Velious · The Scars of Velious
Crystal Caverns
The Crystal Caverns are the lost Coldain home of Froststone: a vast maze of caves beneath the Eastern Wastes, now held mostly by the Ry’Gorr orcs and shared with crystal spiders, geonids, terrors and the last Coldain.
Froststone
A classic zone atlas says these caverns were the ancient home of the Coldain, called Froststone, long since overrun by giants and now by orcs and other creatures. A player guide adds that the people of Froststone still keep a small outpost here, though the Ry’Gorr clan controls most of it. The Coldain who fled now live in Thurgadin; see the Coldain of Thurgadin.
The Atlas counts five areas: the orcs hold the upper tunnels, the dwarves the remnants of their city, the terrors and the crystal spiders each some abandoned halls, and the geonids a set of tunnels they dug themselves.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Crystal Caverns · Allakhazam: Crystal Caverns (zone)
Dangers below
Near the entrance is a confusing pit that reaches every part of the zone. You can drop or levitate down it and skip much of the upper dungeon, but a player guide advises doing it invisible, or a welcoming party will be waiting at the bottom. Orcs walk the trails all the time.
The stalag terrors are the hardest prey: fast, lethal trains, tougher than the spiders of the same level. Hunting Queen Dracnia is the most dangerous venture of all; groups in their high thirties can do well on the rapidly spawning spiders near her, but trains form whenever she appears.
A safe descent
The Atlas calls the caverns easy to travel with a few spells. Invisibility gets past everything, levitation reaches the bottom of the Well, and water breathing opens the waterways that lace the lowest level, all the way to the queen’s lair.
The orcs are all about the same level, so a small group can hunt from the top of the Well to the bottom without meeting anything too strong. The Coldain city at the bottom is fairly safe: the dwarves fight every creature, orcs included, but leave visitors alone unless provoked, and keep a bank anyone can use.
The snowball
The way in is a teleporter in a small hut at the back of Ry’Gorr Keep in the Eastern Wastes; a player guide says it looks like a small snowball. The Eastern Wastes are the zone’s only neighbour, as player guides agree.
The Atlas rates the caverns 30 to 45, and a player guide 25 to 45.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Crystal Caverns · Allakhazam: Crystal Caverns (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: Crystal Caverns
Lore tied to this zone
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Crystal Caverns · Allakhazam: Crystal Caverns (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: Crystal Caverns