Underdark

The Underdark, a fictional region, is the vast network of underground caverns and tunnels underneath the surface of the planet in the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game. It exists in a number of settings, including The Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk, and in Eberron, in which it is called Khyber and home to a host of evil beings driven deep into the caverns at the end of the age of demons.

The Underdark is extremely dangerous, especially to those not native to it. There are the usual dangers associated with caverns: claustrophobia and getting lost. There is no light; most Underdark inhabitants either have highly developed senses other than sight or have developed infravision. Food can be extremely difficult to find, and much of the natural vegetation is poisonous.

In addition to those dangers, the Underdark also is the home of many predators and often-hostile races, including:

• beholders
• drow (dark elves)
• duergar (dark dwarves)
• dwarves
• illithids (mind flayers)
• kuo-toa
• svirfneblin (gnomes)

References

• Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, Eric L. Boyd, TSR, Inc., 1999.
• Drow of the Underdark, Ed Greenwood, TSR, Inc., 1991, ISBN 1560761326.
• Menzoberranzan, Ed Greenwood, Douglas Niles, and R. A. Salvatore, TSR, Inc., 1992, ISBN 1560764600.
• Underdark, Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel, and Jeff Quick, Wizards of the Coast, 2003, ISBN 0786930535.