Web Cables. Both tunnels leading to the cavern are
strung with web cables.
Crates. Dispersed throughout the cavern are ten large
zurkhwood crates with mesh screens covering their
open tops.
S ecret Door. A secret door is set into the floor.
Each crate contains hundreds of harmless, chirping
cave crickets, feeding from a 1-foot-deep bed of bat
guano mixed with maggot-ridden offal. The cave crickets
are used by the drow to feed the bats in area 11.
The secret door in the floor is an 8 -foot-square, 1-foot-
thick slab of stone that pivots on a central axis. Opening
it requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics)
check. Applying 150 pounds of weight to either side of
the door also causes it to swing open. Any creature that
accidentally opens the door by standing on it can avoida fall by making a successful DC (^15) Dexterity saving
throw. A creature that falls through the open door drops
10 feet and lands on the claw-shaped rock formation in
area 14, taking 3 (l d6) bludgeoning damage.
- WEB -FILLED CAVE
This 10-foot-high cave is filled with web cables. Tucked
in the northernmost alcove, not visible from either cave
entrance, is a rotting quaggoth that choked to death on
a vrock demon's poison spores (see area 17). The dead
quaggoth has no treasure. - DEMONS' LEDGE
Two ramps lead up to a 40-foot-high ledge that mostly
encircles the wa lls of an immense, dark cavern. The
ledge nearly surrounds the drow fortress. There are no
gaps in the stone where the walls of the ledge meet the
walls of the fortress.
Five vrocks are perched on the ledge, one each at
locations 17a through 17e. These demons were sum-
moned by Drivvin Freth, and they obey only his com-
mands. The vrocks use their darkvision to scan the
cavern for intruders.
When a vrock sees something suspicious, it emits
a loud screech that can be heard throughout areas 10
through 19, alerting all creatures in those locations. The
demons then eagerly join any battle that erupts.
17A. NORTHEAST PERCH
The vrock perched here focuses its attention on the
ramp leading up to this area.
17B. NORTH PERCH
In addition to guarding this section of the ledge, the
vrock here watches for trouble in the east moss garden
of area 18i, and listens for intruders in areas 15 and 16.
Web cables in the tunnels leading to those two locations
prevent the vrock from exploring them.
17C. NORTHWEST PERCH
The vrock perched here is gnawing on a dead troglo-
dyte. It has fashioned a nest for itself from the bones of
troglodyte children snatched from the fungi gardens 30
feet below (area 18i).
LEVEL 12 I MAZ.£ LEVEL17D. SOUTH PERCH
The vrock here pays close attention to the entrance
to the minotaur caves south of it. The main cavern
is strung with web cables, with the tunnels beyond
descending to area 7b. The vrock is too large to move
through the cables.17E. SOUTHEAST PERCH
The vrock stationed here keeps a close eye out for
intruders moving west from area 11. S lumped against
the back wall of a small cave behind it are the skeletal
remains of an ettin that was killed by adventurers long
before the drow fortress was built. Six gnome skulls
hang from the skeletal ettin's loincloth.- DROW FORTRESS
House Freth built its dark fortress in a 100-foot-high
cavern, the roof of which is dotted with stalactites. Out-
side the fortress walls, the cavern floor is hidden under
a 2-foot-thick layer of fog. The fog is absent inside the
walls and around Spiderwatch Keep, the great edifice at
the heart of the fortress (area 19).
There are no light sources in or around the fortress.
Anyone approaching with light draws the attention of
the drow in the guard towers and the vrocks in area 17.
The north end of the fortress grounds is where the
drow cultivate food using the labor of prisoners and
thralls. The spacious area southeast of the keep is used
for military drills, weapon practice, and assembling be-
fore expeditions.
18A. GATE T OWER
This tower serves as the primary entrance to the for-
tress. A male drow mage named Llaxdorl Freth (Ere-
lal's cousin) stands watch on the roof, and eight male
drow are on guard inside.
Characters brought to the fortress as prisoners are
stripped of their weapons and spellcasting implements
as they pass through the tower. They are then detained
in the courtyard until Riina Freth (see area 19c) decides
their fate. Prisoners with no obvious value to the drow
are sent to the slave pens (areas 18g and 18h). Everyone
else is brought to Erelal Freth in area 19k for further
questioning.
Treasure. Llaxdorl carries a spellbook bound in spi-
der chitin that contains all the spells he has prepared,
plus color spray, haste, and spider climb. Fastened to his
robes is an obsidian scarab engraved with the insignia
of House Freth (25 gp) and a spider silk pouch contain-
ing two blue spinels (500 gp each).18B. NORTHEAST TOWER
This tower has a mjlle drow mage named Ulvir Bar-
rek'zorn on the rabf and eight male drow inside. In addi-
tion to defending the tower, these drow are responsible
for quelling uprisings in the nearby slave pen {area 18g).
Treas ure. Ulvir carries a black, leather-bound spell-
book adorned with silver web filigree. It contains all
the spells he has prepared, plus gaseous form, magic
weapon, and Tasha's hideous laughter.