Level 1: The Dungeon Level
History:
This uppermost main level of Undermountain gained the name Dungeon Level because the lords of the city often sentenced undesirables to be shut away here, presumably to perish under the jaws and claws of monsters, in traps, or due to thirst and starvation.
It has also been called the Thieves’ Level out of a once widespread city belief that it was ruled by the Shadow Thieves and populated by wanted criminals, orcs, half-orcs, poisoners, assassins, and trained monsters that could be unleashed into the city.
After the Shadow Thieves were banished and that nickname faded, some sages took to calling this sprawling layer of Undermountain the Temple Level for the many temples to dark gods constructed there over the years. Others preferred to call it the Tomb Level for the many noble lords interred in its chambers. Many examples of both remain to this day, and previously unknown tombs and desecrated temples are still being discovered.
This is also the most explored level of Undermountain; many a tipsy young noble or visitor, to collect on a bet or goaded by a dare, has been lowered down the shaft from the Yawning Portal with a lantern or torch in one hand and a weapon ready in the other, to look around fearfully—and venture as far as they dare. As a result, all residents of the city knows a little of what the Dungeon Level looks like, and they have heard of the messages scorched onto the stone walls near the Entry Well, such as “Walking Dead This Way” and “The Eye Watches.”
Physical Makeup: Although large areas of this level are carved from solid rock, and the smooth, unbroken floors and ceilings betray this fact in some spots, this is the most altered level of Undermountain. Moreover, much of the “solid” areas were sculpted by the dwarves with apparent seams and joints, so a visitor sees fitted but irregular flagstones underfoot, and walls that appear to be made of large, regular fitted stone blocks.
‘Common Knowledge: The most commonly explored tunnels in all of Undermountain, these are the chambers that lie directly beneath the Yawning Portal. It is also the easiest to find maps for and information on.
The Core Rooms – Everyone who knows aught about Undermountain knows the core rooms – those closest to the bottom of Durnan’s well, of course. They’re also the ones most folk pass through most often, so what’s inside them changes often. Things get killed, new things wander in from elsewhere to set up shop for a bit.
The Entry Well – The dungeon of the Undermountain is accessible via a winch over the pit in the common room of the Yawning Portal, with a fee of 1 gp per person. It took roughly a minute to lower or raise the rope-and-pulley mechanism that powered the machine. The well descended for around 150′ to a floor of rough-hewn rock that was covered by a thin later of sand and the skeletal remains of a number of different creatures, some of which were humanoid in form. Sixty battered and cracked shields hung on the walls of the entrance chamber. They featured the heraldry of many Waterdhavian familial crests, some of which were recognizable as belong to the noble families of the 14th and 15th centuries DR. Behind one of the shields was a message written in blood in Elvish: “Beyond the pillar forest, the Mad Mage waits. Casting spells behind magic gates.”
Hall of many Pillars – A long hallway leading from the entrance chamber opened up to this long hall, which featured a series of bas-relief sculptures set into the walls, 4-feet wide , 9-feet tall. Each wall depicted different species of demons, including a balor, a marilith and a shadow demon, among others. The western portion of the hall opened up into slightly wider, larger hexagonal room that housed a number of smooth-stone pillars. On the southwestern wall someone had carved the words: “CERTAIN DEATH, THIS WAY!”.
Hall of Mirrors – West of the pillared room is a 100-feet-long hallway, that features 16 heavy oval-shaped mirrors, divided evenly among the northern and southern walls. Some of these mirrors turned out to be ‘Mirrors of Opposition’ that created an aggressive double that tried to kill first the reflected person and then everybody else who was present.
Hall of a Hundred Candles – This room, or more a corridor, is located south of the Entry Well, and has been largly unmodified for hundreds of years. Lining the hall are a lot of floating candles, not hundred but sixty of them. The effect seems to allow the hot candles to perpetually burn while in the hall.
Other area names that you’ve heard thrown around are ‘the Easthalls’, ‘the Crownways’, ‘the Gameshalls’, ‘Downshadow’, and ‘the Labyrinth’.
Rumors and Other Info:
“There’s one passage that leads north, into the North Chambers, one to the west into the Crumble Halls, and one to the southeast into the Horrorhalls, though that one’s sealed by a door, thank ye kindly gods. Southwise, however, there’s several doors and passages that lead into the South Chambers – it’s where most folk end up when exploring the Core Rooms.”
“Ye be careful down in those rooms – it’s not the monsters ye have to be wary of, but other adventurers. There’s some what lie in wait for other ‘venturers and attack them on their way back to the well. Seems they find it easier to murder their fellows and take the goods they’ve gained than to risk the halls of Undermountain themselves.”
“They say that there’s some one spot what teleports you away to another part o’ the core rooms. You’ll know you’ve found it when it’s too late, sad to say.”
“Other than the Core Rooms, there is only one other section of the Dungeon Level that the South Chambers lead to: the Labyrinth, though some say there is a single passageway that leads to a place called the Crownways, marked for its tombs of kings, throne chambers and other such things. It is also known to have at least one set of stairs that descend down into the Storeroom Level.”