Undermountain

Levels of Undermountain

• Dungeon Level
• Storeroom Level
• Sargauth Level

Player Maps of Undermountain

None

This document serves as the ongoing chronicle of the heroes' knowledge of Undermountain.

History of Undermountain

• -1288 DR: A shield dwarf named Melair discovers a vein of precious mithral beneath Mount Waterdeep. King Melair I, as he comes to be known, sends word to his kindred, and those who answer his call become Clan Melairkyn. The Melairkyn are traders, artisans, and explorers, strongly protective of their home, which they name the Underhalls of Melairbode.
• Year of Fervent Glances (-677 DR): Drow from the city of Karsoluthiyl (located beneath the Trackless Sea, west of the mouth of the River Chionthar) begin their first incursions against the Stout Folk of Melairbode.
• Year of Purloined Power (34 DR): Drow overwhelm the Melairkyn dwarves of Undermountain, and King Melair IV is slain. The dwarves retreat to lower, less important levels of the Underhalls.
• Year of Scattered Stars (168 DR): A wizard of unknown ancestry calling himself Halaster Blackcloak builds a tower and fortified ramparts in the middle of the Deepwater Plateau, to the north and west of the burgeoning farms along the harbor shore in Waterdeep. He begins exploration of the Underhalls of the Melairkyn and claims the delvings for himself.
• Year of Spoiled Splendors (211 DR): Clan Melairkyn, forced to retreat to successively lower and less important levels of the Underhalls by the drow, finally vanishes. The drow name their new holdings Kyorlamshin and claim most of fallen Melairbode as their demesne.
• Year of the Sundered Sails (307 DR): The apprentices to Halaster, known as the Seven, leave Halaster’s Hold hoping to establish their own holdings in the subterranean depths. The tower and surface holding fall into decay and ruin, and the tribes of Blackcloak Hold, as the settlement had come to be known, quickly learn to avoid the “cursed” enclosure.
• Year of the Ecstatic Priest (493 DR): The drow, forced into the lowest levels of the Underhalls, finally abandon the former dwarf home of Melairbode entirely.
• Year of the Swollen Stars (1224 DR): The Lords of Waterdeep, seeking to avert monsters living beneath their feet, begin offering rewards for proof of monsters slain in Undermountain. Delving into Undermountain quickly comes into vogue among adventurers, so much so that even when the Lords stop offering the bounty a decade later, the "Undermountain fever" remains.
• Year of the Broken Helm (1302 DR): In Waterdeep, the practice of exiling criminals to the depths of Undermountain begins. Two noted adventurers from Waterdeep, Durnan and Mirt the Merciless, emerge from Undermountain bearing great wealth.
• Year of Thunder (1306 DR): Durnan establishes the Yawning Portal over the ruins of Halaster's Hold, controlling the access to the dungeons beneath the city.

Known Access Points

• Yawning Portal

Maps

• None

Levels of Undermountain

• The Dungeon Level: The Dungeon Level has long been used by the Lords of Waterdeep as a dumping ground for undesirables, hence its most common name. It is also known as the Temple Level, for the many temples of dark gods that have been constructed here over the years, and the Tomb Level, for the many lords and kings that have been interred herein as well. As explorers of Undermountain often visit this level, its features are common tavern-talk of Waterdeep.
• The Storeroom Level: On this level, the rough stone caverns and mining tunnels left by the dwarves have been converted to house acquisitions and magical experiments by unknown forces. Notable features of the Storeroom Level include the Doomgate, the Helmwatch and Lord Hund Hillgauntlet's Tomb.
• The Sargauth Level: Known for the River Sargauth, which winds through this massive level, Undermountain's third level consists of two major sections: something that looks like the ruins of an old settlement, and the northern two-thirds, which are like the more typical tunnels found in the levels above. The most notable feature of this level besides the River Sargauth itself is the near-apocryphal Skullport.

Traits of Undermountain

• The Teleport Cage: Any transportation magics involving teleportation whose destination is not within line of sight of the caster automatically go haywire, teleporting the caster to a random site within Undermountain.

Previous Eras

• 1354 DR