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Those are some really good suggestions, Rhenny.  I'm definitely going to use those for inspiration.

I think what I'm going to do is create a series of areas that are connected in different ways.  Each area will be of varying size; some will be a few small caverns, others will be a huge cave, while still others will be a labyrinthine maze of tunnels.  I'm going to have lines between each of them, representing a way the party can travel.  Some ways will require more effort to traverse; for instance, one way might be a vertical chimney, where they must use climbing gear.  Or another way might skirt the edge of an aboleth's lake.  Other ways might be safe and benign.

Not all of the ways will be obvious, either.  Some will require the PCs to search or interact with the environment; one might be hidden behind a barrier of moss, which is revealed if it's cleared away.  Another might need the PCs to reach the ceiling to get to it.

Also, each area will have some challenges.  There will be staked territory for lizardfolk and orcs and the like, where the chance of encountering a patrol is increased.  There will be some areas which are monster lairs.  And still others which feature environmental hazards, like a huge crevasse, or a lava pool.

I think the list of suggestions you gave me will shape many of these areas.  I love the mental image of a tripod of spears with a displacer beast skull; just fantastic.  I'm definitely going to have some displacer beasts and lizardfolk, so that's in for sure.  And the tunnel collapses are certainly going in the list of random encounters; I don't want it to just be monsters, after all!