Descent into the Depths of the Earth
Template:Greyhawk source Descent Into the Depths of the Earth is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game written by Gary Gygax. It is a compilation of two earlier adventures, module D1 - Descent Into the Depths of the Earth and D2 - Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. The original modules were both published by TSR, Inc. in 1978, and the compilation was published in 1981.
The adventures contained in the module are the first two of three adventures in the "Drow" series, which concludes in module D3 - Vault of the Drow. The "D" series itself is part of a larger overall campaign of adventures set in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The overall campaign begins with the three modules in the Against the Giants series (G1, G2, and G3), continues through the "D" series, and concludes with module Q1 - Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The latter segments of the campaign, including the "D" series and module Q1, are set in a vast network of caverns and tunnels called the Underdark. The entire campaign was eventually combined into a supermodule GDQ1-7 - Queen of the Spiders.
Plot summary
The plot of the original modules Descent Into the Depths of the Earth and Shrine of the Kuo-Toa place a party of player characters (PCs) on the trail of the drow priestess Eclavdra through the Underdark, battling various creatures on their journey.
In the last module in the preceding G-series, Hall of the Fire Giant King, the PCs were supposed to have discovered that the drow had instigated the alliance between the races of giants and their attacks on neighboring humans. The drow that survived the party's incursion have fled into tunnels leading deep into the earth. The adventurers will have arrived at the bottom of the dungeon below the cave-castle of King Snurre. In D1 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth, the PCs seek the home of the drow by traveling through an underground world of caves and passages. In the tunnels, the adventurers first fight a tough drow patrol, and the next major fight is with a raiding party of mind flayers and wererats, who have halted their patrol long enough to torture their drow prisoner. The characters also find a grand cavern containing drow soldiers, purple worms, a lich, a clutch of undead, a giant slug, sphinxes, trolls, bugbears, troglodytes, wyverns, and fungi.
D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa picks up with the party continuing to pursue the drow. The party encounters a kuo-toan rogue monitor who helps them cross a large river for a fee. A party of Svirfneblin (or deep gnomes) approaches the player characters on the other side, and the party has a chance to convince them to help them fight against the drow. As the party travels, signs of the drow are all around; the drow are allowed to pass through these subterranean areas, even though they are hated and feared by the other local intelligent races. The party then moves through kuo-toa territory, ruled by the Priest-Prince Va-Guulgh. If the PCs appease the kuo-toa and respect their customs, the evil kuo-toa are not openly hostile to the party, but will attack if the party gives them a reason. The party learns that the drow and kuo-toa trade with each other openly, but the kuo-toa hate and fear the drow, resulting in frequent skirmishes between the two peoples.
Publication history
The original modules Descent Into the Depths of the Earth and Shrine of the Kuo-Toa were both written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1978. Gygax had recently finished the Player's Handbook (1978), and according to Gygax, he authored the D series "as sort of a relaxation to get away from writing rules". Descent Into the Depths of the Earth, the first module of the D-series, was printed as a sixteen page booklet, and Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, second of the three-part D-series was twenty pages; both featured an outer folder. Both modules were released before the Dungeon Masters Guide and Players Handbook. Both modules were reprinted in the omnibus collection D1-2 Descent Into the Depths in 1981, as a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder. The original versions of the D1 and D2 modules both featured monochrome cover artwork by David C. Sutherland III, but the 1981 compilation was released with a color cover illustrated by Jim Roslof. Sutherland's interior artwork from the original two publications was included in the compilation, as was that of David A. Trampier. Other artists whose work appears inside the compilation include Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, David S. LaForce, Bill Willingham and Roslof.
'Vault of the Drow, also by Gygax and the last of the D-series, was also originally published in 1978 as a thirty-two page booklet with a two-color outer cover. The original printing featured monochrome cover artwork by David C. Sutherland III. In 1981, TSR re-issued the adventure with a new color cover. D3 was re-released to coincide with the release of the D1-2 compilation Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Since the D1-2 compilation featured color cover artwork, Erol Otus was tasked with creating a new color cover for D3 as well. Sutherland's interior artwork was retained, and other interior artists for the module include Jeff Dee, David S. LaForce, David A. Trampier, and Otus. The entire campaign was eventually combined into a supermodule GDQ1-7 - Queen of the Spiders.
The modules were designed as a sequel to the G-series of modules. At the time these modules were released, each Dungeons & Dragons module was marked with an alphanumeric code indicating the series to which it belonged. The D in the module code represents the first letter in the word Drow. According to a Wired.com article, the D-series "introduced the world to the concept of the dark elves." Game statistics for the Drow first appear in the module, although the 1977 edition of the Monster Manual does mention the Drow.
The D-series is part of a larger overall campaign of adventures set in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The overall campaign begins with the three modules in the G1-3 Against the Giants series, continues through the D-series, and concludes with module Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The latter segments of the campaign, including the D-series and module Q1, are set in a vast network of caverns and tunnels called the Underdark. The entire campaign was eventually combined into a supermodule GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders. Descent into the Depths of the Earth was the basis for a 2000 novel of the same title by Paul Kidd.
Bibliography
- Gygax, Gary. Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1978.
- -----. Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
- -----. Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1978.
External links
- Drow Series at the Acaeum.
- D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth at the TSR Archive.
- D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth at the TSR Archive.
- D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa at the TSR Archive.
- Descent into the Depths of the Earth at Wikipedia.