Page 109 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

Scroll. On the north wall, east of the door, hangs a HIDDEN ThAPDOOR
framed scroll pressed flat behind a sheet of glass. An 8-foot-square trapdoor near the northern battlement
Bolted to the wooden frame is a tiny metal plaque that hides a stone staircase that leads down to area 38. This
reads, "Break glass in case of emergency." is the route by which Otto the faerie dragon comes and
Maddgoth's idea of an armory is a pair of well-paid goes from the castle.
nycaloths named Yzig and Gorzog. They can't leave the The trapdoor blends in with the surrounding stone-
room until they're restored to their true form, and they work, and detecting it requires a successful DC 15
won't leave the castle before Maddgoth returns. Their Wisdom (Perception) check. Tiny letters scratched
orders are to slay castle invaders. The nycaloths rec- into the trapdoor spell the words "KNOCK KNOCK"
ognize Maddgoth's homunculus and won't harm it; all in Draconic.
other creatures are attacked on sight. Knocking twice on the trapdoor causes it to swing
Without its master around, the homunculus doesn't open on its own, then close 1 minute later. Otherwise,
trust the nycaloths and thus hasn't tried to free them. the trapdoor must be pried open with a crowbar or sim-
ilar tool. Prying the trapdoor open requires a successful
ThEASURE DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check.
The framed scroll is a spell scroll of cloudkill.
AFTERMATH
45. ALCHEMIST'S LABORATORY
What happens in the miniature castle has little impact
Otto removed anything it considered valuable from this on the stone giants, and vice versa. Killing all the gi-
chamber but periodically returns to see if it missed any- ants saddens Otto the faerie dragon, but its goals don't
thing. If the faerie dragon hasn't been encountered and change. If the characters help the giants by dealing with
defeated elsewhere, there is a 25 percent chance that it's the faerie dragon, all is forgotten in a few hours when
here when the characters arrive, in which case the door the giants' memories fade away.
to the room is open. If Otto is not present, the door is If the slaad in area 33 succeeds in slaying or driving
closed and has a silver coin lodged in its frame (see area off the characters, it makes its home in the castle, hop-
19). The room's features are as follows: ing that Maddgoth will one day return with the slaad's
Tables. Tables stand haphazardly about the room, their control gem. In a struggle between the faerie dragon
surfaces cluttered with alchemical equipment. and the slaad for control of the castle, the slaad can win
Cabinets. Corner cabinets are brimming with skuJ!s, either by killing Otto or forcing the dragon into hiding.
jars of powdered substances, and leather-bound jour- Characters who leave the level and later return dis-
nals filled with Maddgoth's mad scribblings. cover that the giants don't recognize them or remember
Refuse. The floor is strewn with bits of broken glass, having met them previously. If one or more giants were
scraps of parchment, and other refuse. killed, the surviving ones retain no memory of how
their fallen kin died. If all the giants die, Halaster might
ThEASURE freeze the caverns and fill them with a tribe of yetis
The room contains three full sets of alchemist's sup- led by a mated pair of abominable yetis, or provide the
plies, all of which can fit in one backpack. space to a clan of degenerate fomorians.
A potion of invisibility in a stoppered glass vial has After the characters depart, Maddgoth might return
rolled underneath the northwest corner cabinet and is to check on things. He's either a neutral evil archmage
lodged in the back corner. A detect magic spell reveals who has exceeded his natural life span with potions
its presence. of longevity, or he's a lich. Choose whichever form you
prefer. In either case, Maddgoth tries to put his house in
46. MADDGOTH'S THRONE order, which could take weeks if the characters made a
mess of things. Maddgoth might be accompanied by a
The door frame has an electrum coin wedged into it
mage he has invited to stay with him on some false pre-
(see area 19).
tense. In truth, Maddgoth plans to torture and murder
A tall throne made of iron and stained glass stands
in the southern alcove, facing the door. The throne's his house guest, as he has done with so many others.
clawed armrests and feet give it a monstrous appear- Maddgoth wears a horned ring (a very rare magic
item) that allows a wearer attuned to it to ignore Un-
ance, but there's nothing dangerous about it. Laid before
the throne is a IS-foot-diameter circular rug with a dermountain's magical restrictions (see "Alterations to
pattern resembling a large gaping mouth. The rug, too, Magic," page 10). He also carries the control gem for
is harmless. the slaad in area 33. If the party didn't claim his helm
(see area 25b), he dons it for the duration of his stay in
47. ROOF AND BATTLEMENTS the castle. If the nycaloths are still around (see area 44),
Maddgoth retains their services as bodyguards. If the
The roof offers little in the way of a view, since the sur- characters prove too great a challenge for him, Madd-
rounding cavern is all but lost in darkness. The echoes goth teleports away and returns the next day with eight
that a single shout can create are astonishing, though. mezzoloths to help him clean house.
Four-foot-high crenellated battlements enclose the roof.

LEVEL 7 I MADDGOTH'S CASTLE
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