Level 4:  The Twisted Caverns

History:

The Twisted Caverns, also known as the Farm Level, is the first of ‘The Deep Levels’ of Undermountain. The popular name comes from an old poem. In truth, they are by no means the deepest levels of the dungeon, and have also (more accurately) been called the Apprentice Levels, because Halaster’s apprentices have historically dominated (but in no sense controlled) them. At least three of Halaster’s apprentices have recently quit these levels, initiating a power struggle that rages to this day, as various dungeon inhabitants fight to win control of where they live.

Physical Makeup:

Vital to life in Undermountain as a food and water-cleansing source, this fourth level of the dungeon is a series of huge natural caverns crammed with farms no surface dweller would recognize. The caverns are sometimes called ‘The Farm’, since they are home to a number of naturally-growing fungi such as barrelstalks, bluecaps, ripplebark, timmask, trillimac, zurkhwoods and ‘tongue of madness’ mushrooms. The broad, sweeping curves of the River of the Depths are navigable by barges and link all of the vast farm-caverns. A few ?sh, aquatic snakes, and skum lurk in their waters, but the skum tend to visit only for short periods, riding the river portal back up into the Sargauth Level and dwelling there, because its waters on this level are so foul.

The processes of growth and decay make the fungi-crowded farm caverns hot, damp, and strong-smelling, with a variety of competing scents that most humans and nauseating (and that overwhelm creatures that track prey by smell).