Smooth Caverns
It is clear to any dwarf or gnome PC that these caverns are neither wholly natural nor worked by tools - nor do they look like dwarven or gnomish work. Cavern and passage walls are fluted, semi-sculpted, and have scalloping almost to ceiling level. Overall, the impression gained is that this area looks as if it was churned, as if giant magical hands smoothed the contours and edges of the rock. The existence of significant areas of the Glassrock hazard emphasize this. The Glassrock is bottle-green, with sworls of milky white and red as if some-one has poured the thinnest of lines of pigment into the molten green Glassrock as it cooled and took solid form. There is an eerie beauty to the caverns, but also something sinister about them. This is not a natural place, and the magic which crafted it is unknown to the PCs. The ceiling height throughout is an almost uniform 40 feet, another highly unnatural feature. A faint Alteration magic radiates in the entire area.
Ropers and Xorn have both been attracted to these caverns by the gems within them, and there are tough encounters ahead for the PCs.
There is an Antipathy spell in the entire area of these caverns, against gnomes of all kinds. PC gnomes are unlikely to be able to enter here. They have to make a saving throw vs. spell for every new cavern area they try to enter. One failure means they cannot enter these caverns; they simply refuse to do so. A character who makes a successful saving throw still loses 1 point of Dexterity each round he or she remains in the area (the ability score cannot drop below a minimum of 3). A gnome PC may have to be left on guard outside (time for a wandering monster encounter, of course!). The original sculptors of these caverns wished to keep the deep gnomes out of their gem-rich home, and the Antipathy affects all gnomes.
Comments