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Lands of Deepearth	-	-	-	DSG

Geography: This relatively small series of caves shows considerable
evidence of excavation and decoration. The AREA consists
of a single entry tunnel, smoothed and widened to a uniform
width of 30 feet and ceiling of 10 feet. This corridor leads to a
huge, domed chamber nearly 1/2 mile in diameter. Massive stone
columns support the ceiling. In the exact center of the chamber is
an elaborate temple carved with bestial shapes.

The temple is surrounded by concentric rings of two- and
three-story stone buildings separated by wide, smooth avenues.
In the cavern wall, a ring of crude stone barracks provide the only
simple quarters in this ancient city.

At the end opposite the entrance tunnel stands a tall palace,
surrounded by elegantly thin columns. Huge brass doors stand
shut-the only closed doorways in the city. Hundreds of rooms
branch out to either side of the main entrance, and the facade
towers fully 100 feet high and stretches for 300 feet to either side.
At 60-degree intervals about the circular walls of the cavern,
five additional tunnels branch out to smaller caverns. These are
now uniformly dusty and empty, although they once served as
farmland for the residents of the city.

Denizens: The original builders of this city were the duergar.
Shifts in the water table centuries ago caused their wells to dry
up, and the race was forced to migrate deeper under the ground.
Now, not a single creature or plant lives in the AREA. There are
nonetheless denizens here-unliving denizens.

An honor guard of undead stands at attention around the massive
hall of the palace. Hundreds of zombies, skeletons, and
mummified leaders stand arrayed to lead the host to battle. If the
doors to the palace are opened, the orders to attack are given.
The undead pursue a foe only to the juncture of the tunnel from
Area 6 with that to Area 7.

Resources: No fresh air has entered this region for centuries.
The AREA is completely dry--there is not so much as a cup of
water here. The air is stale and smells faintly of decay. It is of very
poor quality, and characters exerting themselves have to stop,
gasping, after 2d6 rounds. Recovery takes 1d6 rounds.
Virtually all items of value were stripped from the city by the
duergar upon their emigration. Stone furniture is common in
most of the buildings, and few wooden items (shelves, chairs,
etc.) have survived. The wood is fragile and quickly crumbles
under pressure.

The side caverns were once used to raise edible fungus, and to
corral cave-pigs and other livestock. Now, a thick layer of dust
covers dry soil in each of them.

Unique Features: A secret trapdoor in the floor of the great
palace hall leads to a large smithy. Great furnaces, long since
extinguished, line the walls, and a massive black anvil occupies
the center of the shop. The anvil radiates strong magic. It is the
forge of power of the duergar. It weighs 25,000 gp. Any weapons
or armor hammered into shape upon this anvil gain an enchantment
bonus of + 1. This cannot be used to improve an existing
weapon, however. When combined with the hammer of substance <>
wielded by a dwarven or duergar <weapon>smith, weapons of +2 or
even +3 enchantment can be created.