Geography: This area is connected to the canyon by one of
the access tunnels, and also can be reached via a long natural
cave from Area 9. A number of large, relatively open caverns join
to form a maze-like circle of rooms. Many of these chambers are
several hundred feet in diameter and 50 or 60 feet high. Even the
tunnels connecting the caves to each other are relatively broad
and high. There is no passage that would impede the movement
of a large ogre or similar creature.
The caves are relatively devoid of cave formations, although an
occasional stalactite descends from above. Any features that
might have once arisen from the floor have been removed. With
the exception of this modification to make the floors smooth and
easy to walk across, the entire area is the product of natural erosion,
not of intelligent creatures’ excavation.

Denizens: Each of the dozen or so chambers in the area is literally
carpeted with thick growths of fungi. Every variety of mushroom,
including shriekers, violet fungus, and a host of edible
fungi grow in these caverns. The floor of each chamber is lined
with a deep layer of soft loam, and a faint smell of decay hangs in
the air.
Many of the fungi have been carefully tended and cross-bred
so that they grow to extreme heights. The caps of the tallest
mushrooms tower as much as 30 feet over the floor. Narrow paths
lined with crushed stone wind among the fungi. Movement off the
paths is virtually impossible without crushing some of the fungi.
The tenders of this vast underground plant garden are the
members of an isolated band of myconids, or fungus men. The
myconids live in a large, central cavern-the only one not choked
with growing fungi. From here, they dutifully move among the
other caverns, tending the fungi by cleaning off any blight and
clearing away any creatures that threaten to eat them.
The most important duty of the myconids is the irrigation of
their fungus forest. Since there is no natural water supply in the
area, they journey down the tunnel to Area 9 in a regular relay,
returning with huge, inverted mushroom caps filled with water.
The precious moisture is then allocated in precise amounts to the
various caverns, keeping the fungi crop healthy and thriving.
This branch of myconid society includes all levels of fungus
men, representing a full circle of 20 individuals. The myconid
king is a very old fungus, and takes his responsibilities quite seriously.
Although not hostile or warlike, the myconids guard their
domain jealously, and tend to drive off intruders rather than
inquire as to their purpose.
The king has animated a number of zombies with his animator
spores, and these serve as the initial guardians of the area. The
myconids do not participate in combat unless all of the zombies
have been defeated. The zombified creatures include several
humans, a number of mobats, a pair of derro, and a host of jermalaine.

Resources: The air here circulates fairly well because of the
tunnel linking to Area 7. Nonetheless, the dampness and mustiness
fostered by the loamy floor and spongy inhabitants creates
a closeness that makes the air unpleasant to breathe. Water, as
mentioned, must be imported into the area. The myconids maintain
a stone cistern for their own use, and the rest of the water is
used to keep the soil moist.
The fungus forest could provide a virtually unlimited food supply
to any hungry creature with access to it. The guardian
myconids make this access very difficult, however.

Unique Features: One of the caverns contains fungus that
thrive with limited light. A small boulder, about one foot in diameter,
has been enchanted with continual light and permanent levitation,
giving the stone a very slight negative buoyancy. When a
myconid tends the fungus in this room, it kicks or hurls the glowing
stone into the air. Over a period of several hours, the stone
slowly sinks back to earth. When it is airborne, it sheds steady
illumination over the entire room. When it falls back to the
ground, only the area immediately around it is illuminated.