Fire, and Web.

The southeastern passage leads to an extensive catacomb system which is home to some 90 albino Deep bugbears. Again, the Illithid have no interest in them save as meals. If the PCs want to mop up the bugbears, the XP haul will be weak only some 4,000 gp in treasure and a single dagger +2. Again. the DM should design his or her own cave system or modify a previously used map.

 
Negotiating Alliances: "The Enemy of My Enemy..."

Can PCs justify alliances with Illithid and Tanar’ri? Certain of them may have moral problems with this.

An alliance with the Illithid is justifiable to moral pragmatists. These particular Illithid aren't actually much of a major menace to any good-aligned creatures, given the location of their lair; they mainly dine off bugbear and (Gotri (Duergar)) (both evil races). In addition, they are actively opposed to an evil (the Aboleth) which has already done great harm to many of the PCs' own people and promises to dominate vast numbers of good-aligned creatures. Neutral good and neutrally-aligned characters should have be able to accept the alliance as "a necessary evil," and even neutral good characters who are of the "if it's evil, kill it" variety should be able to buy the pragmatic argument. Chaotic good characters may be appalled at the idea of allying with lawful evil, but they have a mutual lawful evil enemy and the threat is one of mass domination and enslavement. This is a case of accepting the lesser evil to combat the greater one.

Lawful good characters, especially priests and paladins, may have more serious reservations about allying with Illithid. This is especially true for PCs of the "awful good" persuasion. It depends on whether they are moral absolutists or not. If they are, then they're beyond rational argument and alliances are probably impossible. Role-playing will play a major role here for some characters. Do not force the PCs into the alliance if they are genuinely appalled at the thought. The issue is one of individual purity verses "the greater good." Allow them to make their own choices and respect their decision, so long as they understand that by refusing the alliance, they significantly reduce the chances of victory over an evil far more terrible than the one which offers alliance. Characters willing to take the moral responsibility for this possible failure should be allowed to do so.

The solution may lie in a Commune spell. If this is used, the lawful good priest or paladin may be advised that alliance with the Illithid is acceptable on the following conditions: (1) the PC must not commit any evil deeds in the course of the mission, or permit others to do so if this is within his or her power; (2) the alliance must be short-term, lasting only until its specific goal, the assault on Shaboath, is achieved; (3) the PC must seek atonement immediately afterwards and accepts a quest (as well as making a hefty offering to the temple or faith he or she serves). Note that it is noy acceptable for the PC to cut a deal with the intent of killing his or her erstwhile allies once the mission is complete; such blatantly chaotic behavior should be considered an severe alignment violation.

Allying with the Tanar’ri is much more problematic, of course. If the DM does his or her work well, the PCs may never realize the fiendish nature of these four ladies. If their disguise is pierced, the PCs must wrestle with their consciences. Lawful good PCs should be appalled at the very thought of such an alliance. Neutral good pragmatists can justify it; the fiends are not planning any further hostile action against any non-evil creatures on the Prime Material at this time and plan simply to destroy other evil beings and then exit to the Abyss. The "destroy the greater evil to preserve the greater good" argument is acceptable here. Chaotic good characters should enjoy the chaotic behavior of their new allies as well as be able to accept the mutual goal of overthrowing tyrannical, enslaving lawful evil. Neutrally aligned characters should have no moral problems with the arrangement.

It's up to the PCs which deals they cut and how. Once again role-playing is the key here; the DM must demand that they justify their positions in terms of their characters' personalities. Paladins simply cannot be allowed to light-heartedly ally with Tanar’ri, but a paladin who has already entered into an alliance before realizing the nature of his allies might be justified in keeping his or her own part of the bargain as part of his or her own moral code, for example. As far as such player characters' patron Powers are concerned, the close association with seductive chaotic evil beings might be a good test of the character's moral fiber.

 
The Refuge

Map 26 on Mapsheet 5 shows the layout of this small cave, an ancient tomb looted long ago. The entrance is difficult to locate, as it lies some 20 feet above the floor of the main cavern (secret door roll or Intelligence check to notice). The winding passageway is only 5 feet high and 2 feet wide. At three points along the rough stone passage, there are traps:

• Trap #1. At this point, an ancient, desiccated corpse lies on the floor. The floor here contains a pressure plate which, if stepped on by anyone weighing more than 75 lbs., causes a dozen rusty spikes to shoot out from the walls, floor, and ceiling. Each has a THAC0 of 15 and strikes with enough force to cause d6 points of damage. The spikes withdraw back into their hidden sockets 3 rounds later. This trap cannot be disarmed, but It is simple to step over the pressure plate once it has been identified.
• Trap #2. The floor is hinged at this spot, dumping anyone who steps upon it into a pit trap filled with metal stakes (2d6 damage from the fall and d8 for each stake; assume that d6 stakes will hit a human-sized target). The floor panel can be wedged into place by anyone making a successful Remove Traps roll.

• Trap #3. A deadfall here causes the roof to partially collapse on anyone who fails to step on the deactivation pressure plate directly beneath it; the rocks cause 3d6 points of damage.

Setting off any of these traps alert the occupant of the chamber beyond of the intruders' approach, unless masked by silence 15' radius or the equivalent.

The Ancient Tomb

This chamber has been roughly carved from the stone. It is dominated by an ancient stone coffin on a raised platform in the center of the room. Behind this coffin lurks the missing mage Jelenneth.

This is indeed the kidnapped apprentice the player characters set out to find at the beginning of the campaign. The intervening weeks (or months, as the case may be) have not been kind to her. Despite repeated efforts by kidnappers, Derro, kuo-toa, and mind fIayers, she managed to resist all attempts to charm her into being a docile slave. Eventually, after a number or attempts, she managed to escape her captors by leaping overboard while being ferried across the Sunless Sea. Making her way half-drowned to the shore, she look refuge here, knowing that any pursuit would concentrate on the passageways leading up to the surface. Once she deemed that the hubbub had died down, she made a number of scouting forays, one of them almost up to the City of the Glass Pool, but has found no escape route that she could take without perishing.

During the time of her captivity, she was totally cut off from any access to spellbooks, but she was able to pick up a few thieving skills from fellow prisoners. Subsequent experience in the school of hard knocks has given her plenty of opportunity to use and improve those skills. She now bears little resemblance to the eager young mage who was kidnapped from the Baron of Mutton in Milbourne; her dark hair is hacked short, her outfit is little more than rags and an old cloak, and she bears many scars from repeated attempts to break her spirit. Only by her piercing green eyes might player characters be able to recognize her from the miniature portrait they saw the night she was kidnapped (Intelligence check to remember).

When the characters enter, Jelenneth is crouched invisibly behind the empty sarcophagus, along with her familiar Jhoil, a strange ferret-like creature who looks something like a hyperactive furry snake with tiny legs at front and hack; his keen sense of hearing and smell help warn her of approaching danger. She will cast her phantasmal force to make it appear as if a lich is rising up out of its coffin to repel intruders and demand (from her hiding place, in as husky a tone of voice as she can manage) that the tomb robbers leave the ancient dead in peace. If characters attack, she will have the illusion respond as best she can from her limited vantage point. Should the characters discover her, she feigns surrender, then makes a bolt for it, sacrificing her Mirror Image if need be. Should the PCs somehow let slip that they are from her home and have come looking for her, she will be momentarily overcome, before muttering "Well you sure took your time about it!" Naturally, if at any point the PCs somehow reveal that they are foes of the kidnappers, she will warily reveal her presence.

Despite her relatively low level, Jelenneth will wish to join the PCs for their final assault on Shaboath, remarking that she "has a score to settle" with whoever is behind the kidnappings. The DM may run her as an NPC or hand her over to a player to become a player character or henchman. Give each PC a 300 XP story bonus for finally succeeding in their original mission of finding out what had become of Tauster's apprentice.

 
Other Locations

The DM may wish to include other side-passages and cave systems to those shown on the map on the inside front cover. The following adventure hooks are included for DMs whose player characters may need a few additional experience points before venturing out onto the Sunless Sea.

 
Giants in Thrall

A group of some 30 to 40 Stone Giants prowls in one cave system. drawn by the lure of a baneful monolith which has a Sympathy effect for Stone Giants, with a range of 5 miles. The stone, which is a minor artifact, changes the alignment of the giant to neutral evil over a period of 1 to 4 months. Destroying the artifact could be difficult but not impossible for the PCs; the giants regard it as a sacred object and fiercely resist any attempts to harm it. Once the thing is destroyed, the giants revert to their natural alignment in d4+4 days. They will be grateful for their release, but they will want to get away - their memories of their enslavement are as those of some nightmare, and they won't want to stay in the Deep and help the PCs directly. However, d4+1 weeks after they have returned to their mountain homes they send gifts thanking the PCs - gems with a gp value equal to half the XP value of the freed giants as well as a hammer +3, Dwarven Thrower (if there is a dwarf PC, otherwise a similarly useful item). PCs should earn experience points equal to the XP value of the Stone Giants they free here.

 
Trouble with Fungus

A small group of Myconids is fighting a losing battle in another cave complex against a crazed, exiled Morwen male, Otyl Erys, who suffers from the delusion that he is a minor god of fungus. The Morwen has a Wand of Plant Charming (the wand has 22 charges left) and commands a small army of fungal monsters (including Gas Spores and Ascomids). He is also accompanied by a small group of Wererats, all armed with short swords and light crossbows, their bolts dipped in paralyzing venom. Otyl has demanded that the Myconids worship him as their god. The Morwen should be a tough opponent. The Myconids desperately need help; if the PCs free them from their persecutor, they will supply their deliverers with 10 sachets of powder of hallucination. They have no treasure to offer the PCs.

 
The Dao Miners

An infestation of Dao (a dozen or so, with 2d6+6 Earth Elementals) is at work in a convoluted cave system extracting precious gems for removal to the Elemental Plane of Earth. The Dao fight savagely against any and all intruders; if the PCs seek some very difficult hack-and-slash, this is where to find it. The Dao have good treasure in gems (d4+4 x1,000 gp value each) and they have also brought with them from a distant site a wondrous treasure - a chitinous tarrasque plate which was almost wholly crafted into shield form before the dwarves crafting it were slain (by the Dao). It would take only d4+4 weeks to complete the work, to yield a shield +5, but only master dwarven craftsmen could complete the task and they would want a huge sum in payment, of course.

 
Isles in the Sunless Sea
 
Traversing the Sea

Basically, the PCs need one or more boats. There is no material in the cavern suitable for crafting boats, of course. There is a Folding Boat on Szandur’s Isle, but the PCs still need some sort of water craft to get there in the first place. The PCs might try lugging canoes or the like down to the cavern, probably having hirelings carry them, but they'll have to take them down the 30-mile stretch of passageway to the Sunless Sea themselves. Attack and damage rolls, and penalties to surprise, can be imposed by the DM as he or she sees fit for PCs trying this and no, they can't bring mules with them. Razor rock, in particular, is absolutely impassable for mules.

This leaves two options. The DM can allow the PCs to trade some particularly nifty items discovered prior to this for a Folding Boat before they get to the Sunless Sea. Alternatively, a minor/major creation spell can create a temporary vessel (a very crude, hollowed-out wooden rowing boat) which can hold at least some of them, while others use fly spells and the like to accompany their friends. If the latter option is taken, wizards would do well to memorize multiple creation spells or perhaps place a few on scrolls. Swimming is out of the question for armored PCs, of course, and is deeply hazardous besides. A wandering monster check should be made on the "Aquatic" table on the inside back cover for every mile of sea covered by swimmers or water-walkers, and for every other mile for characters in some sort of boat.

 
Szandur’s Isle
  Isle of Shadows   Pyramid of the Ixzan  
Other Islands

Other islands and one underwater site in the Sunless Sea are noted on the map on the inside front cover. No detailed locations are provided for them here. Should the PCs visit these sites, the DM may want to customize miniadventures suitable for a short play session based on the following suggestions or substitute other encounters of his or her own devising. XP awards are suggested below. Magic items gleaned from these side-adventures should not include any powerful items; use potions, scrolls, other one-shot items, wands with a handful of charges, or very low-powered +1 items which can be traded by the PCs for one-shot items when they return to the surface world.

  The Isle of Derangement   Geyser Rock   Sunkenhome  
Great Shaboath

The great city of the Aboleth is the final goal of the PCs. Destroying the Tower of Domination here requires much careful preparation.

 
Preparing for the Final Battle

The PCs should return to the surface world and re-equip, train, and conduct magical trade as before. They may wish to hire henchmen and, if they have no allies to fight with them in Shaboath, the DM may allow them to hire some high-level muscle. A 10th level fighter and an 11th level thief would be appropriate, but these NPCs will want to be paid serious money; at least 2,000 gp per week in addition to a fair share of all treasures and magic garnered and a watertight guarantee of raise dead or resurrection if needed. There are also other possibilities for advance preparations at this stage:

 
Scrying

Magical scrying of Shaboath should be allowed to yield information as normal, with one exception. Nothing can be learned of any of the Great Towers of Shaboath by any means other than Commune spell. With other spells, the DM should review the locations of this chapter from Map 30 and give PCs information accordingly.

If a Commune spell is used, only a Power with a direct and major interest in arcane and magical secrets will be forthcoming. Irrespective of questions asked, the Power will tell the enquiring priest that the Aboleth are constructing a complex of towers; that these will have a combined effect which will generate a powerful and very extensive domination effect; and that all towers must be destroyed for their work to be undone. A tower may only be destroyed by magical means, using magic from its opposed school of magic. The priest will be advised that the aboleth's work is not going to culminate immediately, but it isn't going to take all that long either. The Power is no more precise than that.

If the PCs do not use a Commune spell, or pay an NPC priest from a faith they have cultivated previously in the campaign to do so (which should cost 25,000 gp), then the DM may want to have the Rockseers give the PCs this information from their own scryings.

 
Allies

The PCs will encounter two possible groups of voluntary allies during their exploration of the Sunless Sea: the renegade Illithid led by Ipshizeen and the small Tanar’ri group. An earlier chapter detailed the ethics of such alliances. The logistics are another matter.

The Tanar’ri are desperate and pragmatic; thus they're prepared to work with the Illithid as well as the PCs. They'll ally with anything. The Illithid are deeply unhappy about the fiends and refuse point-blank to work directly with them. It is possible, though, to persuade the Illithid to accept a three-way alliance if the mind flayers and fiends are kept totally separate. This means the PCs will have to split into at least two groups, one with the Illithid in tow and the others with the fiends. Players whose PCs are not in one group can be allowed to roll dice for attacks etc. of the allies, but the DM should, as always, retain veto control over NPC actions. Note that no voluntarily allied group will agree to undertake any strike against any location within Shaboath without at least one PC accompanying them; they are smart enough to notice when they are being set up or sent on a suicide mission or at least up against the toughest opposition while the PCs head for the soft spots.

The PCs may also have henchmen, freed slaves who will join them (Jelenneth, the paladin Geronmen, Snaggler the dwarf, and others they may liberate from Shaboath), controlled Derro, and/or charmed creatures such as the Fire Giant from the great cavern rift. The more the better, except that a charm spell is a very double-edged thing and the PCs would be well advised to use charmed creatures as shock troops and sword fodder capable of inflicting initial damage (insofar as this is in accord with the PCs' alignments, of course). They should be prepared to lose them quickly, though, and to make sure that if the charm is undone (or, worse still, overcome by Aboleth domination) the PCs are not themselves in a position to be decimated by this reversal.

The Illithid, once a contract has been agreed, will fight with the PCs until one of two things happens: either 50% or more of them are slain, or 25% or more of them including Ipshizeen are slain. After this time, they will assert that the agreement can be nullified because of excessive casualties and they will desert, fleeing far away.

The fiends are more difficult and unpredictable. Lillianth will stay and fight to the death, but her henchfiends may well flee when the going gets tough. The chance of this is 15% for each Alu-fiend and 5% for the Succubus. These percentages are increased by 25% each if Lillianth is slain and by 10% each if any of the other fiends is slain. On the other hand, these fiends have been down here on this mission quite a long time and welcome the chance to socialize with the PCs, so it's possible that a friendship or romance may spring up between one of these ladies and a PC, in which case the DM should let role-play and not a random roll determine her actions. Note that several of the ladies may focus their attention on the same PC, becoming quite jealous of any attentions paid by a PC to one of their "rivals": they view the discomfort this causes the character as a harmless bit of sport.

 
Farewell to the Rockseers

The Svirfneblin can be of no further direct help to the PCs at this stage. They will appreciate it if the PCs tell them of their adventures and what they have learned, but they cannot tell them anything else. If the PCs have any kind of alliance with Tanar’ri or Derro which the Svirfneblin know about, the PCs will be shunned.

The Rockseers are another matter. Their emissaries to the surface elves have been well received during the PCs' adventures underground, and they have learned of a hill or mountain range close to the lands of the surface elves (the DM should determine a suitable location within his or her own campaign). The Rockseers feel their isolation much more keenly than before and after a great conclave they have determined to leave their old home and migrate to a new one. This is a time for leavetakings and very mixed feelings. The deep elves have a sadness and a sense of wrenching themselves away from their roots, but they are also excited at the prospect of a great adventure and a new life - far enough away from the Aboleth that there is no risk to them there. Further, a charismatic priest from the surface elves has communed with Corellon, and a great wonder has transpired. Corellon has sent an avatar to the Rockseers and assured them of his forgiveness, and given them his blessing! The hearts of this people are filled with a great joy after this. The DM may even wish to stage this epochal event when the PCs can witness it, during one of their visits with the Rockseers, but this has to be done carefully. The appearance of an avatar is an event of terrifying, awesome nature (in the true sense of "awesome” - that is, the onlookers are filled with awe).

The Rockseers are deeply grateful to the PCs. After all, it is their contact with these brave adventurers which has led to this state of affairs. A whole new world has opened up for them. Aljayera will tell the PCs all he knows from his own renewed scrying, warning them that the great magical towers of Shaboath block all attempts to conduct such magical operations. He can give them the information noted above for communing. He also knows the following: there are Baatezu emissaries in Shaboath, including at least one fiend of great power; Illithid, Kuo-toa, and Derro throng the city; most of Shaboath has risen to the surface of the Sunless Sea, for reason which he does not understand, but some parts are submerged, so the PCs need water breathing magic; there are many charmed or dominated slaves used as workers and guards; the heart of the city is the great pool complex surrounding the magical towers. The heart of this magical nexus is the central tower within the pool. Aljayera believes that a singular Savant Aboleth of immense power dwells there. Aljayera can tell the PCs of Savant Aboleth . Aljayera also knows that there is a magical flux point within Shaboath, though he does not know exactly where. Obviously, if the PCs can find this it could make getting in and out of the city quickly much easier.

Aljayera commends hit-and-run tactics to the PCs. He says that he considers that the Aboleth may complete their work within a matter of weeks. However, Shaboath is far too strong to decimate in one strike. In all likelihood, at least three assaults will be needed (this depends to some extent on how many allies the PCs have). The PCs should try, initially, to weaken the city by freeing slaves and looting any treasure and especially magic they can find. Aljayera advises them not to try attacking the towers in a first strike - after all, since they cannot be scried the PCs need to see them and try to get some estimate of what guards are in the area and so on.

The DM should review the PCs' interaction with the Rockseers to date. If they have gone out of their way to be helpful in downtime in the campaign, keeping an eye on the progress of the Rockseer emissaries on the surface world and making a real effort to cultivate their friendship with the deep elves, then Aljayera has a final gift for them: a Helm of Brilliance. This should only be given if the PCs have really made efforts to keep in touch with the deep elves and shown real concern for their friends. Average role-play is not good enough; only distinctly superior role-play should be rewarded with this gift.

Being neutral, the Rockseers are unconcerned about any alliances the PCs have with evil beings, but Aljayera warns the PCs about the risks they run with such allies and urges them to take precautions against treachery or loss of magical control (with the Crown of Derro Domination).

 
The Great City of the Aboleth (Great Shaboath)
 
Glory!

The PCs have a long way to get home (unless they can use mass teleport or flux points to save time). Don't hassle them with more than a few, perfunctory wandering monster encounters. The PCs are surely strong enough to deal with them easily, and this will be anticlimactic anyway: assume that all the (surviving) monsters of the Deep have heard of their deed and give them a wide berth.

Back on the surface world, the PCs have gained a reputation among the shakers and movers of their world. Travelers' tales will filter back of Deep creatures falling into chaos and disorganization, of kidnapping rings and bandits on the surface world having disappeared or ceasing their operations; there are all kinds of tales (mostly wildly inaccurate and embroidered) of the Rockseers, of course.

Powerful figures and organizations will watch the PCs with interest. Some will regard them as equals, others as possible allies or high-level pawns they can steer in the right directions to further their own global designs. There are subtler ways of dominating worlds than that chosen by the Aboleth, and the PCs may find themselves part of some other grand scheme before too many months or years have passed. But that will be a campaign for some other time, and for now the PCs can enjoy some quiet times enjoying the fruits of their gains. This may be a fine time to find some frontier land, settle down and build a castle home, and tell tales of the Deep to adventurers seeking hospitality as logs roar in the great hearth. But the call of adventure will come again, soon enough...