The Under-Warren

Scale: 10 ft.
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A maze of catacombs and masonry hallways - teeming with creatures (and their troves!) seeking shelter from the cursed sunlight! Adventure awaits those courageous enough to descend!

•		A little keyhole icon means the door is locked.
•		A little "S" through the door means the door is secret.
•		The other icon - which is supposed to look like a muscly arm - indicates the door is stuck and must be forced open.

Suitable for 1st to 3rd level characters.

A - Entry

Stairs lead down into an octagonal space - large double doors facing the cardinal directions: statuary embedded into each of the walls between them.

The faces of these grotesques appear to follow you as to move, but on inspection, are fully mundane.

B - South Wing

B1 - Theater

To the north, a raised platform - curves with the wall, which is draped with heavy curtains. In the central and southern half of the room, benches in various states of disrepair face the platform. Along the south wall are three alcoves containing stained glass backed by lead sheets: no light illuminates the glass from the far side.

The entrance to C2 is a hole in the wall hidden by the curtains.

The entrance to B3 is hidden behind the glass artwork in the furthest alcove: which can be removed by popping a handful of clamps designed to hold the glass in place.

B2 - Lecture Hall

In the south-east section of the square portion of the room is a raised area, maybe six inches off the ground, with a stain on the floor - worn, scratched, and discolored - in the shape of a lectern's base. In the stained area is a loose tile - under which can be found a recess containing:

• 2 round emeralds (100 gp each)
  
• A large, square-cut sapphire (500 gp)
  
• A flawless diamond (1,000 gp)
  

Behind, in the arching wall to the south-east, a further raised section houses a dozen dead plants and a few amphora. 

Roosting in the amphora is a single Stirge (B43).

B3 - West Crypt

On the walls of this room are nooks sized to hold a cadaver in repose. In the center of the room is a stone sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is empty. On the north wall, a faded image appears graven on a lead sheet - which is truthfully a secret pass to B1. The secret way cannot be opened from this side, but can be forced on 1-in-6: which will break the mechanism and prevent replacing the portal.

Five Lizard Men (B38) are chuckling with each other in the room: having dumped a few skeletons out of the walls and repurposed the lidded sarcophagus as a table. Between them, they have 2,000 gold pieces.

B4 - East Crypt 

The walls of this room contain cadavers of various age - though all decayed. They have nothing of value - any articles buried with them having rusted or decayed.

B5 - Shadowed Fane

Against the wall to the south, directly opposite to the door, a hemispheric planter bed containing ashy soil rises from the floor. Above the planter hangs a heraldic shield.

On the angled walls to the east and west of the door are sconces with lanterns welded to them - inside the western lantern is a marble on which Continual Light has been cast. Of the planter, a shadow has been cast against the wall opposite the light source - in which 2 Shadows (B41) lurk.

The shield hanging from the wall is actually magical, but appears dingy and old to any Neutral or Chaotic character. When used by a Lawful character, it is a +3 Shield; when used by a Neutral character, a +1 Shield.

If the characters dig into the ashy soil, they will find a Potion of Treasure Finding and 2 rubies carved to resemble skulls (500 gp each).

B6 - Scriptorum

Bookshelves line the east wall of the chamber, two escritoires are propped against both of the northern corners, and a basket with map tubes in it sits in the south-west corner. The bookshelves contain nothing of value - their contents having been lost to rot - but among the map tubes, three spell scrolls can be found, inscribed as follows:

• First Scroll: Invisibility, Ventriloquism, Infravision, Transmute Rock to Mud, Charm Monster
  
• Second Scroll: Detect Invisible, Phantasmal Force, Light, Hold Monster, Ventriloquism
  
• Third Scroll (Clerical): Sticks to Snakes, Bless, Light (x2), Protection from Evil 10’ Radius
  

Beneath the desk to the west is a trapdoor to B7.

Inside the desk to the east can be found a sack of 2,000 electrum pieces.

B7 - Bee Cave

On the underside of the trapdoor entrance, a nest of Killer Bees (B37) is anchored. There are three nests total - between them, 8 bees. Opening the trap door will damage the nest, angering the bees.

Beyond the bees in the darkness are two locked chests - one containing 4,000 electrum pieces, the other 5,000 gold pieces - and a skeletal corpse: larger than a human, clad in a strange, abrasive robe, and bearing an odd skull, bearing multiple spurs - almost small horns - that pattern symmetrically up the face. Inside the chest cavity of the skeleton is a four-chambered box:

• One chamber contains five black pearls (10 gp each)
  
• One chamber contains five alexandrites (50 gp each)
  
• One chamber contains five gem-quality lazulites (100 gp each)
  
• One chamber contains a wet, gouged eye of brown iris.

The eye will not decay; if mystically implanted into an empty socket, it will grant a Witch Sight that sees through the illusions of the fey; but will also drive its host totally and hopelessly insane.

C - North Wing

C1 - The Regent's Skull

The room is thick with cobwebs. To the south, a lonely skull bedecked by a wooden crown sits on the floor.

C2 - Tunnel

Cowering in this natural rock tunnel are two Mediums (B39). One, his spell is spent; the other has memorized Floating Disc. Between them, they have 100 electrum pieces. They had come into the dungeon with a party - but were roughed up by the Lizard Men who have since retreated to B3. Having escaped the fray, the two are arguing about how to likewise escape the labyrinth before their light source goes out.

C3 - Auditorium

Ringing the curved north-west wall are bleachers - six rows - rising eight feet into the air at their apex. Under the bleachers is a hole in the wall leading to C2, concealed - but accessible to the determined.

C4 - Medusa's Lair

Curtains, heavy and dark, resembling those in C3 have been used to soften the south and west walls. On the east wall hang several long tapestries depicting plants. Along the north wall are statuary - amazing in their simile to life. On a divan in the south-west corner rests a Medusa (B39) - 2-in-6 chance she is sleeping. Around her are rare herbs and incenses, worth 3,000 gold pieces; and 4 gold candle holders - five feet in height - worth 100 gold pieces each. Her wardrobe - misfitting to most - is rare silks and satins, worth a further 3,000 gold pieces. She wears an amulet with a smooth circular talisman on it - she is unaware of what it does.

The secret door to C6 is hidden behind a tapestry and activated by a handhold with four buttons: pressing the first, third, and fourth will open the latch. The door - and its function - is known to the Medusa.

C5 - Observatory

Ringing the space in parallel to the walls is a soft, continuous bench. The ceiling is vaulted - coming together in a square 20 feet above the floor. Inlaid in the ceiling is a star-pattern of the winter sky - constellations outlined in citrines (worth 100 gold pieces, total, if pried from the ceiling) and miscellaneous stars in quartz (a further 80 gold pieces). 

C6 - Training Room

Four rotating pillars are positioned equidistant from one another in this room. From them protrude several short rods. The pillars will spin freely on hidden spindles. The rods are filled with a toxic powder. Characters who spin a pillar - if they spin them too quickly - cause the powder to release: forcing all characters in the room (or any character entering the room for the next turn) to Save vs Death.

The hazard does not reset itself - once all four are spent, the hazard recedes.

C7 - Ape Den

Four White Apes (B30) have made a mess of this room: furnishing it with detritus. Among said detritus is a mostly undamaged urn - inside which can be found a ring worth 70 gp.

The secret door to the east is a sliding panel in the stone, activated by a handle hidden in the mortar along its top seam. The secret door to the south is a false wall that pushes inward, opening like a double door - the termination of the resulting hallway operates the same way from the hallway side. The apes are aware of the south door - but not the eastern one.

C8 - Quarry Hall

Rubble lines the floor in this space. The floor and walls are the same as the rest of the dungeon - it is not unfinished nor collapsed - but loose, irregular stone has been strewn around the room.

The secret door to the west is activated by a pull handle on the east wall - directly across from it, but hidden behind a loose brick.

C9 - Dragon's Coffin

The east and west walls of the room are lined with nooks sized for cadavers - but are filled with votives and dried funerary herbs. In the center of the room to the south is a slab, flanked by brass candle holders and perched on a stone box. The slab will slide off - but if it does, it releases a flammable gas. If an open flame is in use as a light source, this gas will ignite - forcing a Save vs Dragon's Breath to avoid immolation: failing the save results in 3d8 damage and may ignite flammable gear; passing halves the effect.

A generous referee might hint at the trap with an odd odor emanating from the slab as the party starts to fiddle with it, or noting that torches burn brighter and more intensely in this room.

D - East Wing

D1 - Dancing Candles

Five candles, equidistant from one another, float - slowly circling counter-clockwise - in the center of the room along an invisible path roughly 10 feet in diameter. A character who steps into the center can see five holes in the walls that appear to be moving in parallel to the doors. Inside each hole is a small idol made from electrum. Party members who can reach the walls - including characters not in the circle, who would not be able to see them - can remove the idols: which are worth 60 gp each. If an idol is removed, its corresponding candle is snuffed out and falls to the floor. 

The secret door to the south is a standard door concealed behind an illusory wall. Some fumbling is necessary to find the handle - but not too much.

D2 - Ochre Hall

This wide hallway has a red mosaic tile stripe - 15 feet wide - running from east to west. On the walls heading west-bound, torches (mostly unlit) are pinned at 10 foot intervals on wall mounts. They can be removed and are standard torches. 

The corridor to the north-east, the torches continue until the door to D6.

The corridor to the south-east, the torches continue until the door to D5.

An Ochre Jelly (B40) is leaning against one wall - eating one of the torches.

D3 - Statuary Hall

A red mosaic tile stripe - 10 feet wide - runs east to west across the southern portion of this room. Statues - staggeringly life-like - line the south wall. The secret door to the west is opened by turning the last statue on that side on a pivot, causing it to face the location of the door.

Floating through the air are 4 Killer Bees (B37).

D4 - Hidden Treasure

In the northern section of the room, mundane items appear to be stored. Brooms, mops, ceramic pots, and ratty linens. In the protuberance to the east, a pile of gems and jewels can be seen.

The gems and jewels are an illusion - concealing a vertical pipe with several trip-lines running to the floor like tent lines. A character interacting with the illusory treasure has a chance of tripping one of the lines - which results in a cylindrical stone piston dropping from the ceiling, extending spearheads in transit. Save vs Paralysis or the character is crushed to death.

A character which investigates the northern section can may find a loose tile on one side, under which is a cache containing 300 silver pieces, 100 gold pieces, a garnet worth 50 gp, and an obsidian carving worth 100 gp to a collector.

D5 - Homage Chamber

The walls to this space contain alcoves, one to a side on the six sides to the east and west, shaped like half a bullet inlaid into the wall, such that one might stand in it. On the north wall is a relief - circle within an octagon within a triangle: point facing upwards. In the center of the room is an ovaloid, concave depression; north of which is an elevated octagon: maybe two inches from the floor.

The room is decidedly cooler than the surrounding rooms - and if a character stands in one of the alcoves, a distant song can be heard, male tenor voices: their words just too distant for understanding. If a character stands on the octagon, they suffer a sudden and severe flashback - where white-robed figures stand in all the alcoves and a bloody body rapidly expires in the indentation on the floor. Details are impossible to make out - as the vision is no more than a split second in duration - but the tone should be visceral.

The secret door to the north can be activated by placing the talisman worn by the Medusa in C4 into the embossed circle in the north wall and turning it.

D6 - Blue Atrium

On the floor is a circular, blue mosaic, with a red ring 1/3 of the way in to its diameter. Against the east wall is a stone trough, empty. Four Lizard Men (B38) are investigating, searching the south wall as though seeking something. There is a secret door to the south - it is activated by placing the talisman worn by the Medusa in C4 into the center of the circle and pressing down. The second secret door - to the north - is activated by a pull-handle, hidden behind a loose brick in the wall slightly to the west of the actual portal.

Outside the door to the west, torches mounted on wall sconces line the wall at 10 foot increments in a southward direction.

D7 - Reflection Chamber

A shallow pool of mostly clean water sits against the south wall - around ten feet across to five feet from the wall. Along the north wall is a curved bench with cushioned seating. The secret door to the south can be unlocked by a lever hidden in the pool near to the door, itself. Thrown into the pool can be seen silver pieces - 900 in total.

The seats on the cushions are fixed, however can be ripped off the frame (treat as a Stuck Door). There are five such cushions to haul up: on the fourth one from the door, stitched to the underside is a pouch containing jewelry:

• A signet ring with the head of a ram (value 800 gp)
• Two sets of plated earrings (800 gp each)
  
• A single large amulet, inset with a ruby and encrusted with citrines, the chain of which is made of square gold chain links (value 1,500 gp) 

T - Lone Traps

T1) A square of wan light is illuminated on the floor taking up most of the 10 by 10 space by the door. Any character or item which enters the space fully finds themselves confined within it - a wall of force preventing their egress. Items or characters partially entered may feel a tugging sensation - like moving through liquid - but will not be prevented from egress. Notably, the air is very stale in the space - as the barrier is sealed: any character trapped in the space will start to suffocate after 1 dungeon Turn, dying after 2. A Darkness spell - reversed of Light - will allow free passage into and out of the space, likewise refreshing the air in it. Other magic or player ingenuity (such as, say, putting a pipe half-in to allow for breathing) will function (or not) at the discretion of the referee.

T2) What appears to be a door leading North is a concealed spike trap. A referee may telegraph the effect with blood spatter on the walls or floor near to it. The door opens outwards (towards the south) and appears stuck, albeit only slightly: opening on a 4-in-6 rather than 2. If successfully forced, any characters involved in the forcing (or any in the front rank, alternatively) are subjected to an attack as several pointed spears jolt out of a shallow ingress on the far side. The attack is at THAC0 17 for 1d8 damage.

T3) A door - locked - opens outwards, towards the west. The floor near to the door is pitted and uneven. If opened, however, there is no room behind it: instead, a vat of corrosive liquid pours out into the corridor. Any character within 15 feet of the door suffers 2d8 points of damage from the combination of skin exposure and inhalation of fumes: a Save vs Breath halves the effect. Additionally, any character who fails their save loses any footgear they are wearing to the substance - at the discretion of the referee, magical footwear may be allowed a save of their own to avoid destruction.

T4) Torches, unlit, are hanging in sconces at 10 foot increments in the hall leading to this space. The torches end when the hall turns northward. In the center of the wall across from the turning point is the bronze head of a goat, its mouth open. If a character puts a torch into the mouth (or crowbar, really - anything of approximately 2 inch or less diameter that is firm enough to serve as a lever) the head will turn. If turned upside down - such that the mouth points upwards - a click is heard and the trap is disarmed.

A pit trap has been dug into the floor in the 10 by 10 space to the south of the door to D5. If the door to D5 is opened without deactivating the trap, the pit will open, dumping anyone inside into a pit of spikes: 2d6 for the fall, plus 1d8 further for the spikes. A generous referee may allow a Save vs Paralysis to avoid.

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com, the National Gallery of Art, and ReusableArt.com and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.