How Dark is the Underdark?

▶

The Underdark is a vast network of caves and underground waterways that descends miles-deep beneath the surface, where light is scarce, and the only illumination comes from luminous rocks or phosphorescent fungi, making it a dark and hostile environment. The Underdark is almost a world unto itself, with its own civilizations, monsters, politics, economies, and threats that may interact only sporadically or indirectly with the surface world.

Understanding the Underdark

The Underdark is a complex and fascinating realm, full of mysteries and dangers, and to truly understand how dark it is, we need to delve deeper into its depths.

FAQs About the Underdark

General Questions

1. Is the Underdark actually dark? The Underdark is a dark and hostile place, with no light except for occasional patches of phosphorescent fungus; most Underdark inhabitants either have highly developed senses other than sight or have developed darkvision.
2. Is there any light in the Underdark? There is no light except for occasional patches of phosphorescent fungus; most Underdark inhabitants either have highly developed senses other than sight or have developed darkvision.
3. How deep down is the Underdark? The typical depth of Underdark locations is between 1 and 10 miles beneath the surface.

Geography and Environment

4. How would you describe the Underdark? The Underdark is a vast network of caves and underground waterways that descends miles-deep beneath the surface of the Forgotten Realms, permeated with a magical energy the drow (or dark elves) call faerzress.
5. What is the Underdark? The Underdark is a subterranean environment, composed primarily of earth, stone, water, and magma, with passages navigable by humanoids ranging from narrow tunnels to expansive caverns.
6. Can it rain in the Underdark? Even rain in the Underdark is corrupted, often running black, and surface water becomes caustic, discolored, hot, and poisonous as it trickles into the vast web of caves, caverns, and passageways.
7. Does the Underdark have an ocean? The Glimmersea, sometimes called the Sea of the Starry Night, is a vast underground ocean lying in the Underdark of Toril.

Inhabitants and Creatures

8. Are drow elves evil? As a race, drow were traditionally portrayed as evil, although there were unusual exceptions, and beginning with 3rd edition D&D, drow were usually neutral evil.
9. Do drows have dark vision? Drow typically have better darkvision and a sensitivity to sunlight, with red (or rarely gray, violet, or yellow) eyes in darkness.
10. Do dragons live in the Underdark? Purple dragons inhabited the Underdark, and were rarely known on the surface, although younger specimens were known to occasionally venture upward.

Survival and Exploration

11. What level should you be for the Underdark? You should be around Level 5 when entering the Underdark, as it is its own huge map underneath your current map, with tons of secrets, traps, and enemies you haven’t seen before.
12. How do you survive the Underdark? To survive in the Underdark, consider consulting an NPC, planning your provisions, foraging, remembering the light, using light cautiously, and bringing other essential supplies.
13. What is the wood in the Underdark? Zurkhwood is a fungus that grows in the Underdark, with edible spores and tree-like stems that can be used as a building material.

Cities and Landmarks

14. What is the main city of the Underdark? Menzoberranzan is an underground city populated by the drow, and ruled over by the priestesses of Lolth.
15. Are there lakes in the Underdark? The Darklake is a series of connected bodies of water in the Underdark, formerly linked by waterfalls but later governed by locks created by dwarven engineers.