Undercitadel of Szitrag

A sprawling structure emerging from Subterra out of the Cursed Fens

Purpose / Function

The Undercitadel is a divine conduit that channels Empty Death's Blessing from the depth's of Subterra to Gradus' surface. This manifests in Abjuration magic within its walls that reinforces thier structural integrety and prevents teleportation outside of specifically designated areas. This energy courses from the depths of the Undercitiadel up to the surface compound to power the Gauntlight of the Fen Watchtower.

Alterations

Vaidun's Island- this Island is Adjacent to the Fen Watchtower served as the workspace for Vaidun Magmenor  Fanged Queen's Servants Quarters- The first subterrainian level of the Undercitadel was given over as a living space for Dretha's servants.

Defenses

Fen Watchtower The surface level of the Undercitadel. The watchtower houses the Citadel's principal weapon the Gauntlight.

A Dungeon Full of Abominations

The horrors trapped in the Undercitadel developed some measure of ecosystem in the following centuries. While many monsters beneath the citadel died, others have prospered, and now several communities of morlocks, urdefhans, https://cartographers-guild.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Ghoul, and stranger creatures call the dungeons home. Only the longest-lived remember any life other than the dungeons. Dretha had bound several Baatetzu to serve her as overseers and administrators, and many of these still maintain order. Apart from the regions maintained by these devils and a drow outpost in one of the lowest levels, the Inverted Tower are lawless and dangerous.
The Undercitadel consist of 10 levels, including the ruins around the Fen Watchtower on the surface. They are, from top to bottom, the Fen Watchtower, the Fanged Queen's Servants Quarters, the Szitrag Library, Dretha's Retreat, the Underarena, the Bone Lab, the Szitrag Prison, the Undergarden of Szitrag, the Drandor Hunting Ground, and the Lower Temple of Empty Death, which holds the Empty Vault. Each level has its own character, and the levels are progressively more dangerous the deeper the heroes venture.

Undercitadel of Szitrag

Black Unique, Artifact, Magic, Necromancy

The Fen Watchtower is much more than a 115-foot-tall watchtower rising from the heart of an old ruin in the Cursed Fens —its pale stone walls extend far below the ruins, passing through eight different dungeon levels and finally terminating at the ninth level below the surface, where its deep foundation centers on an ominous chamber where, long ago, the Empty Death herself once physically brushed against this world. Once she finished its physical construction, the sorcerer Dretha Scythevex used this spot as a source of power to infuse the walls, floors, and ceilings of each of the Undercitadel’s levels with eldritch power. The lens at the apex of the Watchtower would have, in time, been able to focus this lingering eldritch energy into a powerful beam, but Dretha’s plans were cut short before she could replace the mundane lenses with dangerous magical ones.
As an artifact, the Undercitadel can’t be damaged by normal means. Its walls are impenetrable and impervious to any attempt to breach them by anybody except for Members of the Dark Tapestry. They block effects that allow temporary passage, such as Passwall, and also create a barrier against dimensional travel. The walls attempt to counteract teleportation effects and planar travel into or out of areas within the Undercitadel and efforts to summon creatures into the area (using a +37 counteract modifier this effect does not stop a summoned creature from departing when the summoning ends.
In the Inverted Tower's current state of diminished functionality, it can be activated only in the two ways below. By swapping in a series of magical lighthouse lenses that focus the Empty Death’s baleful gaze—lenses so powerful that even Dretha takes special care with them—the artifact gains significantly greater power, including the ability to reach all the way to Irhurma and to activate its effects every minute.
To activate Gauntlight, a creature must be in the deepest portion of the artifact (this chamber is in the Temple level). From this point, a creature can observe the world outside remotely through the watchtower’s lens, including any area Gauntlight’s beam can reach.
Activate Interact

• Frequency- once per month
• Effect- A pale blue beam shines from the Watchtower’s lens and illuminates a 30-foot-radius burst centered on any point within 1 mile. The light saturates the region, causing any corpses in the area or within 10 feet of the surface of the illuminated area to animate as level –1 Undead (typically as Skeleton Guard or Zombie Shamblers). Once animated, the undead remain active until slain. Until then, they remain uncontrolled and are driven only by the desire to slaughter the living. If Gauntlight is fully restored, the undead instead animate as any Common undead of 15th level or less, as the user wishes.

Activate Interact

• Frequency- once per month
• Effect- A pale blue beam shines from the Watchtower’s lens and illuminates a 30-foot-radius burst centered on any point within 1 mile. The user chooses one creature of 4th level or less that is physically located within Gauntlight; this creature is then is teleported to any point within this illumination radius. If the citadel is fully restored, any number of creatures within Gauntlight of 15th level or lower can be transported. This is a teleportation effect.

Destruction If Dretha’s Ghost is permanently destroyed, the Undercitadel loses all of its magical properties and collapses in on itself all the way down to its base, leaving an incredibly deep pit in the Cursed Fens.

Maps

• 

  Servant Quarters of Szitrag

• 

  Undercitadel of Szitrag

Type

Acropolis / Citadel

Parent Location

Cursed Fens

Included Locations

• Apprentice Island
• Fanged Queen's Servants Quarters
• Szitrag Library

Owner

Dretha Scythevex

Owning Organization

Dark Tapestry

Characters in Location

• Boss Grawsk
• Muckytoes

Related Report (Primary Locations)

• To the Cursed Fens

Related Plots

• Inverted Tower
• Ruins of Fen Watchtower