Zareena slipping through the crowd

Epitmimizing her species’ cruelty, Zareena is a ruthless and ambitious member of House Vaydra in Menzoberranzan. The commander of The Black Widow’s Web mercenary force, she has been placed in charge of running the slave camps and mines in Underberg. Unlike the other 4 commanders, she is not driven by a lust for power, status, or wealth in the usurper’s government. Instead, She is a loyal subject of Menzoberranzan and a faithful servant of Lolth. She plans to betray the usurper and turn Underberg into an outpost for her people in the Feengrenze.

Even while she hides in the shadows, Zareena cuts a stunning figure. She is a slender and athletic obsidian-skinned beauty with the grace of a leopard, a beautiful sharp face, and flowing silver hair. She dresses almost exclusively in custom-made black leather armor, high-top stiletto boots, and a black cloak of elven kind. She is as ruthless and cold as her daggers, and her long years as an assassin have honed her craft to a razor’s edge. She moves unseen through the tunnels of Underberg, a random face in the crowd. When she does, make her presence known.

Zareena Schedule

Zareena does not have a schedule. She simply appears at black widow facilities when she is needed.

When Zareena dies

When Zareena is assassinated or otherwise removed from play, her plans for a drow city in Underberg fall apart.  Her mercenaries quietly disappear from the city over the next six to seven days. Multiple slaves from the camps go missing, and some of the lesser skilled and or more zealous warriors are found with knives in their backs.

With the Black Widow’s Web gone, the watch and the army try to fill the power vacuum in Underberg with little success. The surface dwellers struggle to adapt to Underberg’s naturally dark, maze-like tunnels. The enemy soldier table is replaced with footsoldiers from the watch and army tables. Stealth checks to avoid the patrols are made with advantage, and checks by patrols are made with disadvantage.

The departure of the drow also emboldens the Syndicate and SBHU. The Syndicate expands its territory in the Underberg outward from the Red Lantern district and starts to clash with the watch. SBHU works with Nib to develop a neutral zone around the goblin market. If the players are friendly with either faction, forces of Syndicate thugs and SBHU scouts will intercede on the players’ behalf if the players get into a fight in either neighborhood.

Zareena’s treasure

Upon defeating Zareena, the players find the following in his person:

• 150 gold pieces
• A cloak of elvenkind
• A pair of boots of elvenkind
• The magic daggers Despair and Dread

The Black Widow’s Web

A mercenary company from material plane comprised entirely of drow, underdark goblins, quaggoths, and trained spiders. For decades, they performed the dirty work of the matron mothers of drow capital, including but not limited to assassinations, kidnappings, blackmail, running outposts, and aiding the noble houses of the city with slave raiding. When the usurper offered them the job of overseeing operations at his gulags, they pounced at the opportunity. The company is now in complete control of Underberg and has transformed the mines on the lower levels of the ward into gulags for the massive number of political prisoners and would-be and former resistance fighters Murtagh’s other commanders have rounded up.

From these camps, the Black Widow’s Web sends out patrols into the underberg. They lurk unseen in the shadows and dark corners where the luminous crystals and bioluminescent fungus of the tunnels have failed, watching the downtrodden and on-edge citizens like hawks ready to pounce when an escaped prisoner or easy mark passes by. When Murtagh needs someone to quietly disappear, the members of the Black Widows Web sortie into the city in the dead of night, and their target is never seen again.

Black Widow’s Web Operations

Awareness Table

Awareness	Dc	Countermeasure
0	10	none
1-3	12	Snare and Bear traps are placed in secondary and tertiary tunnels where Zareena believes the resistance is operating.
4-6	14	Magic wards are placed in various parts of the neighborhood that alert patrols to the presence of non-residents. Stealth checks automatically fail unless the players succeed on a passive perception check DC 12 to avoid the wards.
7-10	16	Deployed Snare traps are coated in drow poison and deployed in more spots
10-12	18	Zareena starts to nest giant spiders in various tunnels off various lesser-use tunnels of the neighborhood to kill resistance members, effectively negating the create secure routes operation
13-15	20	Zareena mobilizes a large contingent of her forces and hides them around the neighborhood using illusionary walls. All timers for reinforcements are 1 turn.

Everybody on edge in the Underberg, generated using Deviantart Dreamup

  Encounters

D20	Patrol
1	No encounter
2	Oddity
3	Desperate peddler
4	Trap
5	Escaped prisoners
6	Syndicate Members
7	Miners
8	Cave In
9	Paid Informant
10	Black Widows web members
11	Black Widow web spy
12	Spiders
13	Prisoner escort
14	Con artist
15	Rough customers
16	Dark dealings
17	Zareena
18	Sorathra Xar’ath and his students
19	Shynrala Pharra and her spiders

Desperate peddler

The players encounter a goblin peddler who claims to have some strange and intangible merchandise like a cat’s smile, the beauty of youth, or the breath of a fish he will sell the players for a steal. He seems desperate to make a sale and constantly looks over his shoulder.

Trap

The players encounter a man trap setup in one of the tunnels in the ward. The players can detect the trap with a DC 15 Perception check. Players can disable the trap using a DC 14 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check.

If the players fail to detect or disarm the trap:

• Bear Trap: A player must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw to avoid stepping on the trap. On a fail, the trap deals 2d6 piercing damage, and the target is restrained. They can free themselves with a DC 14 Strength check.
• Snare: The player makes a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they are pulled into the air or entangled by the snare and become restrained. They can free themselves with a DC 14 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
• Pitfall: The player makes a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. On a fail, they fall into the pit, taking 2d6 bludgeoning damage from the fall and landing prone.

Furthermore, the trap rings a little bell when sprung drawing a Black Widow’s Web patrol to the location.

Escaped prisoners

The players encounter 1d12 escaped prisoners from the gulags. A group of 1d10 drow and 1d10 drow scouts from Black Widow’s Web are close behind. If they choose to fight the Black Widow’s Web members, the enemies fight until they are outmatched, after which they will retreat and seek reinforcements. If the players successfully help the prisoners escape, the opinion of all the factions increases by one, and one of the factions interested in freeing prisoners (Old Watch, Sanctuary of the Resplendent Hand, or Silver Moon Coven) will give the players a reward (the nature of the reward is at the dm digression. Example, rewards are a 40gp or a common magic itemor a peice of true information.

Black Widow Soldiers, generated using Google Imagen3.

 Syndicate Members

The players encounter 1d12+1 members of the Syndicate consisting of thugs and bandits. If the players are on friendly terms with the Syndicate (at least +6), they greet the players as friends and give them 1d4 rumors or authentic pieces of information (your choice) or offer to serve as muscle for the players for a price of 10gp. Otherwise, choose an option from the following reaction table.

2d6	reaction
2	Unless they are obviously outmatched by the players, the group attacks on sight; otherwise, they will gather more thugs and ambush the players in the next 1d4 hours.
3-4	Try to intimidate the players into giving them 10gp
5-6	Shower the players with insults but do nothing else unless attacked
7-8	Neutral
9-10	The syndicate members offer to sell the players a bit of information if they pay them 5gp
11	The syndicate members offer the players a job (see sidequests for possible jobs).
12	The syndicate members offer to serve as muscle for the players for 5gp

Miners

The players encounter 1d8+1 miners  either at work or drinking in a pub. They are a closed-off and standoffish bunch who do not like outsiders. If the players make a DC15 charisma check, the miners open up and tell the players about the things they saw the Black Widow’s Web doing in the tunnels. They give the players 1d4 true bits of information. If they fail the check the miners start a brawl (use thug stat block for miners).

Cave In

In the tunnel the players are traveling through, they feel a rumble, and rocks start falling from the ceiling. The players must make a DC 15 athletics or dexterity skill check to avoid falling rocks. After the cave in their path forward or behind them is blocked

Paid Informant

A shady-looking character beckons the players over; he will give the players a rumor if they can pay him 1d6 gold pieces.

Black Widows web members

The players encounter a group of Black Widow’s Web members. Roll 6d6 on the following table to determine the group composition and what they are doing.

d6	drow	Drow scouts	Giant spiders	ogres	Drow Blademaster, rouges or shadow Sorcerer	doing
1	0	0	0	0	none	Skulking in the shadows
2	2	1	1	1	none	On Patrol
3	4	2	2	2	1	Guarding something
4	6	3	3	3	1	Harassing a civilian
5	8	4	4	4	2	Transporting prisoners or equipment
6	10	5	5	5	2	Travelingsomewhere

The players can spot the drow with a DC 15 passive or active perception check. If the players spot the group, they have one chance to avoid being spotted. Have the players describe what means they use to avoid being spotted and make them perform appropriate checks. If they fail on the checks, the navy personnel will spot them. If the players are spotted, roll on the following reaction table to determine the group’s response

2d6	reaction
2	Unless they are obviously outmatched by the players, the group attacks on sight; otherwise, they will gather more Black Widow’s Web Members and ambush the players in the next 1d4 hours.
3-5	Very suspicious of the player’s actions
6-8	Suspicious
9-11	In a hurry or otherwise not willing to take too much time with the players
12	Ignore the players

Black Widow web spy

The players spot a Black Widow web spy skulking in the shadows. The spy is either watching them or spying on another group or individual in the city. If the players try to confront the spy, the spy will attempt to avoid contact, leading them on a chase through the city until they can find some reinforcements. Successfully catching the spy will get the players dossiers on either themselves or one of the factions in the city.

Spiders

The players encounter 1d12 giant spiders lurking in one of the tunnels. If the cr of the encounter is equal to or greater than the party’s apl, they attack; otherwise, they follow the players at a distance and join the next combat encounter the players’ characters have.

Prisoner escort

The players encounter 1d12 drow, Drow Blademasters or drow scouts escorting 1d20 prisoners chained together by their necks. If they choose to fight the Black Widow’s Web members, the enemies fight until they are outmatched, after which they will retreat and seek reinforcements. If the players successfully help the prisoners escape, the opinion of all the factions increases by one, and one of the factions interested in freeing prisoners (Old Watch, sanctuary of the resplendent Hand, or Silver Moon Coven) will give the players a reward (the nature of the reward is at the dm digression. Example, rewards are a 40gp or a common magic item,

Con artist

The players encounter a con artist doing the classic shell game or three-card monty scam. He will challenge the players to his game, offering to double their bet money. It takes a dc 15 insight or perception check to notice the scam. If the players confront the con artist and threaten him, he will give the players three times their wager in return. Subsequent encounters with the con artist will result in him darting away from the players with shells and cards.

Illusionary Supply cache

The players stumble upon a strangely placed wall or pillar somewhere in the ward. The structure is a well-crafted illusion requiring a DC 17 Wisdom check to see through. The illusion hides a cache of supplies worth 50gp

Dark dealings

The players stumble across a secret deal in progress. Either the Syndicate or the Black Widow’s Web are meeting with some individual, and that individual has a large pile of gold with them. If the meeting involves the Syndicate, the players witness a smuggled and/or illegal goods transfer with the syndicate party being a bandit captain and 1d6 thugs. If it involves the Black Widow’s Web, the players will witness a blackmail payoff with the black widow party consisting of 1d6 spies.

Zareena

Zareena travels through the ward alone, using her cloak and boots of elvenkind to avoid notice.

Sorathra Xar’ath and his students

Sorathra Xar’ath (See Appendix C) Black Widow’s Web unit and is responsible for setting up and securing safe houses. He is known for his unnerving presence: He has milk-white eyes, a shaved head, and numerous piercings wrapped in a martial art He is usually accompanied by 3 drow rouges who serve as his eyes.

Impact on the Black Widow’s Web if defeated: His unit struggles to secure new safehouses without his guidance. It takes twice as long for them to establish new safehouses, and the new safehouses require only a DC 14 perception or investigation check to detect.

Shynrala Pharra and her spiders

Shynrala Pharra (See Appendix C)is something of an oddity among the cold-blooded killers of the Black Widow’s Web. She is thin, almost to the point of frailty, pale-skinned, and wears thick glasses. She is single-mindedly obsessed with spider husbandry and training. As the company’s resident spider breeding and training expert, she must ensure that the company’s spiders are well cared for. When away from Black Site, Charlie is escorted by three phase spiders and three giant spiders. 

Impact on the Black Widow’s Web if defeated: With Shynrala’s defeated Black Site, Charlie descends into complete anarchy, preventing the Black Widow’s Web from deploying spiders for 1d20 days.

Assassinating Zareena

Of all the commanders, Zareena is the trickiest to pin down. She spends most of her time wandering the city in disguise, bouncing between the Black Widow’s Web safehouses. She only visits the facilities set up by her men when there is a need for her there. Her only distinguishing mark is a scar down her back from a training accident. This makes her difficult to track down. However, the players do have some options.

Detecting her on the street

When passing through a neighborhood, there is a slight chance that they will bump into Zareena. Zareena prefers simple disguises that make her look like some random elf or one of her men. However, she constantly wears a pair of boots of elven kind and a cloak of elven kind. If the players cast detect magic while passing through a neighborhood, they can detect it. Alternatively, the players can make a DC 20 insight check to spot someone in a cloak who is moving a little too stealthy in the crowd. There is a one in three chance that the person detected is Zareena.

Hitting Black Widow safehouses

The Black Widow maintains several safehouses in the ward. Zareena generally spends her nights in one of these safe houses, preferring the safety provided by her men to lodgings above ground or elsewhere in Underberg. In practice, this means that the players can corner the Zareena by destroying safehouses one by one until she has to either lodge in her lair in Mithrilhold or find other less secure and less discrete lodgings.

Causing A Crisis at a Black Widow Facility

Zareena surfaces only when trouble is at a Black Widow’s Web facility in the undercity. If the players attack Mithrialhold, Silverhold, or Ironhold, Zareen will arrive with a force of reinforcements to deal with the players about 15 minutes after the assault begins.

Trapping her at important raids

Zareena always leads important raids to the surface in person. If the players can create a situation where Murtagh needs someone powerful and influential to disappear, they can lay an ambush to trap her. Such people include Tansy Fleetfoot and Duchess Muirín.

 Black Widow’s Web Safehouses

Black Widow maintains multiple small safehouses in Underberg. These safe houses are usually in out-of-the-way places in the ward, such as dead-end alleyways, derelict shops, bars, or seemingly abandoned burrows.

Detecting a safe house. Black widow safehouses can be detected via DC 18 perception checks, staking out neighborhoods, contacts in the Syndicate and SBHU, and various resistance missions.

Safehouse interior. When players enter a safehouse, read the following

The safe house is spartan but functional. The main room is small, with a low ceiling that gives it a cramped, oppressive feel. A rickety wooden table and a few mismatched chairs occupy the center of the room, and a couple of cots are pushed against one wall; there is a weapon rack against the other wall

There is a one-in-four chance that the safehouse is occupied. If so, players can determine if it is occupied by making a DC16 perception check to listen at the door. If so, roll once on the Black Widow’s Web member table.

Treasure. The safe house will generally contain at least the following.

• 2d20 gold pieces
• 1d8 hand crossbows
• 1d8 short swords
• 1d6 bottles of drow poison
• 10 days worth of rations for 6 people.
• 6 bedrolls
• 1d10 healing potions
• 1d6 bottles of antidote.
• At the digression, the players may find spell components or magic items.

Destroying a safe house. The players can destroy a black widow’s safehouse by burning its contents to ashes.

Silverhold

Level 4

Located in the southeastern depths of the ward, Silverhold is in the former Glimmerdeep mine. The mine and, thus, the camp are located in a cavern 50 yards in diameter and 150 yards tall, with massive veins of feysilver running throughout the cave walls. The mine buildings are either dug into the walls of the single enormous shaft or precariously perched on scaffolding.

Silverhold: general features

The following features are found throughout the mine.

Ceilings. Unless noted otherwise, the ceilings of the chambers are 20 feet high.

Illumination. Unless otherwise specified, the shaft and the chambers forking off of it are dimly lit by wall-mounted torches

1 Gate

Just past a bend at the end of the long tunnel is a gate made of wood and iron bands. Many signs around the gate say things like restricted areas and that all visitors must wait for inspection. Several grey-skinned figures and two large green figures stand around the gate, and several more stand on a rampart above the gate.

The figures around the gate are 2 ogers and 5-drow scouts are on the rampart above the gate. If the players succeed on a dc 15 perception check they notice 2 Drow rouges hidden in the shadows behind them

2 Upper platform

A broad wooden platform stretches before you, beyond which is an abyss. A low rope fence marks the perimeter of the edge. Many people dressed in rags are loading mule-drawn carts with silver ingots. Hobgoblins with spears berate and urge them to work faster while a couple drow lounge by the wall.

8 black widow riot prison guards (See Appendix C) are persuading 30 commoner slaves to work faster. 3 drow prison guard officers  are watching from the wall

Gong. There is a large gong mounted at the edge of the abyss. As an action, a character can hit the gong to raise an alarm. When the gong sounds start, a timer d4. When the timer hits zero, a squad of 1d6 drow warriors and scouts arrives at the upper platform. Every two rounds for the next 10 rounds, another group arrives. If the players defeat all the reinforcements, they will find the rest of the mine almost devoid of guards.

Mules and carts. There are three carts with one mule each. The mules are well aware of the far drop below them and are likewise flitting their tails uneasily and stamping their hooves. A character can cause one of the mules to panic by giving it a good hit with a DC 8 strength check. The mule will start to rush this way and that with its heavy cart behind it.  Every round on initiative count 20, the mule charges in a random direction. Any character caught in the path must make a DC 16 dexterity check or receive 1d8 bludgeoning damage

Treasure. The ingots on the carts are worth a total of 800gp combined.

 3 Crane

Jutting out over the edge of the abyss is a massive crane made of iron and wood. The crane’s cable is massive, and an equally enormous iron hook sits at the end of the cable. A group of ogres work around things, pushing turntables and operating treadmills

3 ogres are used to turn the crane base to power the winch.

Operating the crane. The crane requires muscle power to move. The players can rotate the crane by a group DC 20 strength check to push the handles on the base and a group DC 18 strength check to operate the treadmill.

4 Ogre’s den

The smell from this side chamber is absolutely foul. Large green masses can be seen moving inside.

3 ogres are resting in this chamber

5 Equipment storage

A makeshift warehouse is in this large dugout on the side of the shaft. The smooth walls of the dugout are lined with assorted crates, boxes, and barrels. A larger crate in the middle of the room catches your eye.

Above the players is a pair of awakened phase spiders tasked with guarding the equipment stored against thieves.

Crates. The crates contain mining supplies, including lanterns, pickaxes, shovels, sledgehammers, wedges, and rope.

Barrels. There are 12 barrels in the storage area. The barrels contain lantern oil.

Treasure. The large box contains 2d20 black powder mining charges. The rest of the equipment can be sold for 100gp provided the players can carry it all out.

 6 Hanging barracks

The building is precariously perched over the side of the abyss. It looks almost like a shack mounted to the cave wall using scaffolding. It was almost certainly not initially meant for human habitation, but you can see cots inside.

There are 7 of these hanging barracks. Each of these makeshift barracks can hold 55 people in squalid conditions.

7 Guard posts

A makeshift wooden box has extended past the scaffolding. The box contains broad vision slits, and a pair of archers are manning the three sides of the guard post.

There are 7 such guard posts throughout the shaft. They are generally clustered in three groups near the mining faces, each manned by 6 drow scouts.

8 Ore storage

The path descends to a big landing at the entrance to one of the chambers dug in the shaft walls. The room beyond the landing is dark and filled with giant tubs of ore on wheels. A doorway glows faintly within. A pair of workers wait patiently for something to one side of the landing.

Before the ore is processed into ingots, it is stored in the tubs in this room.

Crane landing. Every so often, the crane lifts a tub of ore from the mining faces to the ore storage. The workers assigned to the storage room know they should always stay off the landing while the crane is moving. When players arrive, have them make a passive perception check DC 12. If they succeed, they notice the giant crane is swinging a tub of ore directly at them. The players can make a DC 13 dex check to dive out of the way or receive 1d6 bludgeoning damage.

Treasure. There is 2000 gp worth of unprocessed feysilver ore in this chamber.

 9 Ore processing

You feel the heat on your skin from the crucibles and magic furnace in the middle of the room. Prisoners are being forced to pile baskets of ore into the furnace under the watch of a hobgoblin with a staff and a squad of drow warriors

Twelve commoner prisoners shovel ore by the basket load into three massive furnaces. A hobgoblin junior war mage serves as foreman and eight drow guards berate the prisoners and order them to work faster.

Smelters. The smelters are powered by crystals that produce massive amounts of heat. Any character that starts their turn within 5 feet of the furnace takes 1d6 fire damage.

Crucibles and ingot molds. There are 5 crucibles in the room. Three are filled with smelting ore while 1 is being moved to the ingot molds, and another is transferred back to the smelters. A character can tip over a crucible by making a DC 17 strength check. A tipped-over crucible creates a puddle of molten silver 15 feet in diameter. Any character that ends or starts their turn in the puddles of molten silver takes 1d6 fire damage and receives a -5 penalty to speed. The silver cools are safe to handle in 4 rounds.

Treasure. In total, there is 1000gp worth of processed and unprocessed feysilver in this room.

10 Guard barracks

This large chamber was dug into the side of the shaft and turned into modest barracks. You can hear snoring from rows of bunk beds and make out figures moving in the dark.

Eight Black Widow riot prison guards (See Appendix C)are asleep in the room, and 12 drow meditate. Players can make a DC 20 stealth check to avoid alerting either group.

Treasure. The players can find 90gp worth of small valuables among the guards’ possessions

 11 Prison Kitchen

This precariously perched shed smells of both terrible and decent cooking simultaneously.

Prisoners are working at great cauldrons, making food.

12 Mining faces

Candles and lamps shine like stars against the Milky Way, like streaks of silver in the wall. Prisoners dig out chunks of silver from the wall while they sit on scaffolds and loops of rope.

There are 4 active mining faces in the mine. A group of 10 to 40 prisoners works on each one.

Treasure. At the base of each mining face is a tub filled with metal ore. The ore is worth about 100gp.

 Mirthrialhold

Recommended level 5

Located at the bottom of Underberg, Mirthiralhold now stands where Vander and Sons mining company once stood. The drow has turned the massive maze of tunnels beyond into a fortress.

Mirthrialhold: general features

The following features are found throughout the mine.

Ceilings. Unless noted otherwise, the ceilings are 20 feet high

Doors. The doors, unless the text specifies overwise, are unlocked. The doors are made from sturdy wood. It takes a strength check of DC 18 to break one down.

Illumination. The tunnels between the various locations are unlit. The locations listed are illuminated with hand lanterns that give off dim lighting.

Entrance

Just past a bend at the end of the long tunnel downward is a gate made of wood and iron bands. There is a noticeable hatch in the middle of the gate. Many signs around the gate say things like restricted areas and that all visitors must wait for inspection. Several grey-skinned figures stand around the gate, and several more stand on a rampart above the gate.

There are 2 drow blademaster and 6 drow posted around the gate. If the players succeed on a dc 13 perception check they see that a phase spider is hanging from the ceiling. It will join combat on the second turn

Flamethrower. There is a mechanical flame thrower mounted behind the door. It was operated by one of the drow warriors. As an action on the drow warrior’s turn, the flamethrower spouts a cone of flame 15 feet wide that deals 2d6 damage. The flamethrower does not work if the gate is opened.

 Guard Barracks

The cavern you are in is quiet compared to the rest of the mine. The massive building in the middle of the chamber screams fortress with 2 story-tall black stone walls topped with crenelations and dotted with arrow slits. Inside, you find many large rooms with cots, lockers, and meditation mats.

20 drow scouts and 20 drow warriors are sleeping in the many rooms of the barracks. The players can sneak around the barracks without disturbing the warriors by making a group DC 15 stealth check.

Secret door. A secret door within the barracks leads to the spider’s lair.

Treasure. The players can discover 400gp in small gemstones, jewelry, religious idols, and coins among the possessions of the guards. However, looting the barracks requires 15 minutes of searching, and there is a 1 in 6 chance that the players will be discovered by the patrolling guards.

Armory

The players can hear voices coming from one of the doors in the barracks. If they decide to investigate, read the following.

The chamber beyond the door is dominated by racks of shortswords, hand crossbows, and longbows. A small group of drow are maintaining weapons at a workbench.

There are 2 drow blademasters and a drow rouge working to maintain weapons in the armory.

Treasure. The armory is filled with nonmagical chainmail shirts, shortswords, longbows, hand crossbows, and darts worth about 500gp in total. In one of the racks, they can find a quiver of  +1 arrows and a +1 Longbow.

 Foundry

The room blazes with heat coming from 6 massive blast furnaces. Prisoners work frantically to feed the mithril ore into the furnaces under the cold eyes of drow supervisors. Below the mouths of the furnaces, crucibles are catching the flow of molten mithril

40 prisoners are working frantically to dump mine carts of ore into the furnaces while a Drow Shadow Sorcerer and 4 drow warriors urge them to go faster with threats and harassment.

Blast furnaces. Each furnace is 10 feet deep, 5 feet in diameter, and full of molten mithril. Any character who falls into the furnace takes 1d12 fire damage, and until they remove the cooling metal, their speed is reduced by 15 feet.

Aunty Foul Target. Among the warriors harassing the prisoners is Selvynra Vhal’dra ,one of the soldiers Aunty Foul wants to be cursed

Crucibles and ingot molds. There are 6 crucibles in the room, 4 full and 2 empty. A character can tip over a crucible by making a DC 17 strength check. A tipped-over crucible creates a puddle of molten mithril 15 feet in diameter. Any player who ends or starts their turn in the puddles of molten silver takes 1d10 fire damage and receives a -5 penalty to speed. The mithril pools are cool enough to be safe to handle in 4 rounds.

Treasure. In total, there is 3000gp worth of mithril in this room. The drow mage wears a Dark Conversion Necklace.

 Hub

This large room is filled with mine cart tracks stretching into multiple tunnels. All the tracks meet at a turntable. A drow and a pair of Quaggoths  watch over the junction.

The drow is a drow blademasters overseeing the two ogres who push the carts down the tunnels from the hub.

 Turntable. The turntable is operated by a lever located on its side. It turns fast enough to require a DC 12 dex check to stay upright while moving.

Mine Cart Depot

The track leading down the tunnel breaks off into multiple tracks with dozens of mine carts on each one. The air is filled with hammering and the smell of iron being worked. You can barely make out a dwarf working by an overturned mine cart.

The dwarf is named Gunther and has been forced to maintain the mine carts since the drow took over the mine. The drow chained him to his workstation with a mithril chain to keep him from escaping. He is more than willing to help the players if it means harming his captors. He can provide the players with a reasonably accurate map of the mine and vague details on the locations in the mine.

Mine carts. The players can ride minecarts through the mine. It takes a DC 10 strength check to get the cart running, and the push lasts about 5 minutes of travel. Creatures caught in the path of a coasting mine cart receive 1d8 bludgeoning damage.

Storage Yard

This massive open-air storage yard has crates, sacks, and barrels. A ogre is moving supplies around under the watch of a group of drow handlers.

 A drow blademasters, an ogre and 3 drow rouges are guarding the Storage Yard

Crates. The crates contain mining supplies, including lanterns, pickaxes, shovels, sledgehammers, wedges, and rope. The Quaggoth Thonot can use an action to throw the crates a player: +3 to hit, range 30 ft./60. Hit: 5 (2d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Prisoner Barracks

The cavern is dark and damp and stinks of filth and feces. You can make out dozens of bedrolls in the gloom.

There are 2 such caverns in the complex. The drow force 400 prisoners into each one.

Spiders lair

The room is pitch black inside. However, in the light of your feeble torches, you can see a war table, a nice bed, a wardrobe, and a desk covered in silver with spider motifs.

This is Zareena’s personal lair. She seldom stays here, however.

Documents. The desk and war table have detailed plans for Zareena’s new drow city in Underberg. However, it takes a DC 15 intelligence check to realize this. If delivered to the watch, it will reach Murtagh’s attention in 1d4 days. After that, we will send an army detachment to detain Zareeba. Also there is a comprehensive inteligence  report on Murtagh and his family. Most of the information is basic information from Murtagh backstory but at the end of the document there is the following sentence, “I have strong evidence to suggest that Murtagh has entered into a binding agreement with Fionnuala the Fair. The nature and terms of this agreement are indeterminate at this point. However, there is likely some form of mutual defense agreement in play. I would strongly recommend delaying takeover of Underberg until we know what the exact nature of the agreement is.”

The spider’s lair, generated using Google Imagen3

Treasure. The wardrobe contains 200gp, a spare hand crossbow, four jars of drow poison with five uses each, and two sets of fine clothes.

Mine faces

The tunnel branches out into a myriad of smaller, less well-lit tunnels. You can hear pickaxes and shovels coming down each one, along with threats and insults.

There are 6 such active mining faces throughout the complex, each consisting of a maze of crisscrossing  5-foot-wide tunnels. Each has 12-15 drow warriors overseeing the prisoners ‘ mining efforts. The warriors are divided into groups of three to four to better oversee the groups of 8 to 16 prisoners working the mithril seams.

Reinforcements. The drow warriors understand they cannot fight the players in these small groups. When combat begins, one of the warriors will try to break away from the group to fetch the other warriors assigned to the mining face.

 Black site Alpha

Recommended level 4

Black Site Alpha is where Black Widow experiments on human mind control, specifically rendering slaves entirely and utterly obedient.

Finding black site alpha. Black Site Alpha can be detected via DC 18 perception checks in the Red Lantern neighborhood, staking out the Red Lantern neighborhood, contacts in the Syndicate and SBHU, and various resistance missions.

When the players enter black Site Alpha, read the following.

Screams echo off the wall as you walk down the narrow, dark passage. As you reach the end, sparking electricity and cracking whips join the screams. As you pass through the end of the corridor, you enter a large room filled with unpleasant instruments of interrogation, all of which are covered with blood. People are strapped to great big slabs, and drow are busily applying pain to their prisoners.

The room is 40 feet by 40 feet. A Drow Shadow Sorcerer and 6 drow are in the room torturing the 3 prisoners and recording the results. Three of the drow are armed with whips that deal 1d8 damage +1d4 psychic damage on hit.

Slabs. The prisoners are strapped to massive stone slabs with leather straps. It takes an action to undo one strap.

Tesla coil. The newest addition to the drow’s roster of torture devices is a Tesla coil at the foot of the slab against the far wall. A character can use an action to turn the device on. When on, it deals a 1d10 shock to any creature in a 10-foot radius, half damage to anyone who makes a successful dc12 dex check

Treasure. Among the black site’s equipment is a Helm of Telepathy, an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location, and a spell scroll of the dominant person. There is also 100gp of rare chemicals and alchemical reagents.

Black Site Bravo

Recommended level 6

Hidden deep in the depths is Black Sight Bravo, a temple to Lofth with a portal that the drow use to come and go from the city back to Menzoberranzan and the Demonweb pits.

Finding a Black Site Bravo. Black site alpha can be detected via DC 20 perception checks in the depths, staking out the depths neighborhood, contacts in the Syndicate and SBHU, and various resistance missions.

Entering the black site. The black site is hidden behind an illusionary wall. The players must make a DC 17 perception check to detect the wall.

Entering the black site. Read the following

You can make out faint carvings on the passageway in the dim light of your torches and lanterns. You can hear chanting from up ahead. When the passageway opens, you are in a large room lit by sconces with black flames. A menacing statue of a human-spider hybrid woman towers above you. A massive magic circle swirling with black energy is at the statue’s foot. Around the profane portal, chanting and kneeling figures are heard.

The players have interrupted a ritual meant to help a fellow young priestess who was summoned to the Demonweb pits by Lolth for a trial of strength and fate. Three junior drow Priestesses (use the priest stat block) and 8 drow are chanting around the portal. The group is so focused on their chanting that they do not notice the player’s arrival, and the players can make a DC 15 stealth check to gain a surprise round.

Drider. Unbeknownst to the drow around the portal, their fellow has failed the test, been turned into a drider, and is being sent back to the portal as they speak. The players have three rounds before the confused drider arrives in the portal.

Portal. The portal radiates necrotic energy. Any player that starts their turn within the portal is dealt 1d4 necrotic damage. The priestess also has an advantage on damage and attack rolls while standing in the portal. The players can disable the portal by making 3 DC 15 arcana checks to deface the magical runes used to create the portals. Disabling the portal also halves the HP of the drider when it arrives

Treasure. The priestess’s belongings contain 100gp worth of spider-themed silver jewelry and personal items and two spell scrolls, each of bless, cause wounds, and faerie fire, are also present.

Black site Charlie

Recommended level 4

Black Site Charlie is where Black Widow breeds and trains spiders. It is located in the disused workhouse in the Burrows neighborhood

Finding black site Charlie. Black site alpha can be detected via DC 18 perception checks in the Burrows neighborhood, staking out the Burrows neighborhood, contacts in the Syndicate and SBHU, and various resistance missions.

When the players enter black Site Charlie, read the following.

As you descend into the workhouse, the walls take on a disconcerting sheen in the torchlight. They are covered in a thick layer of silvery thread. The air starts to fill with the musty smell of decay, and you can hear the faint skittering of countless legs. When you reach the chamber at the end of the tunnel, you see webbing everywhere in the torchlight and the looming shapes of spiders and drow. Workstations can be spotted among the webbing.

There are 6 giant spiders and 3 drow in the chamber, including Shynrala Pharra .

Webs. Large sections of the floor and walls are covered in webbing. Any player that enters an area covered with webs or starts its turn there and must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or have the restrained condition. As an action, a restrained character can try to escape by making a DC 12 strength check or Dexterity check.

Treasure. The drow each have 1d10x10 gp each. The workstation has supplies to make 2 healers kits and 2 spell scrolls of animal friendship.

The Stacked Deck

Of all the dens of iniquity in the Red Lantern Warrens, the Stacked Deck is the largest and most profane. Its large facade twinkles with neon-colored signage depicting coins and cards that tempt all that pass by to come in and lose their money. Inside the casino’s fine front doors is a palace of fine rugs, plush velvet furniture, and gilded fixtures unbefitting a former granite quarry. The Deck is the headquarters for the Syndicate and their public front; Don O’Malley watches the action of his palace of vice from a posh office on the second floor. It has also become the favorite haunt for the soldiers of the Murtagh Regime. Every night, men from the navy, army, mage corp, and Black Widow’s Web descend upon the Deck to partake in every vice imaginable and to serve as a deterrent against the Syndicate doing anything funny. The syndicate footsoldiers do not like the Murtagh regime soldiers, and they march all over the Deck like they own the place, but that cost of doing business these days.

 1 Main Hall

As you step into the main hall of the Stacked Deck, the unmistakable sound of money changing hands and dice rolling washes over you. The space is bustling with a diverse crowd. Burly men in suits patrol the gambling tables, cashiers, and the bar, their occasional hard looks adding to the tension in the air.

There are 9d20 people in the gambling hall at this time. Of that number, 1d20 pit bosses use the (thug stat block), 2d20 staff members manage the gambling tables and the bar, 4d20 soldiers from the navy, army, and Black Widows Web, and the rest are civilians.

Tables. There are 18 tables in the main hall.

Treasure.  Each table contains a pot of 5d10 x 10 gold coins, with various smaller side bets amounting to 1d10 x 10 silver pieces per table. The cashier’s booth contains another 600gp in various coins.

2 The Arena

The cavernous hall is covered by bleachers surrounding a boxing ring in the center.

If there is no fight, five commoners clean the floors. Otherwise, 9d20 people sit on the bleachers , cheering on the combatants.

3 Cabaret Theater

Passing through the door into the spacious cabaret, you find it buzzing with excitement. The joint is packed, and all eyes are fixed on the stage, eagerly anticipating the next act. The energy in the air is palpable, adding to the thrill of the performances.

At any time, there are 70 people in the theater, including 8 pit bosses (thugs), 2d20 Murtagh Regime soldiers, and 3d20 commoners, both staff and patrons

Acts. During any given time, an act occurs on the stage. Rolls from the following table to choose an act

d8	Cabaret Act
1	Illusionist Fey
2	Acrobatic Duo
3	Sultry Bard
4	Fire Dancer
5	Beast Tamer
6	Masked Comedian
7	Sword Dance
8	Magical Marionettes

4 The Syndicate Lounge.

The hall leads out into a lounge area, where shady-looking characters stretch out on couches and plush chairs similar to those in the main hall. A small bar takes up one corner of the room

There are 4 syndicate hitmen (use spy stat block) and 3 pit bosses drinking and chatting with each other over a poker game.

Treasure. The table has 200gp in loose coins. One of the hitmen has a +1 dagger.

5 The Merchandise Warehouse

The room is filled with stacks of crates and barrels, and a handful of men are tallying boxes and moving crates.

The syndicate stores most of its smuggled and stolen goods in the warehouse behind the casino. Eight bandits inventory the warehouse, and three thugs oversee the operation.

Treasure. There is about 1500 gp worth of illegally imported and stolen goods in the warehouses.

7 The dons office

The office is posh with wooden paneling, a delicate rug, and a massive desk with an equally enormous chair. A gigantic painting of a bugbear in a three-piece suit and hat adorns one wall.  A cage sits in the corner with a tiny dragon curled up in a ball, pouting softly to himself

There is a 1 in 4 chance that Don O’Malley is here during the day; at night, he is always here.

Wynvelen. The dragon is Wynvelen (see Chapter 4, where Wynvelen? For more details). The don’s men kidnapped him for giving an impression that was too accurate to the life of the boss in front of his wife and kids. He has the faerie dragon locked up in a cage while he decides what horrible things to do to him.

Treasure. The desk contains a set of solid gold and gem-encrusted pens worth 100gp. The painting hides a safe that can be opened with a DC 17 sleight of hand check. The safe contains 1000gp in mixed coins and a black ledger, magically protected, detailing every deal the Syndicate has made

Zareena and Black Widow’s Web Rumor Table

d50	Rumor
1	The Black Widow’s Web is foreign mercenaries, consisting mainly of drow, goblinoids, and quaggoths.
2	The Black Widow’s Web leader is a drow woman named Zareena Vaydra.
3	Zareena Vaydra travels about the ward in disguise.
4	Zareena’s disguise consists of a cloak of elvenkind, standard Black Widow’s Web armor, and high-heeled boots of elvenkind.
5	Zareena Vaydra has no fixed schedule and simply appears where she needed.
6	Zareena Vaydra has a large, jagged scar on her back from a training accident.
7	Zareena is a rogue and is considered impossible to catch in a fight.
8	The Black Widow’s Web has taken over three of the largest mines and turned them into gulags.
9	The prisoners of the gulags are mostly political prisoners or those who fell afoul of the city’s commanders.
10	Ironhold is located in an iron mine underneath the Burrows.
11	Silverhold is in a massive vertical shaft beneath the Red Lantern District.
12	Mithrilhold is the deepest of all, located in the lowest depths of Underberg.
13	The Black Widow’s Web maintains a network of hidden safe houses all across the city.
14	Few ever escape from the three gulags in the ward.
15	Since the Ironhold breakout, escapees from the gulags are usually recaptured within hours.
16	Mithrilhold seems to be the Black Widow’s Web’s secret base of operations in the city.
17	The Black Widow’s Web has several secret facilities throughout Underberg.
18	Small groups of drow have been seen entering an abandoned storefront in the Red Lantern District.
19	Large groups of drow regularly travel to a seemingly empty part of the depths, where no mines or facilities exist.
20	Spiders often crawl out of an abandoned workhouse in the Burrows.
21	The Black Widow’s Web members prefer sneakiness and subterfuge over direct confrontation.
22	The Black Widow’s Web is inventing new laws to justify arresting people in Underberg.
23	The safe houses are managed by Sorathra Xar’ath, a blind drow martial artist.
24	Sorathra Xar’ath uses a mysterious sixth sense to detect everything around him.
25	Shynrala Pharra, a young drow woman obsessed with spiders, is head of spider husbandry for the Web.
26	Despite being a key figure in the Black Widow’s Web, Shynrala Pharra looks weak and timid.
27	Zareena can summon an army of giant spiders with just a whisper(false rumor)
28	Zareena is secretly a priestess of Lolth, the Spider Queen. (false rumor)
29	Zareena isn’t a priestess but a powerful sorceress who channels demonic magic. (false rumor)
30	Zareena is a vampire, which explains why she’s never seen in sunlight. (false rumor)
31	Zareena has been spotted in the Grand Fey Marketplace disguised as a merchant. (false rumor)
32	Zareena has long black hair and glowing red eyes when she’s in disguise. (false rumor)
33	The elite assassins of the Black Widow’s Web use paralyzing poison made from ancient spider venom. (false rumor)
34	Zareena isn’t a drow at all; she’s actually a high elf who abandoned the surface. (false rumor)
35	The Black Widow’s Web has agents within every major organization in Sliberberg, even the resistance. (false rumor)
36	Zareena has a lover in the Black Widow’s Web, an equally deadly drow bodyguard. (false rumor)
37	Zareena’s eyes glow red whenever she is using her magic. (false rumor)
38	Zareena can control the minds of weak-willed individuals. (false rumor)
39	Zareena can walk through walls using arcane magic.  (false rumor)
40	There’s a bounty on Zareena’s head, placed by a rival drow house. (false rumor)
41	TThere is no House Vaydra; Zareena is a surviving House Do’Urden member.  (false rumor)
42	Zareena can turn invisible at will but always leaves a faint scent of lilacs behind. (false rumor)
43	Zareena disguises herself as a beggar and roams the streets of the lower wards. (false rumor)
44	Zareena plans to take control of Sliberberg for herself, using the Web as a stepping stone. (false rumor)
45	Zareena commands an entire army of driders hidden deep beneath the city. (false rumor)
46	Zareena is actually a drow man posing as a woman to gain power in drow society. (false rumor)
47	Zareena is half-demon and underwent magical surgery to appear drow. (false rumor)
48	Zareena has a massive scar on her face, hidden under her hood. (false rumor)
49	Zareena can paralyze anyone with a single look, just like a basilisk. (false rumor)
50	They say the Black Widow’s Web is in league with the SBHU(false rumor)