-	-	-	-	-
Lands of Deepearth	-	-	-	DSG

Geography: This is primarily a large central cave with four
connecting smaller caves branching in the four cardinal directions
of the compass. Each of these smaller caves is higher than
the central chamber, and each pours a small trickle of water into
the central cave.

The caverns are all of natural origin, and are bedecked with the
full array of beautiful cave formations. The small amount of water
here is enough to insure that these are living caves.
The side caverns are relatively narrow, never more than 50 feet
wide at their widest point. Their ceilings sometimes climb as
much as 20 feet from the floor, but more often drop to heights of
six feet or even less. Each of these side caverns is about a mile
long. The large central cave is nearly a mile in diameter and is
more circular in shape. The ceiling climbs more than 100 feet
above the floor in the center of the cavern. Earlier denizens
erected a series of six mighty stone pillars to support this roof. At
the center of the large cavern, the four narrow streams converge
to feed a small pond. The pond has no surface outflow; the water
leaks through the porous rock on the bottom and seeps slowly
through the earth.

Denizens: The only intelligent beings inhabiting this remote
section of Deepearth are the mind flayers, or illithids. About 25 of
these repulsive creatures live in the large central cavern. Occasionally
they send out small groups to explore and scout nearby
areas. Although these scouting parties sometimes return with
prisoners offered as fodder for the other illithids, their main purpose
is to keep track of the subterranean activities in the area,
and to sound the alarm over any invasion of the illithid homelands
far below.

The only other denizens of this area are an assortment of scavengers,
including carrion crawlers, otyughs, rats, giant rats,
slimes, jellies, and oozes. These foul creatures generally remain
in the four side caverns and survive on carcasses left behind by
the mind flayers.

Resources: Four small streams provide the caverns with a
limited but steady water supply. The air is smelly and stagnant,
but neither the illithids nor the scavengers seem to mind.

Unique Features: The mind flayers live in a small group of
stone buildings erected by the caverns’ previous dwarven occupants.
The one-room structures are arranged in a circle around a
central pool. A single mind flayer guards each of the four caves
leading into this area.

The mind flayers keep a substantial trove of treasure piled
loosely in a secret room below the floor of one of the huts. The
trap door leading to the room should be treated as a secret door.
The treasures include coins of copper, silver, electrum, and gold,
as well as a few gems. A couple of magical weapons, several
scrolls, and a half-dozen potions round out the collection. If the
treasure is discovered by your PCs, tailor the gp value of the treasure
and the specific weapon and magical item descriptions to
the needs of the group.