Deep within the bowels of the Earth there
lives a fell race, the drow, who conspire and
plot to enslave and destroy the surface realms.
The webs they spin are many, and the tendrils
of their power can be felt from the Crystalmist
Mountains to the Pomarj. Yet as deadly as
these creatures are, they are pale shadows
compared to the grim power they worship-
The Queen of Spiders

The story of the Queen of the Spiders is one
of plots within plots, wheels within wheels.
Each level of the conspiracy has its own masters
(or mistresses) and hidden reasons for
their actions. All the parties involved wield
their own dread powers and are forces to be
reckoned with. It is recommended that at the
start of the adventure no characters be of less
than 8th level, with 10th level the norm as the
characters leave the surface world and journey
into the sunless realms of the depths beneath
the earth. Characters of less than 8th level will
quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the
creatures they must face, and it is recommended
that those of much lower levels begin
play with Temple Of Elemental Evil or Scourge
of the Slave Lords, which provide the groundwork
for this adventure. Just as characters of
too low a level will have difficulty dealing with
the encounters within, those of supremely
high level (18 + at the start of the adventure)
will undoubtedly find the challenges within
unsatisfying, and surely one such as Lolth
would not wish to let into her web any opponent
she feels could give her a fair fight! Such
characters are best left running their own baronies
and kingdoms, provided what support
they may for lesser adventurers.

Getting Started
Before starting the adventure, each player
should have the Players Handbook, a set of
dice, and his or her character. Unearthed Arcana
will also be helpful for the players, not
only for new spells and classes, but for understanding
some of the beings and encounters in
this adventure. The DM should have his copy
of the Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster
Manual. The Fiend Folio@Tome and Monster
Manual ZI will prove valuable as well for full
descriptions of some of the monsters the players
will encounter. If the DM desires to expand
the realms of the underearth beyond the scope
presented in this text, the Dungeoneer’s Survival
Guide is highly recommended.

For ease of play, the adventure is divided
into chapters, with each chapter lasting about
an evening of adventuring (some evenings
may entail covering two chapters, while some,
like the chapters involving challenging Lolth
on her home plane, may take several evenings
to play.) The DM should carefully read the
chapter (or two) to be covered in that evening,
highlighting or marking any sections in the
text to serve as reminders of specific details of
encounters.

Refereeing the Adventure
The ultimate success of this adventure in your
campaign rests upon you, the DM. It is your skill
and knowledge, not only of the adventure and
the AD&D@ rule system, but of your players as
well, that determine how enjoyable your games
with this adventure are. There is no “right” way
to run any encounter. There is only your way of
running encounters. You may add or delete from
the story as you see fit. What is contained within
is only a skeleton, it is your input that makes it a
worthwhile adventure.

The adventure begins with getting the characters
to Sterich, where strange doings are
afoot. If the characters in your campaign have
played through A 1-4, begin play with the
Prologue Section that follows. Characters
gathered together for this adventure begin on
the borders of Sterich in Chapter One.

Upon discovering malign forces afoot in the
nations bordering the Crystalmist mountains,
the players are directed to the first of their staging
bases, the Steading of the Hill Giants. What
the characters find there leads deeper into the
mountains to the south, to the Rift of the Frost
GiantJarl (Chapter 4), and finally to the Halls of
the Fire Giant King (Chapter Five).

Deep in the bowels of the Fire Giants’ halls,
the players should discover something of the
nature of the creatures that have urged the giants
to attack human lands-the drow. The
drow are known to most of humanity, at least
by legend, but an organized force that is powerful
enough to manipulate the giants into
war with mankind is unheard of!

The trail of the drow leads deep within the
earth, through the realms of other evil creatures
unseen by mortal eyes for centuries, terminating
finally in the Vaults of the Drow, and the city of
Erelhei-Cinlu, where the dark elves rule.

Yet the trail does not end there, but leads
off the Prime Material Plane entirely, for the
truly malevolent force behind the ills of
Sterich is the Demonic Queen of Spiders,
Lolth! Only by confronting her will the PCs be
able to free the land of her dread curse.

As can be seen, the adventure begins simply
and quickly snowballs into an epic adventure
where the fate of the world may rest firmly in the
hands of the PCs. This is the nature of the adventure,
that as one foe falls before flashing
swords and flaming spells, another is discerned
behind it, one more powerful than the first,
which must in turn be defeated.

This adventure is designed for use with the
World of Greyhawk” Fantasy setting. It may
be adapted for use in your own campaign either
by locating it in a similar area in your own
game world (another mountain-bordering
state suddenly beset by gigantic invaders and
demonic citadel-stealing would be ideal), or
by a gate or telepon that places the adventurers
on the borders of Sterich as all the Abyss
breaks loose, and the only way home is
through the lair of the Queen of the Spiders

Finally, the demoness’ statistics and abilities,
though they have appeared elsewhere,
are summarized in Appendix 1 for use with
this adventure. Appendix 2 contains a complete
list of new magical items that appear in
this series. Appendix 3 summarizes further
adventures in the maze-like realm beneath
the Hellfurnaces, and Appendix 4 suggests
further adventures for the Demonweb Pits.

Creatures
The statistics for all creatures encountered
are collected for your easy reference. The complex
details of the drow, kuo-toa, svirfneblin,
and other-planar creatures (demons and
daemons) are collected in Appendix 3. Study
these (especially the drow) before you begin
the adventure; many of the details will be
needed regularly.

The less complex details for all other creatures
are summarized in the map booklet, in a
central section. When you start any part of the
adventure, remove the campaign maps and
collected creature statistics from the map
booklet, and keep them handy; they will be
needed for every encounter.

Treasures
Most creatures have valuables of some sort.
Whenever gems are noted, the base values are
given in the text. Use standard procedures to
check for variance, rolling 1d10 for each gem
(or for lots of 5 or 10 gems, as you choose), applying
the following results:

1dl10 Result
1 Increase to next higher value, and roll
again using ld8. No stone may increase
more than 7 times.
Double value; do not roll again.
10% -60 % (ld6) greater value; do not
roll again.
4-8 No change.
10-40% (ld4) less value; do not roll
again.
Decrease to next lower value, and roll
again using ld8+2. No stone may
decrease more than 5 times.

<table>

** Introduction **

The Schemes Of The Drow
There dwells a race deep within the recesses
of the earth, a race that shuns the light of day
and worship fell beings such as spider-demon
Lolth. This is the race of the dark elves, also
called the drow.

This adventure revolves around the machinations
and plots of the largest drow community
in the Crystalmist mountains, the city of
Erelhei-Cinlu. This great drow city, the largest
of its type, is located in the beneath the
Hellfurnaces, but the plots spun within its
walls threaten to draw in all the overworld nations
and their peoples.

In Erelhei-Cinlu, the chaotic drow have a
semblance of order in that they are ruled by
eight great noble families who preside over 16
merchant clans. The city maintains male and
female fighting societies to keep rivalries between
families and clans in check. A separate
clerical organization, worshipping the spiderdemoness
Lolth, maintains a loose control
over all of the above.

Such has been the way things have been in
Erelhei-Cinlu for centuries. The drow clergy
have encouraged the worship of the spiderdemoness
Lolth, and the demoness gained
great power in this plane as a result.

Recently, however, there has been a split in
the noble families of Erelhei-Cinlu. Two noble
families, House Eilserv and the lesser
House Tormtor, have sought to extend their
power over the surface world through actively
encouraging evil agents in the lands above. It
is house Eilserv that provided the support for
the slave-lords of the Pomarj, and have been
rallying the giants of the Crystalmist mountains
to raid the human lands.

This sudden increase in activity (with the
equal increase in power for the houses involved),
brought those two houses into conflict
with the other noble houses of the vault.
The other six houses felt that Eilserv and
Tormtor were acting in an unseemly fashion
and appealed to the clerical followers of Lolth.
The priests attempted to bring Eilserv and its
ally back into line, but the houses (led by
Eilserv’s ruler Eclavdra) pulled away from the
worship of Lolth entirely, instead offering
their veneration to a nameless Elder Elemental
God, and encouraging his worship among
their servants in the surface world.

The situation among the drow houses is
critical. The other nobles are as yet unwilling
to strike against the rebel houses in the open,
but an uneasy peace exists. Both factions
maintain an uneasy truce in the subterranean
city of Erelhei-Cinlu, but each side is watching
the other. The Merchant clans continue
their trade in the underground depths, each
relying on a noble house for protection. Only
the existence of the fighting societies prevents
open warfare.

While the Noble houses of the dark elves
feud, the demoness Lolth spins her own webs.
She has been growing in power over the years,
despite the defection of Eclavdra and her ilk.
Using the power she has gained, she is ready to
make her next step; the invasion of a world!

Lolth draws worlds into her web, worlds to
be conquered. She intends to add the World
of Greyhawk to her collection.

Lolth controls one of the 666 layers of the
Abyss, and uses her power as ruler of that
realm to attack realms in the Prime Material
Plane. She has many under her sway already,
and is attempting to subdue others through
her servants on those plains. Her next target is
the Oerth, home of the player characters. She
intends to suck the dimension in, a bit at a
time, and place it within her realm. Once she
has done this, she will crush the population
and enslave them to her will.

The drow are unaware of Lolth’s exact
plans, only that she has great interest in
Oerth. Eclavdra, leader of House Eilserv, is
concerned that any plan by Lolth will reduce
her own temporal power, and so is encouraging
the giants to step up their attacks on the
lands of the Yeomancy and Sterich.

Lolth, in her own way, sees Eclavdra’s forces
as softening up the area for her main attack.
She does not, however, wish Eclavdra to become
truly powerful on the planet she is about
to conquer, nor does she wish houses Eilserv
and Tormtor to become the supreme ruling
houses in her new world.

This is how the player characters first come
to Lolth’s attention. The demoness is aware
that a band of hearty adventurers has already
foiled one of Eclavdra’s plots in the Pomarj,
such that Eclavdra has approved the removal
of these characters. Lolth sees these characters
as a potential threat to her own plans, and so is
setting one against the other. If Eclavdra’s
agents slay the characters, they will be out of
position when she begins her operation. If the
PCs defeat the agents, Lolth will arrange to
send the players after Eclavdra’s giant allies, so
as to weaken Eilserv and Tormtor and reward
the loyal houses of Erilhei-Cinlu. If the players
characters defeat Eclavdra and discover the
demoness’ own hand in the matter, Lolth “rewards”
the characters by permitting them to
come into her web and die at her hands.

Each side sees the player characters as a resource,
a cat’s-paw to be used against a rival
without risking their own hides. Neither side
considers the player characters to be a true
threat to their plans, and this may result in the
overturn of all their schemes.

The Factions of Erelhei-Cinlu
The following information is an overview of
the drow society for the Judge. In general, the
drow are untrustworthy toward non-drow,
and will band together against a common
threat. This material is represented in the section
on the Vault of the Drow, and is included
here so the DM is not confused by the early
appearance of letters from Eclavdra, and
brooches bearing the motto Despanna.

<tab>
Worshippers of Lolrh
House Kilsek
Clan Hook (Allied with Puffball)
Clan Puffball (Allied with Hook, Gem)
Clan Gem (Allied with Puffball, Fungi)
Clan Shelf Fungi (Allied with Gem)
Clan Mushrooms (Lozenge, Crescent)
Clan Horsetail (Lozenge)
Clan Lozenge (Mushroom, Horsetail, Cres-
House Despana
House Noquar
House Everhate
cent)
House Godeep
House Aleval
Clan Morel (Crescent)
Clan Crescent (Morel, Mushrooms, Lozenge)

Worshippers of the Elder Elemental God
House Eilserv (Elcavdra)
Clan Coiled Whip (Prism)
Clan Bars (Bone)
Clan Bone (Bar)
House Tormtor
Clan Chain (Prism)
Clan Prism (Chain, Coiled Whip)

There are 2 outstanding merchant clans.
Clan Urn is neutral to all other houses and
clans. Clan Star is similar, but favors Eilserv.

Most NPC drow encountered are Chaotic
Evil in the extreme. They are cruel, corrupt,
and contemptuous of ‘‘lesser’’ races. All others
exist to serve them in attaining their particular
goal, primarily, and secondarily, the goals
of the drow as a people. They have seen the
benefits of banding together, and will not betray
their people for a handful of coins,
though they agree to help if it help advances
their own schemes. Afterward, of course, their
non-drow allies may be fed to the spiders
while they laugh and applaud. Drow are always
looking for their “angle,” and how they
can benefit to the greatest degree in any particular
situation.

__________________________________
"If you wish to discover the cause of all
your misfortune, be at the Tattered Flag
Public House tonight. Do not fail to come
or you will never know the source of your
ills. I will know you.”