The Illythiri Ruins: A Traveler's Account by Sky

[Nihm]

Introduction
 
Home to the elves of Ymph (their name for this island sadly unknown to me) before their descent into the underdark, or dispersal elsewhere as the case may be, these ruins present a bleak yet fascinating portrait of faded splendors and resound with echoes of past knowledge.
 
Gigantic statues of elves of either sex survey the rampant growth of abandoned gardons, dwellings with cunningly hidden passages dream silently of flown days of elven speech and care. The mysterious Obelisks are the only remnants that still show life, occasionally flaring with a twisting purple energy or uttering a haunting sound.
 
The ruins now are home to gigantic spiders and small, otherworldly flying creatures that can be quite dangerous when they direct their magical missile spells against a single target. Explore with care and plenty of antidotes for poison.

[Nihm]

Ruins Entry
 
From the cliffs north of the Isle of Bliss one can head into a cave that leads to the most commonly visited part of the ruins, which I'll refer to as Ruins Entry. It is dominated by trees that soar upward as though still nourished by the elven love of foliage. Here as throughout the ruins the dismal laments of spirits can be heard by those who listen for it.
 
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Legend:
 
A : entry room from cliffs
B : entry to Higher cliffs and Ruins Proper
C and D : Balconies overlooking a lower street to the Tower
P : Portal to the hallway that leads to the Tower
L : Locked door
L2 : Locked and magically Sealed Door

[Nihm]

Ruins Proper
 
Emerge from Ruins entrance onto the clifftop and head north a short ways to reach the anteroom of what I call Ruins Proper.  A pair of obelisks solemnly flank a great, rubble strewn room of rectangular proportions.  A dais looms over you as you head north, even the echoes of the unknown speeches long faded into oblivion.  A wall with two doors stretches across the path.  Emerging through, you see an elven statue flanking each door.  They are huge, as if built in tribute to some glory foreseen or considered present amongst these elves, and of each sex.
 
North is an even larger space with habitations long silent slowly sagging downward into time's embrace.

[Nihm]

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Legend
 
A : North ruins entrance ; to the Forest. This forest can also be reached via the portal in the forested ruins off the shipwreck coast, and by traversing the dangerous cave that passes through the mountains.
b : From Anteroom of Ruins Proper (not depicted on map as it is very simply described)
P : Speaking or Performing Platform
S: Stairs descending. Currently blocked and impassable.
D1: unremarkable habitation
D2: Habitation containing hidden portal to the Mirror Room. This portal is located close to the opposite wall from entering.
D3: Habitation leading to a hallway which leads to a Shrine. One of the mirrors also places one on this hallway (more on that later). This shrine is lit by braziers that give off an unearthly green glow. In the centre of it lies an enormous Slime Ooze creature, seemingly dormant at this time.

[Nihm]

Tower and Gardens
 
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A: Down to the next level of the ruins. Locked portculli prevent further exploration at this time. Huge and menacing spider statues flank the stairway door as if to forbid any not of that dread cult.
B: Garden strewn with skeletons. Nearby, a small stadium of sorts is flanked by four elven statues, massive in proportion like all others found in these ruins. This garden is reachable by Mirror.
C: Tower Entrance 2. Travelling through the tower from Tower Entrance 1 (see Portal P of Ruins Entry) is the most common way to get here.
L: Passage to Library.

[Nihm]

The Grand Library

Lovingly cocooned by the dust of ages, the books slumber, their pages long bereft of the ardent touch of elven hands.  The knowledge on sagging shelves and careless piles glimmers in the undying light of a blue crystal that also occasionally reveals the eight-eyed glitter of the predator spiders that make this trove so perilous.  Two streets remain intact, the remainder of the roads to what must have been this central and important area are now severed, jagged arteries that droop lifelessly into the void below.
 
 
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A : To the spider Shrine
B : Portal to the Mirror Room
C : The undying Light of the elven magic
D: Way from the Tower Area (above)

[Nihm]

The Tower
 
The sections of the Tower that are not blocked by rubble are straightforward to traverse and don't require mapping at this time.  A spinning gem of some sort on the ceiling, many obelisks, a nightmarish profusion of webs from the giant spiders, and a musty space below that I haven't been able to enter, are the notables about this place.

[Nihm]

-------------SOUTHWALL
---------------a b c
-----------d------------------b
EASTWALL-b------------------e WESTWALL <- entrance, you face this way
-----------c------------------f

-----------------c g a
-----------------NORTHWALL

a - Abyss below the Shrine of spiders
b- Shrine of Water
c - Musty hallway leading deeper
d - Tower in the ruins
e - Hallway leading between Ooze Shrine and Ruins Proper
f - Hunting grounds near Malarite shrine
g- Battleground strewn with skeletons
 
Southwall Mirror B is notable because it leads to a different area in the shrine of Water than the other two.  It leads to a bridge near the exit tunnel to the cliffs.
I consider the other two B Mirrors to be very dangerous, since they deposit one near the water elemental statues.  On my last visit, a force whipped up the water with no wind present, and a voice spoke telepathically to a weak minded companion, who reported that it was urging him to drown one of us for it.  On that day I also found the corpse of a battered and drowned explorer, perhaps victim to this same hostile force that I now associate with this Shrine.
The Spider Shrine, of a dread deity associated with drow and demons, is notable for the incredible amount of humanoid skeletons littering its floor as well as a fissure that is inhabited by demons as well as containing seemingly impassable doors.  This demons were exceedingly powerful, able to resist blows from enchanted weapons and cast spells I recognized as Evard's Tendrils and Mass Charm.  This explorer highly reccomends avoiding this shrine, but if one blunders into it and does not have a means to open the main door that leads to the Library, there is a portal within the upper room near the spider statues that takes one to the library.

[Nihm]

Conclusion
 
The profusion of unpickable doors that even resist Knock spells that is such a plague on Ymph sadly extends to these ruins as well.  Yet the areas this explorer was privledged to see provided breathtaking glimpses of a once glorious elven past when wonders such as everlasting lights and mirrors of instantaneous transport blended with gardens and nurtured trees of stunning beauty.  There is much to learn from a study of this transport system and this magical light, and there is much to learn if an expedition could stave off the deadly predators long enough to remove the library tomes of greatest interest.
Echoes of the past still sound, and if we listen carefully to them we may discover old knowledge to help our own civilization thrive.  What if studying the light yielded a light source that could keep the Nightrisers at bay?  What if the books contained forgotten spells, clues to this islands past, languages and subjects long lost to the world, techniques of astronomy, farming and construction lost to our race?  What lies beyond the locked doors that so haunt my dreams?
 
This map is a mere beginning.  It is the hope of this explorer that it aids those who in future intend to answer these questions she may fail at doing herself.  With the will of the Lord of Knowledge it shall be so.  May the thrist for knowledge never die.
 
-Sky