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The altar has a coral-made structure of pipes enchanted to perform Ba'qeshal throughout the spire in a haunting melody. That eerie music you hear in Myrlochar? That's one of Amante's earliest Ba'qeshal projects. The Matron was kind enough to place it on the altar.
The Mirror is their pathway back to Ust'obsuul, their original city. But Myrlochar and the civilizations above (and beyond) have become much of an investment for Kil'Ani House.
Only House Members and their servants are able to make the mirror work.
No one knows how giants got that far underground in the first place, but they somehow make do with their cramped living arrangements.
This is a page from The Rogues Gallery, a 1980 sourcebook for 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
The monster portrayed is an Illithid -- or Mind Flayer as they are move commonly known.
Please allow me to quote from the Monstrous Compendium I happen to have on hand, it explains far better than I.
The illithid, or mind flayer, is an evil and feared creature of the Underdark; its powers are formidable and it feeds on the brains of any creature it encounters. Using arcane powers, it enslaves or destroys its foes, which include such powerful creatures as drow and kuotoa.Mind Flayers stand about 6 feet tall and have hideous mauve skin that glistens with slime. The head resembles an octopus, with white eyes (no pupils are evident) and four tentacles around its mouth, a round, many-toothed orifice like that of a lamprey. The creature has three reddish fingers and a thumb on each hand.
Illithids have infravision. They can communicate with any creatures via innate telepathy; they have no spoken language, although they often accompany their thoughts with hissing, and the eager lashing of their tentacles. Mind flayers dress in flowing robes, often with high, stiff collars, adorned with symbols of death and despair.
Erol Otus is fast becoming my favourite artist of old AD&D B&W illustrations. This one is really something. Some of you will note the similarity between said Illithid and Cthulhu. No mistake, they are from the same world, it would seem. Point and Case, Otus drew the illustrations for Deities & Demigods' entry on the Cthulhu Mythos (which appears only in 1st and 2nd Editions of the book, as it was later removed due to legal reasons, and then, after that still, renamed Legends and Lore to appease namby pamby whingers).
The mightiest of the Illithids, an ulitharid is a massive mind flayer that serves as a group's leader (though subservient to an Elder Brain if there is one). Superior to standard mind flayers in nearly every way, ulitharids lead their society, just as adept in combat as they are at mind games. Of course, they also require more brains for sustenance than their lesser brethren.
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/03/13/life-in-plastic-obscure-toy-lines...
So there was this one time when we were wandering through the Underdark and we stumbled across a crack in the wall that led into this ancient old crypt.
Of course, Zissiren wanted to go see if there was any loot in the tomb. And, of course, he disturbed somebody's restless ancestor.
That was a tough fight. I doubt we would've survived it if it hadn't been for Trixie. The thing made Trog wet himself and run to cower in a corner! And all it had to do was touch Zissiren and he was out like a drow caught in the sunlight!
But I managed to hold it off long enough for Trixie to perform some creepy ritual that made my spine crawl and then, with Tiamat's aid, we put that restless spirit back to sleep.
Hopefully Zissiren will think twice before running into the next ancient burial ground we come across.
I made this game well over 10-15 years ago. It is the Drow version of chess (after all what self-respecting drow matron would play a game where the goal was to capture a male?).
Each color represents a noble house, and the object it to be the last house standing.
The d20s are the Matron Mothers, they move like a queen in chess (straight or diagonal as far as they want).
The d10s are high priestesses, the move up to four spaces in a straight line.
The d8s are house mages, they move up to four spaces diagonally.
The d4s are warriors, and they move one space in straight paths only.
The Matron's space cannot be entered unless the rest of her house is destroyed...thus giving her a safe haven, in addition when an enemy piece enters her space (whether she is in it or not) they are promoted to a matron just lik a pawn is in chess.
he poisoned, powerful, punches keep coming.
Didn't see that twist coming at all.
All this time they were still there!
Sickening. Rotting.
STILL ALIVE!
It was so hard to get through those scenes.
So horrifying. Devastating. Evil.
Anyway.
In my private head canon -
Astarion eventually (and reluctantly)
heads back to The Underdark --
to perhaps try and reconcile with Sebastian?
No?
But there again, he discovers that letting the other spawn
live and leave was a grand mistake.
Sebastian has become a powerful tyrant.
He's murdered most of the other spawn and hordes of drow.
But Petras, Dalyria, Leon, and Violet
have (conveniently) escaped elsewhere.
But where?
And what happened here?
A new hunt begins.
An old haunting pain that never ends.
Also known as Purple Dragons, these sinuous, serpentine draconic beings live deep under the earth, and are both loved and feared by the Drow. It's a miracle that their wings still function, and yet they do. Deep dragons breathe a sort of corrosive, acidic gas.
...well, not here, but on the In the Bricks forum:
Welcome to Awesome Contest 26, this week brought to you by the Underdark Highlands and a return to non sequitor artwork. This week's theme has been lifted once again from my pile of Lego games, but in a less direct sense. Race 3000 is game featuring a bunch of hovercars going around a circuit and being assholes to each other in a race. We already have the "being assholes to each other" part down, so this week's theme pertains to the race.
Your aim this week should be to build a racer. Whether it's a race car, or a racing ship, or a race horse, or a really fast Kenyan guy, or even just something built in Goes-Fast-Red with flames on the sides. It just has to look fast. And maybe you could build them fast. Like, on time this time. Like, before Sunday, July 24th, ten days from now. Voting will then run until the following weekend. Winner gets the coveted Better Than You title (or the chance to bestow it if Arpy wins) as well as the chance to put a member of their choice on notice.
Additionally, any of our potential members who get in the top three positions in the poll get approved with out the hassle of the debates, because what's more democratic than a straight up poll? Any questions from newcomers about the Awesome Contests can also be posted here. So, get building!
Basically, the last 15 contests or so on our site weren't taken very seriously by anybody, so we're opening it up to guests to add some spice.
So yeah, it goes without saying that it'd be nice if y'all could enter. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask them here (but I'd recommend you do it on the main site instead, since I'm not the one actually running the contest and can't answer everything).
contours colourised using Tanaka Style contours (inspired by this blog post by underdark)
uses data copyright openstreetmap contributors (coastline, natural features, roads, ferries)
uses data from OS crown copyright and database rights 2015 (building outlines, elevation model)
used QGIS Map composer. QuickOSM plugin was used to extract data for the area of interest from OSM.
As the party journeys toward a dungeon, they meet some of the more unpleasant creatures that live in the underdark.
The left, poisoned, powerful punches keep coming.
Didn't see that twist coming at all.
All this time they were still there!
Sickening.
STILL ALIVE!
It was so hard to get through those scenes.
So horrifying. Devastating. Evil.
Anyway.
In my private head canon -
Astarion eventually (and reluctantly)
heads back to The Underdark --
to perhaps try and reconcile with Sebastian?
No?
But there again, he discovers that letting the other spawn
live and leave was a grand mistake.
Sebastian has become a powerful tyrant.
He's murdered most of the other spawn and hordes of drow.
But Petras, Dalyria, Leon, and Violet
have (conveniently) escaped elsewhere.
But where?
And what happened here?
A new hunt begins.
An old haunting pain that never ends.
Deep within the pits of the Underdark, the Illithids conduct their vile experiments, secrets to all but those within their inner circle.
Hey, it's me, Pralg. Remember me? I've got a new story to tell you ...
So one day me and my friends were terrorizing some dwarf kids who'd gotten lost in the underdark when I got summoned home cos Dad wanted to see me.
He was waiting by the Unholy Font of Gruumsh's Tears (I think it was once sacred to some pansy dwarf god, but Dad rededicated it to Gruumsh after we slaughtered the god's followers and took over their halls).
He informed me that the tribe had found an ancient magical artifact that was too dangerous to keep around. Too many of our enemies would try to steal it and use it against us, but at the same time, it was too risky to try and use it ourselves, so the next best thing was to find a brave volunteer to take it and throw it off the edge of the world.
As it turns out, that brave volunteer would be me.
To be honest, I couldn't see anything special about the artifact. It just looked like an empty glass bottle. In fact, I was tempted to just take it and try to sell it for a few gold pieces - it looked like an antique and I figured it might be worth something to someone who valued that sort of thing.
But no, Dad was adamant that Gruumsh wanted it destroyed and that he wanted me to be the one to do it.
Sigh ...
At least I won't be alone. Dad said the guys could come with me.
The party ventures into buried ruins in the underdark by way of the top of a tower protruding from the crater. Inside they find what was once the bedroom of a noble, the furniture is damaged, the linens moth-eaten, but this chest looks fine...
Almost there with the Funeral Diner collection. So dorky - I know, I know - taken for the vlv October 2008 collections post thread. This is (in no real order):
LPs:
Funeral Diner / Nexus Six | Split | 1999 | Old Glory | Black | 1000
Funeral Diner / Dead City | Split | 2003 | Old Glory | Black | 11/12 | Hand Drawn Dan Davis Cover
Funeral Diner / Shivering, The | Split | 2001 | City Boot | Black | 446/600
Funeral Diner / Staircase | Split | 2001 | Ape Must Not Kill Ape | Black | 1000
Funeral Diner / Dead City | Split | 2003 | Old Glory | Black | 99/130 | Test press, George Bush cover
Funeral Diner / Dead City | Split | 2003 | Old Glory | Black | 1000 | Bat cover
Funeral Diner / Dead City | Split | 2003 | Old Glory | Black | 1000 | Brick cover
Funeral Diner / Dead City | Split | 2003 | Old Glory | Black | 1000 | George Bush manilla envelope cover
Funeral Diner | Difference of Potential | 2003 | Ape Must Not Kill Ape | Black | 1000
Funeral Diner | The Underdark | 2005 | Alone | White
Funeral Diner | Doors Open | 2007 | Adagio 830 | Black | 600 | 1-Sided/Screen Printed
V/A | Emo Apocalypse | React With Protest | Picture disc | funeral diner, cease upon the capitol, loma prieta, pyramids, suis la lune, etc
CDs:
Funeral Diner | Three Sides Dead | Lilac Sky
Funeral Diner / Evylock | Split | Falling Leaves | 500 | zip lock packaging
Funeral Diner | Doors Open | 2007 | Self Released
7"s:
Funeral Diner / Zann | Split | 2003 | Vendetta | Black | 108/440, 2nd Press
Funeral Diner / Zann | Split | 2004 | Vendetta | Black | 336/520, 3rd Press
Funeral Diner / Welcome the Plague Year | Split | 2004 | EHP | White | 100
Funeral Diner / Welcome the Plague Year | Split | 2004 | EHP | Black | 700
Funeral Diner / Welcome the Plague Year | Split | 2004 | EHP | Opaque Blue | 1000
Funeral Diner / Raein | Split | 2004 | Red Cars Go Faster | Champagne | 460
Funeral Diner / Saddest Landscape, The | Split | 2005 | FireWalkWithMe | Black | 780
9"s and 10"s:
Funeral Diner | The Wicked | 2002 | Alone | Clear | 100
Funeral Diner / Evylock | Split | 2005 | Somberlain | Minty Green | 335
Funeral Diner / Evylock | Split | 2005 | Somberlain | Black | 340
Funeral Diner | Swept Under | 2005 | Lilac Sky | Black | 525
Ampere / Funeral Diner | Split | 2007 | EHP/Clean Plate | Green | 200
Ampere / Funeral Diner | Split | 2007 | EHP/Clean Plate | Black | 800
The story continues after one year of wandering of the Hammerhead V Steampunk Sharkship's crew. Their friend Elias, lost in an older adventure, was found. He is a very capable pilot and fighter.
So him, along with the crew of the Hammerhead V, they understood that it's easier to travel an the bottom of the Oceans, given the new information he brought from hiw travels.
He had info tha could help their uest for the lost city mentioned the stories of old, about the last colonists, before the destruction.
They agreed to build a ship,able to traven in the underdark plane, given that the Hammerhead would continue it's quest in the skies above.
With the mechanic's help and his experience, Flying Fox Steampunk Bat Sonar Plane, was build. A very flexible, silent and fast ship. Detector of hostile miners, with the help of it's sonar it finds and sends all the data to Hammerhead V, for further analysis. Τhe ship is equiped with multiple bionic arms, for better maneuvering, they also help it to be harder to detect.
Crew: One-man crew, consisted by Elias. A very brave character, a fighter. He is stubborn and aslo a very capable pilot. Rumor has it, he has a reduced sense of sight that makes it easir for him to navigate through the darkness, steady to his worda and actions.
Catchphrase: "Ι know where this path leads."
THE GREAT BATTLE OF GOTMAS.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those who don't! When I made my recent habitat series, I initially wanted to make six, with one for each of these characters, but ultimately ran out of time. Still, I wanted to share them all with you anyways, so I hope you enjoy these festive (and not so festive) folks! If you're interested in the lore at all, read on!
While many people associate the dwarven holiday of Gotmas with Father Gotmas(for obvious reasons), the holiday was originally a far less merry celebration. Translating in dwarvish to mean "day of triumph," Gotmas was a celebration of the victory that Gotramor and the Elysians brought to the dwarves when they ousted the old, warmongering dwarvish king, and fulfilled the promise of finally ending the Unending Wars. For centuries, it was a holiday celebrated with a great feast, though minus some of the revelry and fun decor. When Nikolaj Frostbeard began to see families down on their luck struggle to partake in any sort of preparation for a large feast, he decided to take the holiday a bit further.
After years of helping out struggling dwarves with treats, desserts, baked goods, and eventually even toys and gifts, he had become quite the hot topic. The cheer he was so resolute to spread drew the ire from even those that lie buried under the earth, forgotten by society. It's said that a Duergar from deep in the Underdark resented the Gotmas celebrations so much, he took it upon himself to ruin them one year. The Duergar—known as Vladimir Krampuscan—heard tale of Nikolaj's exploits, sourcing all of his gifts and merriment from a "Realm of Wishes," and decided to venture there himself.
Vlad decided one day, when Nikolaj was on his way to enter the Realm of Wishes, to sabotage his mission and venture in after him, though he failed to properly account for the manner of Nikolaj's portal. Taunting the dwarf, he warned that Gotmas would cease to be, and tackled Nikolaj through the wormhole. Without a specific setting in mind as he crossed through, however, he plunged into darkness, tumbled through time and space, and fell unconscious. When he finally came to in the Realm, he discovered himself in a place where all the extremes had collided, and wishes that defied one another came to do battle. The opposing wishes chose to align themselves with two primordial forces, whose endless battle was thought impossible to resolve.
Krampuscan stood before a world half frozen by the harrowing winds of winter, and half ablaze with the scorching flames of summer heat. It was there that he met the Miser of Heat and the Miser of Snow. In a twisted turn of fate, he was somehow able to persuade them to pause their conflict, and direct their war and aggression elsewhere—somewhere their destructive might and potential could actually be realized. Now with command over ice and flames, Vladimir carved a portal into the ground, and brought his newfound allies into the world whence he came, ready to destroy Gotmas once and for all.
It is said that in his ambush, Nikolaj landed in a distant region in the Realm of Wishes, and had to venture a long, long way back to his workshop, the place from where he could return to his world. Along the way, he met a couple of allies who swore to help him, believing in his cause. Vixenia and Merry, thus, joined Nikolaj and journeyed far to reach his workshop. Stepping through his portal, he found his home in turmoil.
The city was besieged by Krampuscan and his sinister allies, spreading their destruction throughout the streets. Houses burned, shops froze over, and Nikolaj's people suffered. He took up arms, resolving to slay the Duergar and the interlopers, or die trying. When it seemed that all hope was lost, and ol' Frostbeard would meet his end that day, he was joined by two familiar friends.
Vixenia and Merry had journeyed from their world to his, to aid him in his fight to save Gotmas. An epic battle ensued, which inspired many a Gotmas song, and the tides had finally been turned. With Vixenia's sage wisdom on the balance of nature, and Merry's sound persuasive abilities and quick thinking, the Misers of Heat and Snow were once again pitted against each other, as Nikolaj delivered the final blow to Krampuscan. It is said the Defiler of Gotmas evaporated as Nikolaj's sacred hammer swung that final blow, leaving no body behind. With the remaining adversaries distracted by each other, the Guardians of Gotmas banished them back to their home plane, and ended the battle.
Vixenia and Merry stayed thereafter, aiding Nikolaj in his efforts to clean up the town, and restore his people's cheerful festive spirit, no matter how many years it took. The legendary exploits of Frostbeard earned him the moniker of "Father Gotmas," and dwarves all over the continent began to honor his bravery and mimic his gift-giving traditions. To most of the continent of Ridgar, Gotmas is simply a dwarven day of celebration and presents, but to dwarves themselves, it is a celebration of resilience, community, and the triumph of good over evil. While the damage of the Great Battle of Gotmas has long since been healed, the great irony remains: in his efforts to defile the holiday spirit of the dwarves, Krampuscan only ended up giving the dwarves even more reason to spread festive cheer.
Not all mind flayers are mystic psychics or mages. Some choose to take a few levels in rogue! Shadow Flayers can make themselves nearly invisible in the darkness, striking with weapons just as well as their mind blasts - your brain tastes just as good either way.
These monsters are surprisingly intelligent, considering their bestial appearance. They disguise themselves as stalagmites and other rock formations, only to lash out at their prey with powerful tentacles.
Also known as Deep Dragons, these sinuous, serpentine draconic beings live deep under the earth, and are both loved and feared by the Drow. It's a miracle that their wings still function, and yet they do. Purple dragons breathe a sort of corrosive, acidic gas.
The Seven-Pillared Hall, the seat of power for the magocracy of the Mages of Saruun, is a neutral meeting ground for surface dwellers and Underdark denizens. Under the watchful eye of the mysterious Ordinator Arcanis, whose law is absolute and judgements often fatal, it has become a rough and tumble market square filling the needs of both worlds.
Bloodstock Open Air Festival - Friday 10th August 2018
All photos are © Sean Larkin Photography and are not to be used anywhere without permission.
From the D3 series. The names of the outlying lesser houses I generated from the "Drow of the Underdark", except for three, which would become ruling houses after the rebellion. Note this has yet to happen, so they’re still lesser houses. The house traits I also received from the above book, which for random generation fit in well with the alliances of the nobles.
When I told the others about my mission, they were pretty keen to come with me. That was a relief.
Zissiren wanted to know why we couldn't just throw the artifact in one of the many lava rivers or bottomless pits in the underdark somewhere, but I vetoed that idea. My dad was adamant that Gruumsh wanted it dropped off the edge of the world. Trixie backed me up on that, murmuring something about Tiamat agreeing that that was what needed to be done.
Anyway, so first we had to find our way out of the underdark. It's not always as easy as it might seem. Turns out we took a wrong turn somewhere and ran into some dwarves patrolling one of their ancient, ruined underground highways. We must have strayed too close to one of their nests.
This patrol had a magic user with them. They looked pretty threatening, but they turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Trog and I engaged the two dwarf warriors while Trixie distracted the magic user long enough for Zissiren to get in behind him and cut his throat.
After it was all over, Trixie astutely pointed out that if we were close enough to a dwarf nest to hit a patrol, then that would mean we were also fairly close to the surface. We had to take a bit of a circuitous route so as not to stumble right into the main group of dwarves, but we eventually managed to find an exit in the side of mountain with a trail leading down into a massive forest. We waited until the sun set and then set off towards the woods, not knowing what we'd find down there.
"Next morning we awoke to the wild calls of cave-frogs carrying across the lapping subterranean water, and the King's attendants offering us an odd but flavorful breakfast and a variety of civilized past-times. The others elected to return to their beds, pleading aches and exhaustion from our ordeal the day before, but I accepted the Royal hospitality, and soon found myself moving smoothly through vast caverns of muted blue, grey, and brown, seated in an elegant cave-boat of exotic design, and accompanied by the King's eldest daughter, Princess of the court of the Underdark.
"While her attire would have raised eyebrows back home, she behaved with as much decorum and charm as the best-bred young woman of Boston or London society. We spent a pleasant hour drifting among the luminous fungi and smooth stone walls of the buried world, while she laughed at my amazed exclamations at the passing of gigantic fish with glowing fins, and we smiled together at the soft loveliness of the caverns into which the river opened out at intervals.
"I was sorry to return when she said that the hour for luncheon was approaching (although how the people of the Underdark tell the time without sun or chronometer is still a puzzle to me), and we turned the boat around to wind our way back to her father's palace"
[Amazing build in the Hollow Earth region, by Tekelili Tantalus. As well as the lovely caverns (free boat available at the dock), there are shops for fantasy and Lovecraftian-themed home decor and clothing, including the exotic outfit Michele is wearing in the picture, and the cool Cthulhuoid monocle that I'm wearing but you can't see it because I'm facing the wrong way, which is or was available for $1L, and which I suspect I'll be wearing quite a bit.]
So, Drow worship spiders. Their chief goddess often appears as a spider-drow hybrid. Therefore, what happens when one of their own is turned into a half-spider, half-dark elf creature? They shun it, of course!
Driders are outcasts from Drow society, and their mutation is either a gift or a curse, depending on the circumstances. However, they are exceptionally terrifying, and usually take up posts guarding dark elf cities. All the danger of a giant spider with all the intelligence of an elf - AND opposable thumbs!
One of the ultimate classic D&D monsters, the Umber Hulk has been around since the very beginning, and has no mythological precedent whatsoever. A big beetle shaped kind of like an ape, Umber Hulks can burrow through the earth like it's water, and looking into their eyes will confuse almost anybody. They are smarter than they look, though still very much animals, and can show an impressive amount of tactics when hunting for a meal.
Oddly enough, a lot of subterranean races have managed to tame Umber Hulks, even some of the ones that grow to massively huge sizes.
What do you get when you take the worst aspects of two very bad things, and put them together? Why, you get demon ogres, of course! This disruptive abomination lays waste to everything in its path, and certainly doesn't play well with others.
This was always one of my favorite D&D minis, even if it's way too specific to see much use on the table.
[uses OA3: Ochimo, The Spirit Warrior map]
The ruins of an evil temple stand in the middle of these desolate hills. Legend tells that a rakshasa prince [Dragonlord] summoned demons to this place and bound them to his service by imprisoning their vital essences in gold-plated eladrin skulls. None of these have yet been recovered from the ruins, but the story persists. Deep caverns beneath the ruins lead all the way down to the Underdark [Shadowfell], and from time to time dangerous monsters of the deep places emerge here and prowl the nearby lands.