With their latest expansion the EverQuest team is looking to drive adventurers into the very depths of Norrath to see what horrors and monstrosities lie beneath the bedrock of this fantastic world. Luckily, any potential heroes and heroines can get a nice sneak peek of their future hunting grounds here at ZAM, as the staffers have posted eleven exclusive new screenshots to showcase the variety of creatures lurking in the gloomy depths.

We've already seen quite a selection of the Underfoot realms these past few months, so make sure you check out all of the exclusive images here at ZAM.

Click here to see the new exclusive screenshots!

The latest part in Underfoot's Unfolding the Lore series is out and centers in on Arthicrex, the hive of those troublesome cliknars we've been battling over the past few weeks.

Arthicrex

Built by a race of ant-like creatures known as the Cliknar, Arthicrex is the great anthill of the Underfoot. The interior of Arthicrex itself is composed of winding circular tunnels and circular rooms, built from mud and trimmed with stone and chitin. Cliknar live crowded in spaces that most species would find confining.

Some rare spawns will be appearing a little more often this weekend. Here is the word from EQLive:

The haunting air has caused a strange phenomenon to occur. From 2pm PDT on Friday, October 30th until 10am PST until Tuesday, November 2nd, several rare encounters will double the rate of their appearance.

UPDATE: The pre-order button is now working on the Road to Underfoot site.

Sony Online Entertainment announced today via a press release and Twitter that Underfoot is now available for pre-order as a digital download for $39.99. The expansion can be pre-ordered through the Road to Underfoot site, which also lists the three events you need to complete to gain early access to Underfoot. The "pre-order now!" button is currently not clickable on the site, but check back regularly if you'd like to pre-order the expansion.

Underfoot, the 16th EverQuest expansion, is scheduled to launch on Dec. 15. Players who complete the three Road to Underfoot events and pre-order the expansion by Dec. 1 will gain early access to Underfoot on Dec. 8. More information on the expansion can be found after the jump.

The sixth part of Underfoot's "Unfolding the Lore" series is out and centers around the Cooling Chambers:

The Cooling Chambers

Water, boiling from the lava that is the life's blood of the Underfoot, pours into the Cooling Chambers from a sinkhole in Brell's Rest. The water is cooled by Brell's servants as it flows through the chambers and eventually grows cold enough to turn to ice. This water can be sent to other realms during its cooling stages, as needed.

The main population of the Cooling Chambers is a group of Coldain (Ice Dwarves) that are perpetually cooling the water that flows away from the central core, by means of a series of endothermic reactions. The ice is used to keep a massive necromantic beast frozen in a jagged glacial iceberg floating in the lower lake.

From the patcher: Here's a sneak peek at the Game Update Notes for Wednesday. Remember that these notes may or may not be changed before the update goes live.

*** Items ***

- The Unscribed Glyph item will no longer charge AAs when granting glyphs.
- Fixed the possessive apostrophe issue with the Atathus` Warfire line of items.
- The Thick Banded Belt's sell-back price has been changed to match the price of other looted items.

Servers are coming down early tomorrow morning (or "tonight" for you nighthawks) for an update. Here is the word from EQLive:

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down around 12:00 mid PDT (PDT is -7 GMT: 1:00am MDT, 2:00am CDT, 3:00am EDT, 7:00am GMT) on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be down for about 8 hours. We will also be doing maintenance during this downtime so please keep an eye on the EQ forums for status updates.

Sony Online Entertainment has revealed the third and final Road to Underfoot event, which is called "Breaking the Seal." Watch the video on the event page to see what it will take to protect Norrath from the threat of invading Cliknar soldiers, or keep reading after the jump for the full description.

Players have until Dec. 1 to participate in all three Road to Underfoot events and pre-order the game to gain early access to EverQuest's 16th expansion on Dec. 8. Underfoot is scheduled to launch on Dec. 15 after being pushed back from Nov. 24.

The EverQuest team just gave us a bunch of exclusive Underfoot screenshots, so check them out to see the horrors of the darkness below the surface.

The depths of Norrath are dangerous, and the ZAM crew has been given eleven exclusive EverQuest screenshots depicting the horrors of the darkness below the surface. Giant insects, man-sized fungi, and more await you in the dark places of Underfoot. But along with those monsters rests untold treasures and forgotten temples to mysterious deities and epic encounters.

So strap on your armor, grab your battle axe, and check out these exclusive EverQuest images!

The fifth installment of Underfoot's "Unfolding the Lore" series is out and centers in on the Foundation:

The Foundation

The Foundation is where mountains are "born." In the early days, Brell created stone giants known as the Genari and charged them with raising mountains all over the multiverse. But his personal interest in this form of sometimes destructive creation waned, and now the Genari do their endless, tireless work with little help from their creator... not that they complain.