Troll Lifts and Arena (level L06) is the social and political center of the Ardis Vala Mega-Dungeon: three sanctuaries of peace — the Troll Lifts, the Inn of the Lost and the Arena — surrounded by extremely dangerous regions.
| Type | Place (mega-dungeon level) |
| Gesta | Ardis Vala |
| Spanish entry | Elevadores de los Trolls y Arena |
Sanctuaries
- Troll Lifts. Rudishva lifts worked by bestial Varumani giants under a true Varumani overseer, Gorlen. They run up to the Obsidian Gates, down to the Court of the Thegn and the Lower Confines, and across the Great Abyss. Fare: 10 sp per leg, set by the troll thegn; some overseers extort the weak. Assaulting a lift is a casus belli against all the Varumani.
- Inn of the Lost. The former House of Isocorax (Archontean offices), owned by Thegan White-Mane (“Whitemane”), 60, silver-haired, scarred and tattooed. Its Peace Door makes a magically reinforced zone where all disputes are suspended, a refuge for “the lost”; an ancestral anti-magic shell blocks all magic except rings of higher purpose. Justin the Nose (also recorded as Justine la Nariz) is the manager. At a nearby traders’ table, respected by custom, Whitemane sells rastite lotus powder to Lady Deino.
- Arena. A Heqeti gladiatorial arena in use for about 4,000 years, run by the Lord of the Arena, Lord Carcalus, an ageless surviving Rudishva in crusader style with a Baldwin-type mask; his steward is Tredgeris the Dapifer. Rule: no violence outside the pit. He pays well for monsters and slaves. One recorded fight (3 ogres, 3 hell hounds, 3 manticores, a three-headed chimera) paid 20,000 gp, 10 % to the house.
Dangerous regions
- Frost Mother Domain — glacial cold, frost ghouls and the Frost Mother.
- Lock Cavern — oozes, a maddened Sun-Scarred Knight, a mad vivisector, and RAJ-750, an insane Rudishva AI weapons module linked to Psalor Ki.
- Crew Quarters of the Beacon — drowned in slime; lair of the hostile party the Bad Neighbors; a Rudishva temple connects to the Beacon.
- Tomb of Marius Tricotor — the great Archontean archon and his biographer Lucius Cornelius Scriptor; full of undead.
Construction and connections
The lift bases are Heqeti, the lifts and their technical belt Rudishva, the inn, Arena and the rest Archontean. Exits lead to the surface (Carrion Tower), the Great Abyss, the Halls of Thoth, the Forum of Set, the Ziggurat of Kauket and the sub-levels, including the Wells of Kaliyani and the Workshops of Kerbog Khan. A Thothian ring lies in a secluded chamber.