Page 108 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

MIRROR GATE TO LEVEL 10 The eastern door is ajar. A gold coin lies on the floor
Etched into the bottom of the mirror's stone frame are just inside the room, which contains the following:
the letters T-U-0-Y-A-W (a reflection of W-A-Y -0-U-T). Homunculus. Unless it has been encountered and de-
The mirror is one of Ha laster's magic gates (see "Gates," tained elsewhere, Maddgoth's oversized homunculus
page 12). Its rules are as follows: is flipping tables, knocking over bookshelves, throw-
• If a creature speaks the words "Way out!" while point- ing chairs, kicking chests, and tearing rugs into strips
ing at the mirror, the gate opens for I minute. with its teeth.
• Characters must be 11th level or higher to pass Junk. Stuff that the faerie dragon has accumulated lit-
through this gate (see "Jhesiyra Kestellharp," page ters the floor, as well as many items that are broken
10). The first creature to pass through the gate trig- beyond repair.
gers an elder rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12). Secret Door. A secret door in the north corner of the
• A creature that passes through the gate appears in east wall opens into area 43b. (The homunculus is
area 14d on level 10, in the closest unoccupied space unaware of it.)
next to the identical gate located there. Maddgoth's homunculus knows it can't be killed and
attacks the characters unless they withdraw imme-
SHAPECHANGED ROPER diately. If it is destroyed, it melts away and re-forms
Halaster melded a roper and a mimic to create this crea- in area 25a.
ture with the statistics of a roper and the ability to shape Otto's spoils include candles and candle snuffers,
itself into objects like a mimic. While immobile in object potted mushrooms, mortars and pestles, lamps, belts,
form, it is indistinguishable from a normal object. Only pentacle pendants, recipe books, sticks of colored chalk,
when the roper reverts to its true form do its monstrous kettles, cauldrons, spoons, stuffed animals, spools of
features become apparent. wire, glass beads, wigs, walking sticks, bars of soap,
The roper has the following additional trait: balls of yarn, cracked mirrors and prisms, quills, smok-
Shapechanger. The roper can use its action to polymorph into ing pipes, empty scroll tubes, and torn sheaves of parch-
a stone object or back to its true form. Its statistics are the ment. Though some of the collection's pieces might be
same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying useful and many are colorful or whimsical in design,
isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. nothing here holds any special value.
The roper answers to the name Miguel. It has in- 43B. OTTO'S SECRET STASH
structions to attack any creature that enters the room Otto's most prized possessions fill this cluttered space.
through the mirror gate. It also attacks any creature that These treasures are spread across tables that have
threatens to do it harm. Halaster feeds the roper regu- been stacked atop one another, forming makeshift
larly so that it doesn't have to attack out of hunger. Nei- shelves that scrape the 20-foot-high ceiling and threaten
ther Otto the faerie dragon nor Maddgoth's homunculus to topple at any moment. Any character who tries to
is aware that the statue is really a creature in disguise. get at a hard-to-reach item has a 50 percent chance of
setting into motion a Rube Goldberg-esque cascade of
TREASURE
If the characters kill and cuts open the roper, they find tables and baubles. When everything comes tumbling
five misshapen diamonds (100 gp each) in its gizzard. down, every creature in the room must make a DC 15
Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) bludgeoning
42. SOUTHEAST CHAMBER damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
The door to this room is missing its stained glass win- Treasure. The items gathered here include dozens
dow panes. Tiny shard of glass stuck in the iron frame of porcelain and ceramic dragon statuettes, old story-
suggest that the glass was smashed. (Maddgoth's un- books, worthless but shiny costume jewelry, a pair of
seen servants cleaned up the mess.) The room beyond is jade bookends carved to resemble yuan-ti abominations
dusty and empty but for a few cobwebs in the corners. (250 gp for the pair), two random trinkets (roll twice
on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player's Hand-
43. OTTO'S DEN book), and coffers stuffed with a total of 30 pp, 150 gp,
Maddgoth crafted and tested magic items here. The area 300 ep, 1,500 sp, and 5,000 cp. Perched atop a high ta-
contains several lingering magical effects that prompted ble is a potion of fire breath in a small crystal flask that
the faerie dragon to turn these chambers into its private breaks if the tables fall.
den. Whenever Otto leaves to torment the stone giants
or wander the castle, Maddgoth's homunculus sneaks in 44. WIZARD'S ARMORY
here to trash the place. This room is locked, its key lost. Otto punched a hole
through one of the door's glass panes to get a look inside
43A. "HOMUNCULI UNWELCOME" but didn't see anything of interest. Characters who peer
The characters hear crashing sounds as they approach inside see the following:
thjs room. Hanging on the handle of each door to this
room is a crude wood-and-rope sign bearing the chalk Bats. Two ordinary bats flap around the room. Each
words "HOMUNCULI UNWELCOME" in Draconic. bat transforms into a nycaloth if it is reduced to 0 hit
The western door is closed and has a gold coin wedged points or if the door to the room is opened.
in its frame (see area 19).

LEVEL 7 J MADDCOTH'S CASTLE