Advanced Dungeons & Dragons giants lost their prominence in the drow schemes, being kept on

more as cannon fodder than anything else. Nosnra realizes and

Dungeon Module #G1A resents this, but maintains the alliance both out of fear of reprisals
and because easy loot has still flows into his fat hands. Thus, the orcs
cutting off the Temple means nothing to Nosnra, and since the
The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief Eilserves have stopped dealing with the hill giants directly, they are
The Lower Caverns unaware of just how close they are to a major discovery that would
greatly impact their cult.
By Joseph Bloch
Notes for the Dungeon Master
The lower caverns are far more like the caves in the western third of
Background: When originally published, The Steading of the Hill the Dungeon Level beneath the Steading than they are like the rest
Giant Chief made several references to a series of caverns and of the place. They are for the most part rough natural caves that are
other features below the southern and western portion of the typical of underground regions that have been carved by water and
Dungeon Level that was published in the adventure. Those caverns seismic activity over the course of millennia. The overhead in the
and dungeons were never detailed, and the only clues to their unhewn areas varies between 10 feet in passages and 20 feet in
nature were in the descriptions for some of the encounter areas (18, the large caves.
19, 21, and 23, in the original module). The only exceptions are those finished areas that connect with the
When the module was re-released as part of the compilation Weird Abandoned Temple and the Vestry (areas 2 through 8). These
Queen of the Spiders in 1986, the descriptions were left unchanged. well-chiseled areas, which are buttressed every 10 feet and a 17-
In 1999, it was once again re-released as part of a compilation, foot height at the peak of the arch, are obviously of the same older
Against the Giants, The Liberation of Geoff. For that volume, Sean K. and well-done stonework as the majority of the Dungeon Level.
Reynolds added new material, including the following line in the Access to the Lower Caverns is via the sinkholes in areas 19, 21, and
description of area 21: “Those unmapped lower levels wander off 23 in the Dungeon Level. Each of the sinkholes in those chambers is
into darkness, being barren of treasure or anything of interest aside a hole that opens up into a cave below. The diameter of the holes
from many, many different types of fungus.” is as shown on the Dungeon Level map, with a pile of rock and
However, in the Gygaxian spirit of putting some of the most debris beneath, some 10 feet beneath the opening above. The
interesting discoveries in the most unlikely of places, the following rock pile will be 2-3 feet high at its apex beneath the center of the
addendum is offered for the Dungeon Master who would like to opening and taper off in a roughly conical shape. If incautious
spice up those lower caverns beyond nothing more than fungus, adventurers should simply jump down, this will pose a problem as to
carrion crawlers, and lizards. It will also add the possibility of finding how to return to the Dungeon Level, as it is beyond simple jumping
new information that will assist the party as they go on to face the or reaching. The irregularly-shaped dotted lines on the Lower
frost and fire giants, and their puppet-masters the drow of house Caverns map correspond to the sinkholes on the Dungeon Level
Eilservs. map as noted in the text.
The Drow, the Hill Giants, and the Elder Elemental God The scale of the map is the same as in the original adventure. One
square equals ten feet.
While little history was given in the original module, the Dungeon
Master should keep in mind that the entire dungeon level was Wandering Monsters:
originally much more extensive than shown on the Dungeon Level Encounter 1 in 8
Map. It was built by followers of the Elder Elemental God in the
distant past. That the Hill Giants situated their fortress on the same 1. 1-3 carrion crawlers from 14. and 15. below
site was either an act of great coincidence or the result of some 2. 1-4 cave crickets (H.P.: 8, 8, 8, 9)
subtle unconscious guidance. Whatever the reason, when House
Eilservs turned from the worship of Lolth to that of the Elder Elemental 3. 1 violet fungus (H.P.: 14)
God, and they sought allies and operatives in the lands above, they 4. 1-3 myconids from #19 (H.P.: 17)
took this fact as a sign, and enlisted Nosnra and his hill giants as
followers. Rooms and Areas:

At the time, large sections of the dungeon level were almost entirely 1. REBEL ORC UNDERCAVE. The rebel orcs in area #19 of the
collapsed, choked with debris from centuries of disuse and the Dungeon Level use this cave as a dumping ground for
occasional earthquake. The drow emissaries convinced the giants trash and prisoners. There is no way back up without
to use orc slaves to begin clearing out the dungeons, knowing of assistance, and the orcs above keep a wary eye on the
the temple in a general sense, and possibly even an entrance to sinkhole, as occasionally some horror from beneath that is
the underworld. Eventually the orcs stumbled on the Weird able to climb walls, such as a carrion crawler, finds its way
Abandoned Temple (area 17A). It was this discovery that convinced here. There is a larger-than-normal pile of debris under the
a large number of orc slaves to rebel and block off access to the hole, consisting of garbage, refuse, and dung. Hidden in
temple, as even the orcs could tell it was something unnatural in the and amongst the refuse is a silver necklace worth 150 g.p.
most literal sense of the word, and knew that it would spell their A neo-otyugh dwells here, serving as a rear guard for the
doom if their giant masters were to begin to worship there. Thus, they orcs in exchange for a steady supply of offal and scraps
see themselves as the guardians of the temple, keeping it away (HD: 11, H.P.: 55), and also ensures that the discarded
from everyone, for their own protection. debris doesn’t grow too tall, which would allow easy access
through the sinkhole from below.
By this time, however, the drow had moved on to bigger and more
powerful giants as allies, and once it was apparent the hill giants The opening in the ceiling leads to the sinkhole in area 19
were not true followers of the Elder Elemental God, and with little of the Dungeon Level.
progress reported in the attempt to excavate our the shrine, the hill

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2. TENTACLE CHAMBER. The walls, floor, and ceiling of this finding out the details of their scheme above. He was
room are carved in the form of writhing tentacles. If one discovered and fled, eventually reaching these lower
looks at them for more than a brief period of time, they caverns and unable to escape. He has been quite
seem to move just on the edge’s of one’s peripheral vision. forgotten by those above, but has no way of knowing that,
If anyone stays in this room for more than 2 minutes, they and between his paranoia of discovery and the influence
will not be able to shake the feeling that something is of the temple in which he finds himself, he has been driven
moving just out of sight, and will suffer a -2 penalty to all quite mad by his circumstances and will attack anyone
surprise rolls for a week. who comes near him. He lives a lonely and dangerous
existence, occasionally venturing forth into the caverns for
3. MOSAIC ROOM. This room is spherical, not merely round.
sustenance.
The walls are completely covered in a series of mosaics
that spiral and weave across one another, the illustrated Gleevin Aleval: (5th level fighter/4th level magic-user; H.P.:
narrative passing over and above one another, making the 24; Strength 9; Intelligence 16; Wisdom 9;
whole very difficult to follow. To make matters worse, the Dexterity 16; Constitution 13; Charisma 12;
narrative passes right to left, adding to the difficulty. 30 AC 2 = +1 chainmail and +2 dexterity
minutes of careful study and a successful INT check (roll INT bonus.) His clothes are tattered from his time
or lower on 1d20) will reveal one of the following narrative below, but he still wears a pendant in the
threads in the following order: shape of a copper staff (the symbol of House
Eilservs) that was part of his disguise. He has
A great purple creature with many tentacles, with
a +1 shortsword and a +1 dagger, but his
similar but smaller creatures as followers, fights with a
spell book was lost when he fled. As such he
giant spider, a ram-headed figure, and a dragon.
only has the following spells memorized, for
The smaller tentacled creatures are hunted down by use in a life-and-death emergency:
recognizable demons and devils and almost entirely
First Level: spider climb
wiped out. A few are seen hiding deep within the
earth. Second Level: web
The purple creature with tentacles is imprisoned on a In addition, as can all drow males, he can
distant star, and the giant spider is seen swallowing the cast the following spells once per day:
key.
dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness, detect
The demonic and infernal figures rampage on earth, magic, know alignment, levitate
slaying and maiming in various horrible ways. The few
7. PRIEST’S CHAMBER. In ancient times, this chamber was used
remaining tentacled creatures watch, almost
by one of the priests attending the temple. Today it is
enviously, from their hiding places.
basically empty, with only a pair of large spiders (H.P.: 6, 6)
4. CHAMBER OF THE EYE. Inlayed in copper into the center of who come in and out through a split in the wooden door.
the floor is a large symbol some 20’ across. It is a triangle There is a 50 g.p. gem hidden in the webbing that covers
split into three by three lines coming in from the points and parts of the room.
meeting in the center. The copper is badly tarnished, but
8. DEAD END CORRIDOR. The eastern 20 feet of this corridor
the whole radiates magic. Originally this was a
are 20 degrees warmer than the rest of the Lower Caverns.
teleportation device to another center of the cult, but the
The western 20 feet of this corridor are 20 degrees cooler
destination has long since been obliterated. Anyone
than the rest of the level. It otherwise has no effect.
crossing one of the lines of the outer triangle will be
enveloped in a translucent ray of purplish hue. The ray will 9. MUSHROOM CHAMBER. The floor of this cave is covered
last for two rounds; in the first, those within it will feel a slight with large capped mushrooms of various sizes and colors.
burning sensation, but nothing harmful. In the next round, This is a major source of food for the rebel orcs in the
anyone remaining in the ray will either take 3d6 points of Dungeon Level. Mixed in and amongst the mushrooms are
electrical damage (50% chance) or be teleported to a two shriekers (H.P.: 12, 13) and a violet fungus (H.P.: 13).
random spot on the surface 1d4 miles distant (50% The orcs know they are here and have learned to avoid
chance), as a great puff of smoke emerges from the them.
center point of the symbol. 10. CAVERN MAZE. A green Johnny (H.P.: 23) stalks this small
maze of corridors, and will stalk any creature or creatures
which enter, picking off any stragglers in a group. It will be
alerted if one of the shriekers in area #9 goes off, and will
automatically sense prey coming from that cave in such a
case. If destroyed, there are 4 gems inside the creature,
minimum value 50 g.p., maximum value 1,000 g.p.
5. RUBBLE-CHOKED STAIRS. A flight of ridged, step-like stones 11. LARGE FUNGUS CAVERN. This huge chamber is lined with
slants steeply up, and connects to area 18 in the Dungeon edible fungus on floor and walls, some of which gives off a
Level. It is completely filled with tons of rubble and would soft violet glow sufficient to see without aid of torches. Four
take many days to clear. huge pedipalps (H.P.: 10, 11, 12, 12) and one giant
6. DROW SPY. This chamber is locked from inside, and pedipalp (H.P.: 23) quietly munch on the fungus but will
contains only a pile of rags which is used as a bed. gladly supplement their diet with meat if the opportunity
Originally a chamber for one of the priests, it is now affords itself.
occupied by Gleevin Aleval, who infiltrated one of the last In the small cave to the west there is a large spherical
embassies of the Eilservs that was sent here, tasked with puffball mushroom some 8 feet in diameter. This is, in fact,

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 an ascomoid (H.P.: 35) which will roll out to attack any are definite signs of organization in how the whole is laid
creature that enters the small cave. out. There is a 1-in-3 chance that half the myconids from
#19 below will be here, tending the crops.
12. STRIPED CAVE. The walls of this cave are embedded with
bright green striations in the rock that give it a psychedelic 19. MYCONID LAIR. Luminescent shelf-fungus provides light in
look. It is otherwise unremarkable. this cave, which is home to a myconid circle that tends the
fungus in #18 above, and occasionally makes forays into
13. GUARDED TREASURE. This sandy-floored cave is empty save
some of the other fungus caves to supplement their diet
for the skeleton of a hill giant which seems to have been
through foraging. A full circle of fungus men dwells here: 1
carrying a single small iron chest some two feet long and
HD (4) H.P.: 2, 3, 5, 5; 2 HD (4) H.P.: 4, 6, 10, 11, 11; 3 HD
one foot high and wide. The chest is locked, and there is a
(4) H.P.: 7, 12, 13, 13; 4 HD (4) H.P.: 14, 14, 16, 17; 5 HD (3)
poison needle trap on the lock which will kill anyone who
H.P.: 20, 21, 24; 6 HD (1 – the king) H.P.: 29. They share the
incautiously attempts to open the chest. Within are a set of
same revulsion of all humanoid creatures as the rest of their
six matched pearls worth 6,000 g.p., a ring of invisibility,
kind, and will use their spores to drive off any intruders. They
and a guardian daemon (H.P.: 44) which will manifest as
largely avoid area #1, as it is frequented by the orcs, but
soon as the chest is opened and assume the form of a
do occasionally venture forth from their own caves to
barbed devil. It will instantly attack anyone in the vicinity.
reconnoiter and make sure nothing threatens their
14. EGG CHAMBER. After breeding in the CHAMBER OF THE peaceful existence. They have fashioned a number of
CARRION CRAWLERS (Area #23 on the Dungeon Level), the packets of special spores that have the same effect as
carrion crawlers return here to deposit their eggs in the potions when the grains are inhaled as opposed to
corpses of specially-chosen victims. The opening in the ingested; clairvoyance, diminution, flying, healing, treasure
ceiling leads to the northernmost sinkhole in area 23 of the finding, and fungus control (acts as a potion of plant
Dungeon Level. There are seven such bodies here; two control, but is effective only against fungoid and
troglodytes with two eggs each, four orcs with one egg mushroom-type creatures, not including slimes and jellies).
each, and a young hill giant with a five eggs, for a total of
thirteen eggs. The eggs themselves are sickly white and
slightly oblong in shape, embedded into the flesh of the THIS ENDS THE EXPEDITION TO THE CAVERNS BENEATH THE STEADING
host creature for the young to feast upon as soon as they
emerge. The troglodytes and orcs have no treasure, but
the hill giant has a silver belt worth 150 g.p. that it was GREEN JOHNNY
wearing on its wrist. FRRQUENCY: Very Rare
15. CARRION CRAWLER LAIR. Fully eight of the fearsome NO. APPEARING: 1
creatures will be found here (H.P.: 13, 13, 14, 15, 15, 15, ARMOR CLASS: 5
16, 16). The remains of several orc and troglodyte bodies MOVE: 12”
can be found here, as well as that of a hill giant with an HIT DICE: 5
intact bag (roll for contents). The hill giant is also wearing a % IN LAIR: 0
necklace of adaptation on its wrist. The opening in the TREASURE TYPE: Q
ceiling leads to the central sinkhole in area 23 of the NO. OF ATTACKS: 5
Dungeon Level. DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4/1-4/1-4/1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Surprise on 1-3
16. SMALL FUNGUS CAVE. A riotous variety of edible fungi grow
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to mind-affecting magic
here on the walls, floor, and ceiling. Shelf fungus,
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
mushrooms, and many others in a variety of colors can be
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
found. The whole glows with a soft yellow light, allowing
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
vision for those without infravision or ultravision. A dozen
SIZE: S (4’)
cave crickets are here, and will panic and begin jumping
PSIONIC ABILITY: None
at any intrusion (H.P.: 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 10). There
is also a 50% chance that 1-3 carrion crawlers from areas Green Johnnys are a type of carnivorous mobile fungus. They are
14 and 15 will be in the northern half of the cave, also found in deep underground environments and use their exceptional
eating the fungus. They and the crickets will generally not senses of smell and sensing vibration to hunt prey. They attack with
disturb one another, but the crawlers will occasionally pick four frond-like branches which are covered in sharp ridges, as well
one off for a snack. There is also a 1 in 6 chance that 1d4 as by biting with a “mouth” ringed with similarly ridged “teeth.” They
myconids from #19, below, will be here, collecting wild move about on four more fronds which project downward from the
fungus crops to supplement their tilled fields. central body structure, which is ovoid in shape. They move almost
completely silently, and thus can sneak up on prey in the dark. They
The northern opening in the ceiling leads to the
cannot digest gems, which become secreted within the creature’s
southernmost sinkhole in area 23 of the Dungeon Level. The
body as they are ingested.
southern opening leads to the sinkhole in area 21 of the
Dungeon Level.
17. DAMP CAVE. The walls and ceiling of this cave are very
damp, with small rivulets of water flowing down. The water
G1A The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief the Lower Caverns is
seeps back into the ground before exiting the cave, so
unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not
there is no real stream to be found. Six cave crickets are
approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are
here (H.P.: 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9).
property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. The
18. MYCONID CROPS. This long chamber is filled with edible remainder is copyright © 2019 Joseph Bloch, all rights reserved.
fungi of various types arranged in neat rows. Similar types
of fungus and mushroom are grouped together, and there
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