The Halls Untoward

A collaboratively stocked dungeon

for fantasy role-playing games

v1.0

Compiled by Michael Prescott

This text and all imagery is free for non-commercial reuse

under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license v4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Table of Contents
The Halls Untoward..............................................1
Eastern Hall Map..................................................2
Western Hall Map.................................................3
Western Halls Encounters....................................4
Eastern Halls Encounters....................................5
The Halls...............................................................6
Unusual & Magical Items...................................35
Monsters..............................................................41
Rituals & Skills...................................................46
Thanks
This book would simply not exist without the enthusiastic work of
the contributing authors:
Aaron Berger Maezar
Aaron Lavacave Magimax
Anne Aunyme Malcolm S
Ary Ramsey Mark Zimmer
Ben Woodhead Max Vanderheyden
David Perry Nigel Swan
Derek Carbonneau Rob Brennan
Devon Kalo (Crazy Weasel Rob Smith
Gaming) Sam Zeitlin
Eneko Palencia Scott Charlton
Goblin’s Henchman Sean Smith
Gordon McCormick Shane King
J Lavacave Steve Christensen
James Scheffler Tim H
M Grant (Monster Darlings) TY Chan

Cartography and layout by Michael Prescott. If your name isn’t

on this page and you think it should be, consult this table:

d6 Explanation
1 Your name is a registered trademark in
Dradkin. Who would have guessed?
2 Someone else claimed they’d written your
bit, and I flipped a coin. You lost.
3 A pseudoscion from room 69 mashed the
keyboard while I wasn’t looking.
4-5 On the other hand, it could have been a
cat.
6 Arg, sorry.
The Halls Untoward
The Halls Untoward are half a mile below ground. Originally they
were a small way station along a very long underground road.
Over time, the halls accumulated shrines, small communities,
workshops, temples, mad wizards, and strange travelers. Each
carved a new space from the rock, took up an abandoned space
and made it their own, or pushed out the occupants of an existing
area.
The halls are divided into two halves, which are now only con-
nected only by secret doors. The way through from west to east
has been forgotten, and a century of abandonment has set it wan-
dering along its own course. Pretty much anything could be down
there.

1
Eastern Hall Map

2
Western Hall Map

3
Western Halls Encounters
d20 Encounter
1-2 2d6 rats/d6 large bats carrying random debris toward room 27
3 An Automaton like the one in room 14, looking for corpses to bring
back for its twin to cook.
4 Skittish murmuring ghost penitents (see room 5) moving from/to the
Oracle (room 6). On a 1-2 on d6, their progress reveals a secret door/
hidden feature.
5 1D2 thieving Sages, looking to steal unwatched belongings or pick
pockets. If attacked, they flee through 22a to room 15.
6 One victim of theft. Arbitrary species and gender. Nude, soapy, penni-
less, having been robbed while bathing in room 26.
7 d2+1 Arcane Researchers from rooms 37. They will lie, flee or fight
to prevent being followed to there. They have arcane skills but no
mundane weapons.
8 A wandering lunatic, driven mad by the song of the Calliope in Room
33. Quite mad. Possibly dangerous, to self and to others.
9 A necromancer and 1D4 splendidly dressed masked skeletal servants.
They search for ghouls.
10 1D4 ghouls. Familiar with these halls, they will use terrain to their
advantage, and flee to 22a if outmatched.
11 1D6 Dradkin, hunting a heretic, but happy to persecute ‘interlopers’ if
the opportunity presents itself.
12 Noisy confrontation under way: roll again twice to find the two sides
involved. d6—1: Battle, 2: Argument, 3: Revolt, 4: Ritual, 5: Contest,
6: Hunt
13 One of the d6 visitors listed in Room 4 Waystation Stable, they are en
route seeking advice or leaving and heavily laden.
14 A tcheth merchant and her automata guard/packhorse. She will trade
for supplies, but never for her guild’s route through the halls.
15 A clockwork dradkin, Ri’luth, on a wide patrol, identical to the one in
room 24.
16 A knot of migrating rock-worms drops from the ceiling.
17 A noise in the darkness, and the feeling of being watched. If investi-
gated, there’s nothing there.
18 The crushing silence of the deep.
19-20 1d4 lost travellers of the underground road, looking for a way back to
the road.

4
Eastern Halls Encounters
d20 Encounter
1 A man sized rock lizard. It is sitting very still and watching something
on the wall. If approached it will vanish.
2 D2 harpies, crawling along the ceiling
3 1d4 angry snakes
4 1d4 small lizards, being dragged by sandy magical tendrils towards
Room 42
5 d2 Fire Beetles
6 d6 Apocalypse Larva
7 A cave squid
8 A Dradkin heretic, trying to hide, and live in peace.
9 D6 Carreg, with a 50% chance of an accompanying shaman. They will
attack travellers carrying cut crystals of any kind.
10 A giant whip scorpion, hunting.
11 A heavily pregnant male ricalu, in search of medical aid.
12 1D4 adult deep-shrimp, hungry for ‘land-food’.
13 1D8 ricalu, variously deformed, uniformly hungry.
14 1D3 Charitable initiates on a completely innocent errand. They will
help the needy, of course.
15 Two Jorn masons, studying the stonework. Non-jorn are beneath their
notice.
16 A cave-stitcher and D4 of its horrific creations. It searches for room 6.
17 A noise in the darkness, and the feeling of being watched. If investigat-
ed, there’s nothing there.
18-19 The crushing silence of the deep
19 A beautiful melody fills the halls, sung by the harpies (room 36)
20 A pack of 1d6+1 Dread Reavers Stalking for the warmth of mortal
flesh

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The Halls
1. Descending Entrance
The walls are clad in white marble, carved with imagery of slen-
der Dradkin cavorting. Dradkin runes welcome all those coming
this way to the “middle temple.” The two sets of steps were once
slabs of white marble also, but they have been stolen, leaving a
treacherous slope of crumbling rock.

2. Parse Riddle to Pass Unharmed

The murals from the entrance continue into this room. Two huge
dradkin faces are carved on the eastern wall, and the two arch-
ways are their mouths. The door to the south is hidden behind
ornate relief work. The tiles are broken with weeds sprouting but
there is a patch of perfect tiles in the center of the room. If an
adventurer stands upon the tiles activates magic mouth.
“The Dradkin are gracious hosts. Welcoming both friend and foe.
Speak thy heritage and receive thy boon”
Once a race is mentioned the magic mouth: “Step forth”
GM can decide who the Dradkin called allies or enemies. Allies
are unharmed, but for enemies the mouths shut tight on the next
object to cross, perhaps severing a limb.

3. Storeroom for Uncompleted Masterworks

Half a tapestry hangs on the back wall of this hidden room,
falling through an ancient dusty loom into a loose array of color-
ful yarn. Small statues appear to emerge from stone blocks on a
worktable to the right. A locked bookshelf with ornate glass pan-
eled doors leans against the left wall. It is filled with bestiaries,
essays, and travelogues all begun but never finished. A tome sits
open with incomplete riddles scrawled in a neat hand.

4. Waystation Stable
This is a stable for travellers on the underground road, still used.
Deep ruts from the hooves of centuries of beasts of burden lead to
four large stalls. The alcove to the north (a) is a stinking, fun-
nel-like pit. A few flat shovels lean against the wall. When first
entering this room each day, see who has arrived (rarely staying
long):

6
7
 d6 Waystation Arrivals
1 Poor vagrant huddled under some blankets in a stall
2 Someone has left a load of mundane resources (or taken those
last left)
3 Traveling merchant with a few odd wares, maybe some guards
4 A small, shifty group of travellers, possibly here to visit room 6
or 9, or find the passage to the East
5 1d12 Dwarf pilgrims and their cave goats
6 A young noble’s entourage, visiting the memorial wall plaque for
the family St Leger, which conceals the secret door to Room 7

5. The Colonnade of Ghosts

This room is filled with the murmur of disembodied voices—the
sound of past penitents to the theatre of the Oracle (room 6). They
are invisible, harmless, and soon fall silent when noise is made.
After a few minutes silence the murmuring will return.

d6 Overheard snatch of conversation

1 “I always say ‘If the Bishop of Eastphylia wills it, then it shall be
done’ but that was not good enough for IT”.
2 “It is said that if you cross the screen with gold you will leave
with a lighter load”.
3 “Are you sure we’ll have enough to sacrifice?”
4 “Do you think that IT will cure Lord Hoster’s ills when we repent
our part in them?”
5 “Why did you bring silver? IT only accepts gold and rubies.”
6 “My worst luck yet, to be freed from obligation I must marry one
pure of heart.”

6. Theatre of the Oracle

There is an ornate iron rod screen at the top of the steps that
obscures vision into the back of the theatre. The screen is strewn
with mystical symbols - crescent moons, beetles, stars, … The
scuttling shadow within has a rasping voice - “What misdeeds
must you pay amends for?” The shadow can grant limited wishes
to creatures that genuinely admit their wrongdoings and shower

8
through the screen with gold (and/or rubies!). Every limited wish
will be combined with a geas.
This room is dusty but there are clear footprints heading both
towards and away from the stage area. There are no footprints on
the steps. Approaching too close or trying to ply the oracle with
silver will bring a warning then an attack—which may lead to
characters joining the ghosts.
7. Family Crypt of the Voyaging St Ledgers
This room is magically dark. Bones and scraps of decayed
equipment may be felt underfoot. The walls are ornately carved
bas-relief sculptures depicting the St Ledgers’ travels.
People feeling their way along the walls may sense vibrations,
then the walls animate and grab and then crush PCs but their
reach is limited so the centre of the room is safe.
Both crypts (a) and (b) contain a heavy stone sarcophagus with
a diseased mummy. (a) also holds a compass that always points
towards a named settlement and (b) an ear-ring that translates
spoken languages for the wearer.

8. Speculation is infinite
This room has two sections. The first section has a large ‘infinity
symbol’ across it (for the DM’s reference, the symbol is conve-
niently drawn on the map). That’s it.

9. Hall of Character Testing

There are 6 alcoves in this room, each containing a testing portal,
i.e. a portal of:

Might (eagle motif) Agility (hummingbird motif)

Wit (raven motif) Fortitude (albatross motif)
Enlightenment (owl motif) Charm (peacock motif)

Once in a lifetime a person may step into a single portal. Nothing

happens a second time. Passing through a portal triggers an at-
tribute test, appropriate to the portal’s motif. If the test is failed,
they permanently gain a bonus in that attribute (or gain a related
skill). Pass, and they are teleported to one of the locked prison
cells in room 12.

9
10. Gelatinous pool
This room contains a marble-clad pool.
The crystal clear pool has small golden fish skittering at its
surface. A mouth-shaped hole in the ceiling pours water into
the pool*. The raised sides of the pool have small drainage holes
to prevent the pool overflowing. A shutoff wheel is located at the
base of the pool.
The top third of the pool is filled with pure refreshing water; the
remainder is a gelatinous cube.
The gelatinous cube once tumbled into this ornamental pool and
now is unable to get out. It has grown large ambushing pass-
er-bys with its pseudopodia-like limbs.
* = For water flow, see Room 49.

11. Rare Plant Conservatory

This chamber has been enchanted to allow plants to grow this
far underground. Long planters run along the walls containing
many of the plants that supplied the kitchen and cooking autom-
aton in room 14. Alcoves in the south and West contain special
plants (Appendix) harvested specifically for alchemical research
by the Halls’ inhabitants and trade along the underground road.
Any plants harvested here will be harvestable again in two
weeks.

12. Jail (Rooms of Reflection)

The rooms with only one exit are locked prison cells. The other
rooms are abandoned guard quarters (with keys).
Room a - is sunken and half filled with water. A giant con-
strictor will slip into the room within D10+10 minutes.
Room b - contains an NPC of the character’s level. The NPC is
really a doppelgänger (which attempts to infiltrate the party).
Room c - contains D10+4 humanoids of the kind the PC last
killed in battle.
The other cells are uninhabited.
Note—Characters may end up in cells if they failed the test in
Room 9; they are to reflect on their failure.

13. Water Shade

This weak spirit manifests by warping sounds and manipulating
water along this hall and both sets of stairs. It appears as a cool
mist, dripping condensation, a puddle, or some combination of

10
these. It can also play with visions in mist or aquatic reflections.
Causing an intelligent creature fright gives the water shade
psychic sustenance and it is relatively harmless. Causing physical
harm or death increases the water shade’s potency.
One of the water shade’s favorite tactics is using condensation to
betray the seams of the secret door, then cause a nasty slip down
the stairs, which it can make dangerously slick. The door’s mech-
anism is badly rusted, so it must be pried open or forced, even to
oil it.

14. Cooking Automaton

A skull-headed automaton of wood and brass stands silently in
a makeshift kitchen. A whetstone, three well-worn knives, and six
portions of dried, smoked meat rest on a stained wooden table.

11
On the automaton’s back is etched, “Property of Ganer Sephrol
Andioth.”
In the corner, a small, battered cauldron is balanced on a
blacked marble slab over a cook fire. If anything dead (or sleep-
ing) is left in the room, the automaton springs to life, butchers it,
cooks the edible parts, leaves the bones in the hallway and burns
the rest.
15. Sages of the Mystic Mountain
Four ‘sages’, resplendent in stolen finery, lodge in this room. The
sages, practitioners of an obscure doctrine, range through the
Halls Untoward preying on unwary travellers. Once they have
draped themselves with sufficient loot, usually taken from the
sleeping or unobservant, they ‘enlighten’ themselves by dumping
it in heaped ‘mountains’. They will proselytize in obscure lan-
guage if no opportunity for theft presents itself.
The sages, wise to the Glockenspiel’s spell, have been feeding
the old man in room 16. They have also bartered free passage
from the ghouls in 22a, and, if caught pilfering, will attempt to
lead pursuers through the drowning hall.
The passage to the secret door is hidden behind a heavy cur-
tain. The door is not hidden from this side. The rest of the room
is a comfortable clutter. Amongst the mess: a blue scarf of
water-breathing.

16. The Guarded Glockenspiel

An old man sits on the floor before a stone plinth upon which
sits an ancient wooden glockenspiel. Carved into the walls
are musical notation for arias and dirges and folk songs.
The instrument plays itself, calling for someone to listen to its
tune. If the old man dies, the instrument will call strongly to any
who are nearby to become its spellbound audience for all eternity.
If the music on the walls can be recognised and the glockenspiel
convinced to play (or a party member to play on their own instru-
ment or on the glockenspiel itself) one of these tunes, the secret
door will open for one minute, before closing tightly again.

17. Passages of the Absent-Minded

These branching, featureless, and magically dark halls (which
include the north end of room 13 and the eastern section leading
to 18 and 21) are cursed to cause anyone that even thinks they

12
could get lost in them to make no actual progress. If they do not
suspect it, or are somehow able to prevent themselves from think-
ing about where they are going (pipeleaf perhaps), or on a 1-in-6
chance per turn to see and follow a rat running through, roll for
their destination:

d6 Destination
1 Exit to Room 13
2 Exit to Room 18
3 Exit to Room 21
4 Dead end with secret door to room 27 (fairly easy to detect)
5 23, a dead end with secret door to room 36. It is well-hidden, but
will slide open audibly soon after the party gives up and tries to
go back through the passages.
6 Run into any NPC previously led into these halls, OR a dead end
with a map of the halls carved into it, preventing the curse effect
(unless they suspect it is misleading)

18. Hall of Mirrors

The walls of the narrow corridor have eight large mirrors,
three of them are broken. Each mirror reflects a different ghostly
vision of who is watching: as a child, as an old man, turned into a
beast and surrounded by his dead friends. The last mirror of the
south wall does not reflect any image, is composed of liquid mat-
ter and can be crossed. If someone decides to break a mirror, the
ghost that is enclosed inside will attack.

19. Ring of Dread Lock Room

The inner wall of this circular hallway is inlaid with four hor-
izontal strips of brass that run the entire circumference, one
above the other. Each is etched with fragments of runes, and
every few paces is a round hole. By inserting pegs or poles into
the holes, the strips can be moved left and right along the hall-
way--they are in fact solid rings. By aligning all four rings so that
the runes can be read, the secret door to room 20 pops open. The
runes describe how to cast Chalice of Despair (see page 46).

13
20. Portal of Dread
This round chamber reeks of death and decay, though the
smell is hundreds of years old. Against the back wall is a round,
broken and cracked Portal frame. An altar sits at the center,
marred with many different colors of blood, long dried.
This chamber is where once a cabal of evil wizards summoned
and crafted vile monstrosities. The portal can still be activated by
twisting a crystal that rests in an alcove in the side wall. When
activated a black rift opens in the frame summoning 3 Dread
Reavers.

21. Alchemical Storeroom

These halls are crowded tightly with shelves and cupboards
once used by the evil wizards that built room 20.
It is impossible for more than one person at a time to pass
through the winding tight spaces, to turn around, or move
through in heavy armor without jostling the shelves, which are
stocked with thousands of tiny containers.

14
 Jostling these cupboards at all will cause ancient alchemical
components to topple and fall upon people who pass. The effects
are usually very painful (see “Alchemical Wonders” on page
35).

22. Graffiti-Covered Rooms

Both ends of area 22 were used long ago as campsites, later be-
coming a message posts of sorts until the walls became covered
with pictures, warnings, maps, clues, and other scribbling. The
messages have mostly been defaced or replaced with bogus infor-
mation, but there’s a 1 in 6 chance it’s still a correct and useful
clue.

22a. Drowning Hall

Several ghouls wait under the grimy, slime-filmed water when
interlopers enter here. The graffiti continues along the walls
from Room 22. The ghouls have also placed valuables from past
victims on the floor and steps, on a few pegs in the wall, and in
one chipped alcove. The ghouls attempt to paralyze a victim to
drown in the waist-high water so the ghoul can move to another
target. There’s a 3 in 6 chance that some useful piece of armor or
equipment lays here.

23. Secret Corridor

This narrow, unlit corridor leads between a plain pair of locked
iron double doors at one end, and what appears to be a dead
end at the other. The secret door here is secret from both sides.
The mechanism for its opening is ruined, and the stone door must
be destroyed to be opened.

24. Hall of the Clockwork Constructs

A mechanical dradkin, Di’luth, with ruby eyes tirelessly pa-
trols here. The walls are cracked and abraded above head height.
Di’luth challenges visitors in the ancient dradkin fashion “May
the gleam of your ancestors never leave your eyes”. If the charac-
ters cannot respond or if they attack then then the doors to 24a
swing open.

24a. Mechanical Ball

This room holds a bizarre rolling mechanical 15’ ball with
telescopic tentacles ending in cutters, grippers, energy beams and

15
pokers. It cannot move through gaps less than 15’ wide and strug-
gles up stairs. If activated it will kill and crush ruthlessly. Di’luth
(room 24) can command it.

25. The Great Mural

In this square chamber, the wall to the east and the great arch to
the north are covered by the remnants of an ancient mural. The
observant delver will notice the following scenes:

Mural Scene
The Dradkin five-faced god Jihaag’ra’drad, arms open, above the
main arch. Those familiar with Dradkin tradition will know that a
valuable gemstone would once have been embedded in the plaster be-
hind the area of his heart. Alas, all that now remains there is a hacked
hole.
A throng of birdlike creatures with the faces of women fly towards
a strange instrument while others of their kind lie beneath it with
serene expressions.
A scene of Dradkin Ujusoas—Gondola-like ships—floating through a
vast lake-cavern lit by flying bioluminescent jellies. One of the con-
tains a skeletal passenger who points to something above which can no
longer be made out.
A quartet of strange devices, each connected by belts and rods to a
central mechanism from which descends a long quivering pendulum.
A train of stout beasts led by masters with great spears. A howdah
bears the legendary trademistress Dhaiamara whose caravans of
swornlings and slags traversed these deep roads in an age long passed.
A long line of betentacled children with great black eyes and open
mouths of small sharp teeth. The figure at the front reaches towards
an area of the mural that has flaked away. Whatever it was, it was
reddish.
A basket, filled with something resembling corals
A great ribbon of brass adorned with strange runic writing, At the
end of the ribbon, an open door.
Two white hands hold a sphere, which radiates pinpoint streams
of light, one of which seems to end on another wall where it points a
location on a seacoast map.

16
26. Bathing Hall
Once opulent, this room is quite warm, and features ruined mo-
saics which had depicted scenes of dradkin bathing. It is difficult
to determine specifics of these scenes; they have been vandalized,
their tiles chipped away, or painted over.
The center of the room is dominated by a monolithic basalt
pillar, which is quite hot to the touch. Against this monolith,
away from the door, a massive alabaster bath is filled with hot
water. See room 49, the pendulum powers the flow of the water
into this room.

27. Eight Sorted Refuse Pits

This otherwise unremarkable hallway contains eight pits full of
refuse which has been compulsively collected, broken down and
sorted by the mundane bats and rats of the Halls. The pits are
sorted by material: wood, metal, bone, fabrics, leathers, food-
stuffs, glass, and liquids. Most items in the pits are barely recog-

17
nizable with rust and decay, but some useable recently-collected
materials may be sitting on the top, and some magical treasures,
being impervious to the march of time, may be underneath ten to
twelve feet of garbage.

28. Society of the Golden Door

The air is icy cold here. A Panurian wizard stands frozen in
front of the gilt-inlaid double doors on the north wall (to room
37). The doors are cursed so that any who touch them have eter-
nal bad luck (explained in large gold-leaf runes), and the wizard’s
globe of protection (glowing in his hand) has frozen him in place
to thwart the effect. (It’s hard to find good help.) With him are
two armored mercenaries and a lamp-bearer, all frozen.
Anything that comes within 10’ of the globe is similarly frozen (as
shown by a fringe of vermin frozen in place).
A Grinvolt monk hides in a corner of the ceiling, tucked into a
hammock made from a stone-colored tarp spiked into place. Part
of the original party, she learned Sitting Very Still from the Chil-
dren of Orpk (room 62), and has been waiting stonily for three
years for someone to free the wizard.

29. Broken Hermit

This room is empty but filthy. Upon the floor in a corner, is a
hermit sleeping in rags. If awakened, the recluse will weep and
gibber quietly about loss, and those who have left her. If anyone
tries to speak with this person, she will back away against a cor-
ner, and brandish the hilt of a broken dagger, wild-eyed. She will
fight until dead with bare hands if antagonized.

30. Magical Stick Figures

Steps lead down to what was once a prison for a mad goatfolk art-
ist who had gorged herself on wizard flowers which allowed her
paintings to come to life. Before being imprisoned her jailers had
cut off her hand, and so she had to use her off-hand to paint the
magical scenes. Unfortunately she could not paint with any real-
ism and so the walls are covered with stick figures in abstract
landscapes. It may be possible to enter these landscapes which
exist in a Flatland dimension, however it is more likely that the
party will meet a stick-figure Heelan who has stepped out of a
2-D desert, or a lonely Vinteralf who is invisible when they turn
to the side

18
 A rude graffito of a dying gnome was painted on the stairs, but it
is not magical.

31. Colorful Gallery

The walls of this room are festooned with now-faded gesso paint-
ings featuring raucous crowds dancing gleefully around an enor-
mous bronze face. Some of the streaks of color on these paintings
are very old dried blood.

32. Victim of Treachery

In the center of this room are dessicated remains, still clothed
and covered in dried blood, lying undisturbed since death. Careful
examination of the body will reveal a snapped-off dagger blade
buried in his neck.
The walls of this room also once featured colorful gesso paint-
ings centered around an enormous bronze face.
A particularly astute delver may notice that the old dried
bloodstain seems to seep into a crack at the base of the south-
ernmost wall.

33. Automated Amphitheater

Within a wide semicircular recess, surrounded by broad steps
where people may sit, there is a mechanical contrivance of
bronze, sculpted to resemble a giant woman’s head. This is the
Graceless Calliope (see page 35). Her eyes are closed and lips
pursed. Those who have such knowledge or are particularly per-
ceptive may see that there is a fire grate within her mouth, and
a funnel behind her, for filling a reservoir.

34. The Pilgrim’s Bridge

This room features a big pit cutting it in half, above which seems
to be a bridge. The bridge is actually an illusion and any careful
inspection will reveal that fact, but as long as someone believe
in the illusion they can use it without any problem. On the walls
some bas-reliefs illustrate how sinners fall into the abyss and
pure-hearted ones fly over it.
Actually the “fly over it” is a metaphor. A dangerous one since
a monster recently made this pit his home and took the habit to
catch anything flying over it with its sticky tongue. It can be spot-
ted by careful adventurers as its red eyes glow in the dark.

19
 The secret door on the north of the room is a more recent
addition and is easy to spot from the inside as the bas-reliefs are
poorly sculpted on this section. Coming from 24 however it’s far
more hard to figure.

35. The Bell of Devouring

Massive rune-etched bells, twice the size of a barrel, once hung
20’ above the alcoves of this vaulted chamber. One by one, age
and neglect brought them crashing down from their moorings.
Now a single bell remains. Although time has robbed it of its
shine, it appears intact. Its braided bell pull dangles 6’ feet off
the ground. Unfortunately, this bell is a mimic. Whoever tugs its
“rope” will be yanked high into the air, headfirst into its gaping
maw.

36. The Bell of Satiation

A single intact bell remains in the southernmost alcove. This
bell gleams from runes incised upon its surface. A pull dangles
just out of reach. Whoever manages to sound this bell will feel ful-
ly refreshed instantly, as though they were well fed, rested, and
at-peace. This bell can only be rung once per hour. Subsequent
attempts cause the bell to only make a dull thudding noise.
The westernmost broken bell once opened a secret door leading
to room 23. That door can be opened now by detecting the hidden
door and destroying it.

37. Laboratory Antechamber

This room is the living quarters of those researchers whose labo-
ratory, stockroom, and planetarium lie in the circular chambers
beyond. There are bunks for four people and four large heavi-
ly-locked chests, one at the foot of each bunk. These contain coins,
journals, and personal effects. Beside the door leading to 38, there
are four coat racks, with aprons, gloves, and simple caps, all in
white.

38. Laboratory of the Fabulous Octopod

A antiseptic-smelling laboratory, filled with scientific equip-
ment. A large, mottled-red octopus drifts inside a large, floor-
to-ceiling glass tank. On each tentacle is a very gaudy ring. She
offers a ring to the party if they help her escape the tank and
assist her to the nearest open body of water. Each ring is a magic

20
item (see page 38). The octopod (Salbevas) is an adjunct profes-
sor from Deep Sea University, and was stranded in the laboratory
when the other scientists fled.
Salbevas can only communicate by writing with a black grease
pencil onto the inner surface of the tank. On close inspection, the
party may read previous notes -- now just mostly-erased smudges
on the tank. The oldest and most-smudged notes are scientific
equations and chemical formulas -- relics of the collaboration with
the room’s researchers. Her skin will change texture and color
according to her moods, and how the conversation progresses with
the party.
On a wall near the tank is a large tapestry of a Penrose Tri-
angle -- behind which is a door to room 40. If the party is friendly
and helpful toward her, the octopod will definitely point out the
location to them.

39. Planetarium
In the center of this room is a meter-wide brass globe or orb
studded with tiny semiprecious stones, miniscule glass lenses,
and simple pinprick holes. This is the Spectroheliograph (see

21
page 38). This hemispherical room has no other light sources,
and the doors are behind heavy, black, light-blocking curtains.

40. Abandoned Non-Euclidean Storeroom

Built by whoever or whatever built area 38. Once entered, the
room appears relatively small for a storeroom, only 30 feet or so
in diameter. However, space is bent so that the closer you are
the centre of the room, the larger it is – this looks as if the room
were getting larger if you’re inside this bubble, and looks as if
your buddy is getting smaller if you’re on the outside. There is a
treasure chest on the far end of the room, which contains trea-
sure of the GM’s choosing and a Ring of Distant Skin (see page
37).
Brute-forcing your way by travelling through the bent space at
the centre of the room takes a week to cross. You could also just
stick to the walls, which haven’t been enchanted. It takes only 30
seconds to circle the non-euclidean bubble.

22
41. Bat-Winged Harpies
A chorus of twelve bat-winged harpies roosts in a grotto in the
ceiling of this chamber. A waist-high pile of feces and rotted fish
parts on the floor conceals a giant whip scorpion. The chorus
spends its time sleeping, babbling, and skimming for cave fish in
the waterlogged tunnels. Once a day they join their voices in the
most beautiful, heart-rending melody.

42. Scorpion Hatchlings

A cave goat carcass and its scattered cargo lie at the north-
ern end of this chamber. If the carcass or surrounding cargo are
disturbed a small swarm of whip scorpion hatchlings will
attack. Crushed hatchlings emit an odor that will attract their
mother from room 41.
The cargo includes eight days of well wrapped trail rations,
three flasks of lamp oil, assorted dwarf-sized clothes, a pince-nez
of examination, and 2d6 silver coins.

43. The Glimmerpool Hermit

A painfully shy hermit camps amongst the cave reeds and
accompanying bog that fill much of this cavern. The hermit fishes
the room’s waters in a cave-reed boat, avoiding visitors by pad-
dling to adjoining rooms when possible.
The hermit was once apprenticed to a harpy-obsessed natural-
ist. Following his master’s demise he realized an eternal truth:
speaking of danger brings it. Instead, if cornered, he will offer
nonspecific advice that, if followed, will defuse the dangers in one
or more nearby rooms (e.g. “Keep clean!”). Usually placid, he will
scratch and bite like a wildcat if taken towards room 60.

43a. Deep-Shrimp Crossing

A subterranean waterfall links the upper and lower legs of a
great deep-shrimp migratory path. Sentient, telepathic, and awk-
wardly introspective adult deep-shrimp migrate from the Darksea
to surface waters where they meet their end in a generational
spawning. Their brood, with infantile intelligence and sparkling
psychic exuberance, return down the fall after their first molting.
Many become trapped in the shallows, and the psychic light em-
anating from their decomposing carapaces give the Glimmerpool
its name.
Visitors are greeted by:

23
 d10 Greeting
1-2 d4 Adult deep-shrimp, climbing to the waterfall’s mouth
3-4 3d12 juvenile deep-shrimp hopping around the pools.
5 D3 murk stars, surprised to find themselves in a cave.
6-10 Mist, and the sound of falling water.

43b. Pearls of Wisdom

If the pendulum in room 49 has been stopped the Glimmerpool
will drain 10’ to half empty a long, narrow room. Three deep-
shrimp monastics guard this room, and the piles of glimmer-
ing pearls it contains. The pearls contain the psychically etched
memories of the prospective deep-shrimp parents, left for the next
generation’s edification. While the monastics will guard these
pearls with their lives, they will happily trade unetched pearls for
help restarting the waterfall.
Two stone-grated pipes, obscured by weeds, are also exposed
by the draining water. These 2’ arched osmotic pipes feed the
pools in rooms 10 and 26. Travellers who enter the pipes, even
when drained, will find themselves drawn as though by an invis-
ible current towards their grated terminus. The last half of the
pipes remain flooded.

44. Vault Of The Sandpuffer

There is a dusting of sand and several copper coins on the mo-
saic floor. The edge of the stagnant Glimmerpool lies to the west.
Against the east wall are six large sarcophagi resting upright.
Five are broken and looted. The sixth remains sealed. If opened,
a furious sandpuffer emerges. It will immediately ingest sand
from the floor and blast anyone nearby with relentless volleys un-
til it dwindles. Then, it will sludge its way to room 45 to feed on
the ensorcelled sandpit. If surfeited, it will coruscate madly and
rampage the dungeon.

45. Sandpit of Never-Leave

A rockslide gives way into a deep seated chamber filled with
sand. Buried here are bones, dried remains, and oddly shaped
bits of metal and fiber that may have once been some sort of an-
cient garb or armor long decayed. It is not until much later, long
after adventurers have left the chamber, that the sand covering

24
their clothes, their gear, and filling their boots begins to glow…
as it swirls around them, forming long-fingered shapes that grab
and claw to drag them back to the pit.

46. The shimmering pool of sacrifice

A silvery pool shimmers and ripples. Fresh food has apparent-
ly been tossed onto its stone rim, and the floor beside it.
Sacrificial victims from rooms 51-52 were once thrown into the
pool, in exchange for blessings of food.
The pool is, in fact, a portal to a distant temple. On the other
side, the faithful used to come in crowds, and the more victims
were sacrificed and sent through the portal, the more food would
be brought to be sent in return into this room.
Now, the far-side temple is almost completely abandoned. Some-
times, an old priest throws food through the portal just in case.

47. Stairs Guarded By Dungeon Barnacle

On the floor at the top of the stairs here there is a strange crack
in the stone, splitting two flat stone tablets that recede under-
neath the normal floor. This is a Dungeon Barnacle (see page
42), a deadly creature which lashes tentacles out at passers-by
opportunistically before dragging the dead inside to be digested.
If meaningfully harmed, it will recede its tentacles back inside,
shutting the stone off in front of it. It can spit acid, but only if the
stone in front of it is broken and its life properly threatened (it
prefers to let prey leave than fight to the death).

48. The Wandering Stones

There are four stones here (see “The Wandering Stones” on page
39). They are each the size of a child’s head, but smooth and
round and misshapen, worn by water or time or hands. Each
stone wants to be carried to a specific destination and any person
who lifts one will be compelled to bear it on their person until the
stone’s purpose is complete. The stones will fit into a backpack or
sack, but most are the perfect lumpen shape to be cradled in the
crook of an arm.
Beneath the stones it is just possible to make out glyphs carved
into the tops of the basalt pillars that support them. The
glyphs, when seen all together, can teach a spell that aids travel.

25
49. The Glum Pendulum
The circular room is full of bones. There is a large pendulum
hanging from the ceiling that is rotating in a slow but devastating
circular movement, a failure when trying to dodge it can be dead-
ly. The pendulum powers some other mechanism of the dungeon.
If someone decides to halt it in some way, the waterfall in area
43a will stop and the cave pool will drain, revealing an access to
a secret area (43b). Stopping the pendulum also stops the water
flowing to rooms 10 and 26.

50. Sanctum of the Four-sided Triangle

A preternaturally aged priest in insultingly simplistic robes lies
on the altar atop the stairs at the south end of the room. Her
name is Anell and she is worried about the contents of room 45.

26
Anell will happily explain the secret of the four-sided triangle
to the least charismatic player, who will then start spotting the
pattern everywhere.

51. The Jailer’s Vestibule

Once the post of a dutiful jailer, this room now holds only his
bones still seated behind her worm-eaten desk. Her bony hand
still clutches a mug with the word “Deputy” scratched on the side.
The inside of the mug is stained with an acrid brown resin. Her
keys are noticeably absent. An unpleasant smell comes from the
cells beyond.

52. Oft Overlooked Ortis

A yeasty smell mixed with the reek of unwashed body and filth
fills this place. The two cell doors between here and room 51
stand open. The rest of the cells are closed with heavy iron bars
and padlocked.

52A. Ortis’ Cell

In this cell stands a pale, filthy, nearly naked, and morbidly
obese man singing to himself while tending an elaborate still
that takes up most of the cell. The room is swelteringly hot
from the fire under the still and steam rolls out of the room. The
jailer’s key is secreted on his person and opens all the padlocks in
this area. He will attempt to scald, douse, or set aflame anyone
who tries to take it.

52B. Stashed Brews

Triple-padlocked, this room contains the product of the brewer’s
labors. Dozens of clay jugs, barrels, buckets, and at least one
highly suspect bedpan hold a variety of liqueurs ranging from
the sublime to the supremely toxic. See “Ortis’ Brews” on page
36 for their effects.

53. Carrion Entrance

The scents from room 54 below waft up to this room and to the
rising corridor above. The scents draw vermin and larger things
from above. In room 53 and in every 50 feet of corridor, make a
check for things drawn by the scent.

27
 d6 Encounter
1-2 Nothing
3 4d4 regular rats
4 d4 giant rats
5 d4 lizards
6 Special encounter (see below)

d6 Special Encounter
1 1d4 ghouls
2 ghast
3 tentacled crawler (generally on
the ceiling)
4 pudding (choose a color)
5 gelatinous cube
6 gibbering mouther

Most of these entities will see the PCs as something that stands
between them and a good meal.

54. Room of the Blood Entrance.

Those who come from room 53 are greeted by room that smells of
death and the rustle of vermin moving around. The floor is lit-
tered with the dead carcasses of all manner of creatures, mostly
vermin, but also the occasional humanoid or larger animal. The
dead are in all stages of decay - fresh to broken skeletons picked
clean. There are plenty of live vermin here enjoying the free
meals as well.
The room itself has outlines of doors of every size engraved on
the wall - large, small, overlapping, and even sideways (the door
is rotated 90 degrees right or left). Engraved on the floor, but
covered by the carcasses is a small engraved circle. Putting a
drop of blood of a live creature into this circle will cause the door
outlines to shuffle. If the death blood of any creature (no matter
how big or small) is used in the circle, the secret door in the south
wall will open. If the creature is already dead before the blood
is put in the circle, then there is no effect. The secret door in the
south wall is found at only ½ the usual chance.

28
55. Mirror of the Blood Entrance
The floor is littered with the dead carcasses of all manner of
creatures. It has outlines of doors of every size engraved on the
wall - large, small, overlapping, sideways. Covered by the carcass-
es is a small engraved circle.
This room is an exact north-south inversion of room 54. The se-
cret door is found at only ½ the usual chance, but it can be opened
from here in the same manner as from room 54. Whenever the
secret door is opened, it will precisely mirror anything dead or
inanimate (and not on a living person) that is in room 54 (opening
the door “updates” this room, the objects appearing from thin air).
Bringing any dead or inanimate objects created by the room
back through the secret door will cause the original in room 54 to
vanish. The secret door seals after any blood in the circle dries.

56. Decontamination Chamber

Crossing the mid-point between any two doors of this brass-
walled room will cause heavy mechanical doors to seal it shut.
Hot water and steam will forcefully spray into it from pipes in
the ceiling, scouring all surfaces clean, and draining through the
fine-grated floor. An intense “dark” light then strobes, accompa-
nied by a loud stuttering zapping sound, drying and sterilizing all
29
surfaces. A swarm of small gnome automatons then flood the
room through irising doors in the wall, confiscating any items
created by, and brought in from, room 55, and other select items
(GM’s call, or random). The doors then open.

57. Unicorns!
This room, a pocket dimension, is filled with endlessly refracting
crystals and an uncertain number of ephemeral unicorns. If
travellers enter the room, the door quickly becomes lost amongst
the reflections. While the unicorns can subsist on rainbow crys-
tal refractions they crave mortal food. Unfortunately, if fed, the
unicorns react badly, producing clouds of rainbow sleeping gas.
Unconscious travellers will wake in the cell in room 30 minus
their provisions. Enraged unicorns will use their mystic mastery
to fling shards towards the hearts of any who attempt to break
the crystals. Once speared, players can only express themselves
through fairytale allegories.

58. Lost Travellers

A family of laconic dwarves and their cave goats are making
camp here. They spilt their lantern oil fleeing the scorpion in
room 42 and are stuck here until they can catch enough fish to
refill their oil stores. The family entered the Untoward Halls
through room 53, but will not volunteer knowledge of hazards
without incentive.
They will vociferously demand the return of any cargo from
room 42 that they notice other travellers carrying.
30
59. Cacophonous Organ
A small organ stands on the dais: six iron pipes, badly rusted,
emerge from a wooden frame that is bent and twisted by moisture
and cave rot. It is powered by gravity: a large, lead weight can be
hooked to either end of a chain wound around a brass flywheel.
The weight is on the ground, but if hooked to the other end, the
flywheel spins and pressing the keys will cause noise. The six
huge ivory keys, each produce different effects. From left to right:

Key Effect of Pressing Key

1 A peal of high-pitched harpy laughter, meant to
attract curious harpies.
2 Cooing and hissing noises, harpy sleep noises
meant to pacify them.
3 A random metal object within 20 paces of the
organ glows red hot.
4 A terrible subsonic vibration rattles teeth and
causes cave fish to surface and splash.
5 A blast of rust powder fills the air, perhaps
blinding those near the organ.
6 A rapid chirping noise, made by Children of
Orpk when they assert their territory.

60. Naturalist’s Room

Both entrances to this room are barricaded with wooden box-
es. Some contain remnants of expedition gear: frayed rope, pots
of oil, lamps. Leather-wrapped bundles of rations have turned
to dust and mouse droppings. A desk in the corner bears a mil-
dew-eaten book. Inside are hundreds of hasty but lifelike sketch-
es of the harpies of room 41, and a schematic for the organ in
room 59. Inside the desk drawer is a pair Naturalist’s Spectacles
(see page 36).

61. The Unnaturalist

In the center of the room sits a rock lizard, dressed as the long-
dead naturalist. It has stuffed itself into the naturalist’s leather
coat, breeches and boots, and it wears a long green scarf, the ends
crusted with mud. Used ink pots surround it, as do sketches
of harpies, rock lizards and cave crickets. The lizard talks in

31
the naturalist’s voice. It is friendly to a fault, and desires noth-
ing more to introduce visitors to other denizens of the caverns,
dangerous or otherwise. It periodically wonders aloud where its
spectacles are.

62. Silent Orgy of Lizards

Two dozen man-sized rock lizards are intertwined, all along
the ceiling and floor of this chamber. These are the Children of
Orpk, and they are all Sitting Very Still (see appendix) as they
have done for years, making them seem like high relief sculptures
more than living beings. Crunchy eggshell fragments litter the
floor, and d12 immature lizards scamper in the crevices.

63. The Charitable Safe Haven

Here stand 4 initiates armed with staves. They wear sackcloth
and don’t look like fighters. They have heaps of food and water
arranged on tables which they will gladly give in exchange for
donations to their guild. They will accept promises for service in
exchange for their wares. Every now and then they have magical
items to give to the deserving but at what price? They may ask for
donations of harpy wings and pseudoscion eggs all to further their
aims. What are they—to help the weary traveller of course.

64. The Charitable Sleeping Room

The room is lined with bunk beds. On one or two of these are
sleeping adventurers with their gear safely stashed in nearby
lockers. An initiate guards the door to make sure none of the
patrons are disturbed.

65. The Mad Initiate

Solemn-faced initiates will enter this door from room 63 twice
a day, always in pairs. Weeks ago, one of their number returned
to the Safe Haven bearing signs of demonic possession. The Rites
of Cleansing were performed, but the entity could not be driven
away completely. When awake, the poor wretch spends his days
in silent meditation. When he sleeps, the demon can seize control,
causing him to shriek, thrash about, or spit curses in an inhuman
tongue. The compassionate initiates enter the room to chain and
unchain their brother to the wall… but as their Order dictates,
they do not discuss their internal hardships with outsiders.

32
66. Carreg Gates
A dessicated pseudoscion corpse slumps next to one of two
simple clay-brick arches that are built into the southern and
eastern walls of this room. The ‘doorways’ of these arches are
filled with still-wet clay. Roll on the Eastern Random Encounters
table. The result emerges from one of the gates.
Built by the genderless and clay skinned carreg, these arches
permit travel along the earth’s seams. To the uninitiated they
remain ordinary clay.

67. Falsesmith Forge

Grame, a young sculptor of incredible skill who dubs herself “a
falsesmith of great renown”, has gathered a great set of tools to
patiently work on obscure forgeries. She has nearly finished a
counterfeit pseudoscion egg and she will trade one of Salbevas’
rings for it (see room 38). She might lower her price if the PCs gift
her with any tools she lacks.

68. Haunted Antechamber

Once the storefront from which access to the pseudoscion in-
cubator was sold, this room is now a shattered mess. Thirteen
half-mummified corpses, three human and ten pseudoscion,
rest amongst the wreckage. A freshly slain ricalu keeps them
company.
The chamber is haunted by the conjoined half-souls of un-
loved pseudo-scions. They will animate the room’s corpses and
fling broken furniture at intruders, targettingthose approaching
the incubator (room 69) with particular fury. Pseudoscions can
pass unharmed.
Quiet observation reveals an unlikely family of chipmunks
living amidst the wreckage. They squeeze under doors to raid
unwatched provisions in room 64.

69. Pseudoscion Incubator

This room is dominated by a spherical apparatus partially
sunk into the floor. Its white porcelain plating is layered over
a pulsating, flesh-like substance that peeks through the cracks.
Pressing one’s hand against a clearly-marked handprint on the
apparatus causes a hidden barb to draw a drop of blood. The ap-
paratus then uses the blood to fertilize one of the eggs in its belly.
After ten minutes of rapid incubation, a pseudoscion is disgorged,

33
mewling and covered in artificial placenta (see appendix). The
apparatus has one hundred eggs, and can fertilize one every hour.

34
Unusual & Magical Items
Alchemical Wonders
Within room 21, if the cupboards are jostled, one or more alchem-
ical wonders will spill onto the person, causing a single random
effect. These effects are never beneficial, though there may be
beneficial components available to the skilled looter.
Ideas for effects include harm, slowness, sleep, paranoia, fear,
uncontrollable laughter, blindness, deafness, weakness, or dis-
ease.

The Graceless Calliope

This is a massive bronze steam-driven calliope in the form of a
sculpture of a woman’s face. The musical mechanism was en-
chanted when it was created, so that its song would fill weary
travellers with joy, but ages of neglect have taken toll on the
mechanical workings of the device, and the enchantment now
can only amplify the broken song within the hearts of those who
listen. If the reservoir is filled with water and a fire made in her
mouth, the sculpture will begin to hiss from the nose as the water
boils. After 2d6 minutes, the eyelids will open, and at this time,
whistles hidden within the sculpture will begin to operate auto-
matically and play a broken, pathetic tune, leading any who hear
it to become upset and unhappy. Particularly sensitive people
may even become violent against their own companions.

35
Ortis’ Brews
The qualities of of Otis’ brews are highly variable based on the
ingredients at hand, the state of his intoxication while brewing
and chance. When drinking any of his draughts roll on this table
to find the effects of that batch. Each container has 1d6 doses.

d6 Effect of Draught
1 You almost swallow a large insect wing and a doll-sizedshoe
with a curling toe. You have the power of flight for the next 2d12
hours, but when you attempt to speak only the tinkling of bells
are heard.
2 You are afflicted with a temporary insanity and not so fleeting
alcoholism.
3 You become fabulously drunk. When you sober up in 2d12 hours
you are stricken by such a powerful hangover that you find it
impossible to drink anything stronger than water for years to
come.
4 You are literally blind drunk for the next 2d12 hours. But in the
meantime you can see perfectly into the spirit world.
5 Ambrosia - this cask will bring a hefty price at any fine tavern.
6 This is certainly poisonous but is also a universal solvent. Any-
one cautious enough to smell it will know better than to drink it.

Naturalist’s Spectacles
Fine spectacles made of braided white metal, meant for capturing
details quickly. They cause the wearer’s eyes to rapidly flick back
and forth between a subject directly in front of the wearer, and
the wearer’s lap. The alternating is rapid enough to be uncomfort-
able after a few minutes, but if the wearer holds pen and parch-
ment, the alternating vision allows for very faithful capturing of
detail.

Pearls of Wisdom
Usually consumed by juvenile deep-shrimp, these pearls each
contain the collected memories of one adult deep-shrimp. If
consumed by a non-shrimp, the pearl grants D6 days of identity
crisis in addition to a life’s worth of deep-shrimp wisdom. Each
additional pearl consumed adds another D6 days of confusion, but
no additional insights.

36
Pince-nez of Examination
These worn pince-nez, in a slightly battered case, allow their
wearer to notice things about objects they are examining that
would otherwise go unnoticed. Unfortunately, they only function
on objects within 2’. Anything further away is blurred.

Rare Plants
In area 11, three plants can be found in special alcoves along the
south and west walls. These plants are the Drakin Dreamroot,
Dread Poppy, and Ostian Orchids.
Drakin Dreamroot is a fibrous plant that when ground into
a powder and consumed like a tea, will instill the drinker with
dreams that reveal brief glimpses of the future.
Dread Poppy is similar to regular poppy, but grown in Quick-
silver infused soil and watered with Harpy Blood. It was used by
the Cabal of Mages in area 20 to keep their victims Docile and
suggestible enough to imbibe the chalice of Despair.
Ostian Orchids are a rare breed of orchid that can be used in
place of many common spell components, making it an extremely
valuable commodity on the Underground Road for spell casters.

The Ring of Distant Skin

Found in area 46. It resembles a small silver ring with a checker-
board pattern inlaid that circles around the flat outer and inner
edges. When worn, the ring creates a small barrier of non-euclid-
ean space around the bearer which makes them ever so slightly
more distant from the world around them. It’s up to you to deter-
mine the exact meaning of this, but I would recommend making
the bearer harder to hit, but also make them have a harder time
hitting enemies. They should also be marginally worse at catch-
ing or grabbing things hastily, and take a tiny bit of extra damage
from falling.

37
The Rings of the Fabulous Octopod
Found in area 44. Salbevass the octopod has gaudy rings on her
tentacles. Roll one at random as a ‘gift’ if the party helps her
escape.

d6 Ring Effect
1 Ruby and gold. Engraved with the Deep Sea University coat
of arms, and the year Salbevass graduated. “Go DSU Fightin’
Manatees!”
2-3 Turquoise and silver.
4 Amber and wood. Inclusion in the amber: two tiny lizards,
locked in an embrace.
5 Quicksilver in a glass toroid. Activating the ring will trans-
form the wearer into a puddle of mobile quicksilver. Effect is
brief, and user will exhibit mercury poisoning effects (tran-
sient skin rashes, loss of hair/nails, itching as if insects under
skin, swelling, sensitivity to light, memory loss) the more it is
used.
6 Copper—encrusted with verdigris and small barnacles.
Allows the octopod to travel short distances (10 minutes) on
dry land. The octopod will not give this ring up voluntarily. If
one of the party wears it, they’ll be surrounded in a bubble of
seawater, and risk drowning.

The Sands of Never-Leave

The sand from room 42 if controlled by a talented magician can be
gathered in glass bottles. The magician can set an anchor point
with one bottle of the sand, pouring out a half portion into anoth-
er bottle which can then be used as a weapon to attempt to drag
foes back to the anchor point via the most direct route.

Scarf of Water-Breathing
This scarf, when wrapped around a user’s nose and mouth, allows
regular breathing under water. It is a pleasant blue paisley.

Spectroheliograph
This is a meter-wide sphere, studded with tiny features such as
glass lenses and semiprecious gemstones, small enough to be
otherwise worthless. It is however constructed with stunning
precision and accuracy. Beneath this globe is a round dish or pan,
38
polished to a gleaming brilliance. Any sufficiently-bright light
source placed in the pan will cause the orb to shine maps and
charts describing all of the heavens. A mundane fire of oil will
slowly generate enough updraft of air to set these projections into
accurate motion.
Any attempt to move or dislodge the delicate device will render
it inoperable.
The Wandering Stones
Found in Area 65. These stones are smooth and rounded but mis-
shapen, worn by water or time or hands. They are about the size
of a child’s head and quite heavy. The stone bearer will be unable
to relinquish the stone until its purpose is met. Nor will they
be able to grasp another stone while one is in their possession.
These stones will take up a significant portion of inventory and
weight, but give the bearer knowledge and motivation for poten-
tial future adventures.
What does this stone want? No two stones will share the same
goal. Each stone will know how to reach its destination and can
impart this to its bearer.

d8 What does the Stone Want?

1 To be placed in a specific chamber within this dungeon
2 To be carried to the highest mountain peak. The stone will
insist on continued travel until there is no higher point within
sight.
3 To be presented to a dragon for inclusion in its hoard
4 To sit on a throne of power
5 To be enshrined in a temple of blackest stone.
6 To rest in the ashes of a thousand books
7 To travel in the belly of a leviathan.
8 To witness death and blood and terror, as much as possible

Each stone has a specific relationship with each other stone. No

stone will have the same relationship with more than one stone
(a stone cannot be averse to more than one other stone) and no
two stones will have the same relationship with each other (two
stones cannot both be averse to each other). Here are several
possibilities:

39
 d6 Relationship with Other Stone
1-2 Aversion. This stone will refuse to allow its bearer to move
toward the other stone.
3 Adoration. This stone will refuse to allow its bearer to move
further away from the other stone.
4 Supremacy. This stone will refuse to allow its bearer to hold it
lower than the other stone
5 Attendant. This stone will refuse to allow its bearer to walk
before the bearer of the other stone.
6 Jealous. This stone will not want its bearer to share or give
anything to the bearer of the other stone.

40
Monsters
Apocalypse Larva
Fat white grubs (2-3’ long) cling to cavern walls, sloshing with
precious lichen oils. Passive, but if poked they burst, splashing
anyone near with flaming oil.

Cave Squid
A cloud of black tentacles, hanging in the air like an inkdrop in
water. They ‘swim’ through the air, fronds wafting on unseen
currents.
Normally constricted to a mass 4-5’ across, their tentacles
stretch up to 12’ if need be, and given time they can squeeze
through gaps only a few inches wide. Highly resistant to crushing
or piercing attacks.
Their venomous touch causes paralysis, searing pain, or control
of whichever of the victim’s limbs has been seized, depending on
the squid’s vile purpose.
They hunt alone, and act intelligently. Cave squid cannot see
those Sitting Very Still (see page 46).

Cave Stitcher
These large spider-like spawn of the demon Guguluin practice
a gruesome form of sorcery, “stitching” victims’ bodies into new
shapes by severing and reattaching limbs. The final form deter-
mines the spell they cast.
Some victims die during the “ritual”, while others survive to live
on as puppets of the stitcher, ever available to produce the de-
sired magical effect with a jerk of their silken tether.

Carreg
Genderless humanoids, with skin like supple clay. When healthy,
they are cool and moist.
They have small mouths, slitted nostrils and no eyes or hair:
unlike dradkin they are quite alien to to the surface peoples. They
“see” by means of air currents and ground vibrations, and are
unaware of light.

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Deep-Shrimp
Adult deep-shrimp are of a similar size to a large dog. While
usually willing to communicate with land-creatures via their
native telepathy, they will sometimes attack with their long
crab-like pincers. Capable of breathing outside water, they can
also ‘hop’ while on land, somewhat like fleas. Physical attacks are
usually preceded by dazzling mental fireworks. Monastic deep-
shrimp have honed these abilities further, and are often powerful
mind-benders.
Juvenile deep-shrimp are largely harmless to human-sized
creatures, and will use their telepathy to distract attackers before
escaping. They lack their seniors’ endurance on land, and will
expire in minutes without water.

Dradkin
To surface people, dradkin look fine-boned and delicate, with
jerky and unsettling movements. The majority are albino, some
yellowish with ruddy features.
Their eyes are small, and bright light hurts them. They are at
home in darkness, but use tiny lamps or naked wicks when they
can afford oil.
They have excellent hearing, which they supplement by placing
their long fingers against the cavern walls.
They make no cloth, but wear skins made from their dead (a fi-
nal gift), tailored with thread spun from hair, and make tools and
buttons of the bones. Each of their garments is named after the
giver, and precious to them.

Dread Reavers
The monsters in room 20 are semi-corporeal wraith-like creatures
that are drawn to the warmth of mortal beings. These creatures
are souls who have been twisted by the vile and illegal magics
harnessed by the evil cabal of wizards. They will claw at mortals
or try to suck the warmth out of them. Creatures without flesh or
heat, such as constructs and undead will be ignored by a Dread
Reaver.

Dungeon Barnacle/Cirripede
Dungeon Barnacles, or Cirripedes, are cave/underdark/under-
world/underwhathaveyou creatures that ooze a mild form of acid.
They use this acid to dig into stone and rock, where they shut

42
themselves off from the world with a stone gate. If something
passes by, they open up this gate and attack it with tentacles,
attempting to strangle or bash it to death, before dragging it in-
side where it can be digested (they dissolve food outside the body
before absorbing nutrients through the skin).
If a Cirripede is killed and dragged out of its hole, it is up to the
GM to describe what it looks like. Every Cirripede looks different,
as they grow flesh reactively to what portions of stone are dis-
solved first (in many ways, they are more like plants than ani-
mals).
“Larval” Cirripedes are grown in clutches of eggs (worth a pretty
penny to alchemists or wizards, if you feel like rewarding the
players for the kill) in their parent’s folds. They are asexual, and
upon birth drag themselves not too far away like octopi stranded
on land, where they find soft stone and dissolve their way into it.
Young Cirripedes eat rats, bats, and other little beasts – adult
ones will sometimes survive for months slowly dissolving and
eating the single corpse of something larger, like a Cave Troll or
Giant Spider.
There is a Cirripede in area 66

Fire Beetles
The brief adult beetle (2’) stage of the larva, they fly noisily on
crystalline wings. They occasionally spurt small flames, which the
observant can use to detect them.

Jorn
Descended from giants (so they say), the Jorn are tall and im-
mensely wide. Almost entirely blind, the long gray bristles on
their faces and backs are so sensitive that they navigate freely in
the dark.

Murk Stars
Long- armed starfish that glow a luminous orange, they exude a
paralytic mucus they use to catch fish and other prey.
Murk stars have a limited telekinesis that lets them fashion
protective bodies from found materials, and come ashore.
Siltbody murkers are slow-moving ambush hunters. Stronger
stars fashion bodies of stone for use in war, and are immensely
tough.

43
 A rare few master both the wit and subtlety needed to shape fine
humanoid bodies of clay. Many of these claybodied murkers live
in the more welcoming humanoid underworld settlements. Their
fifth arm resides in the ‘mouth’, curled up like a long, glowing
tongue.
They wear clothes, and participate in society fully. They are
mute, but communicate using a set of hand-signs, known to many
of their neighbors.

Pseudoscion
The pseudoscions created by the apparatus in Room 63 are some-
where between homunculi and children. They appear as human-
oids with black eyes, skin like clay, and a prehensile tentacle
sprouting from each shoulder-blade. Their facial features bear an
unmistakable resemblance to their blood “parent.” Pseudoscions
start off as infants, but age at the rate of one year per hour - so
after ten hours, a pseudoscion looks like a ten-year-old. They
must eat an enormous meal of red meat at the five hour mark and
every ten hours thereafter, or perish. It will die after 80 hours
of old age. If the parent is around at the birth, the pseudoscion
imprints and reacts much like a normal child. If born alone,
the pseudoscion will hunt for its parent, as well as for food. If
treated badly, the pseudoscion will be a relentless foe for its brief
life. If treated like a son or daughter, the pseudoscion can be a
useful ally, generally fighting loyally and ferociously once it is
old enough to do so. It will go through a rebellious, questioning
phase around 15 hours, and after 65 hours or so it will need to be
taken care of in its old age.

Ricalu
Ricalu goblins, while consistently ugly, otherwise vary in appear-
ance considerably.

d6 Random Appearance
1 Heavy, short and hideous
2 Near-spherical torso and long, bony limbs
3 Very hairy, peg-like climbing nails
4 Tiny eyes, whip-like tongue
5 Sticky skin, a yeasty stink
6 Hairless, hunchbacked albino

44
Ricalu see perfectly in the dark, and cannot tolerate light. Hard
work is expected in their society, and petty squabbles are unfortu-
nately common amongst their number. Some tribes are so inbred
that reproduction requires sorcerous conception and surgical
extraction.

Rock worms
One to two feet in length, these worms burrow through rock at a
glacial pace. Flesh provides less resistance, and an unwary trav-
elled can quickly vanish if caught in the path of a migrating knot.

Sandpuffer
The Sandpuffer is a slurry of sand, mud, and sewage from a
bygone age. It consumes sand greedily through its pores, growing
larger with each grotesque intake. Anyone disturbing it will be
blasted violently with a spout of sand strong enough to rend flesh
from bone. After a volley, it will dwindle and retreat. Weapons
do half damage to the Sandpuffer. Lightning turns it to glass. It
is vulnerable to water when it dwindles, which will dissolve it. If
dissolved, it bears a precious crystal gizzard.

Tcheth
Tcheth are human-sized, but long-limbed, lightly furred and with
long, narrow skulls. Their flexible bones allow them to squeeze
through gaps as small as a hand.
They are excellent climbers, but see poorly in the dark.

Whip Scorpion
Nightmares of black chitin (5’ long), they patrol incessantly,
seeking sound or movement. Seizing prey with great claws, they
then spray it strong acid from their stiff, whip-like tails.
They are perfect climbers, moving easily along walls and ceil-
ings.

45
Rituals & Skills
Chalice of Despair
A meditation on the nature of cruelty provides the foundation for
an alchemical procedure. Quickened silver and powdered agate
are mixed into a serum of harpy’s blood. After two days it solidi-
fies. It re-liquifies d8 days later, at which point it is a vile poison.
Anyone who drinks it becomes a dread reaver.

Sitting Very Still

The Children of Orpk have mastered sitting very still. In order of
difficulty:
The unnatural stillness of those sitting very still hard is an
aid to attempts to hide
Become as rock--the sitter takes on a stony appearance, and
can remain so for years without aging. Time passes quickly for
those who are sitting as rock.
Moving without moving--those who sit for a Very Long Time
realize that all places are one. Sitting for d20 hours allows them
to appear in any other place they have Sat Very Still.

46