Page 119 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

life. It treats Spite like an older brother, and it's the only NYLASjOWD
being in whom Spite confides.
NylasJowd (NE male Thayan human mage with ani-
Spite wants to get his hands on a spellbook hidden mate dead prepared instead of fly) wanders the halls of
in Halaster's private sanctuary (area 45b), and he'll use Dweomercore with a pair of invisible will-o'-wisps that
any kind of distraction to get it. Spite cuts a deal with obey his commands. Ny las journeyed from Thay to study
the adventurers: if they distract the arcanaloth and the under Halaster and learn the deeper secrets of necro-
night hag long enough for him to steal the spellbook, mancy, and he has all the hallmarks of a Red Wizard of
Spite will show them the stairs leading down to level 10 Thay- namely, the red robes, the bald head, and the evil
(see area 44). He will also tell them an Undermountain bent. He treats others as soon-to-be corpses and is more
secret, determined by drawing a random card from the interested in their anatomy than what they say or do.
Secrets Deck (see appendix C). Spite upholds his end Nylas wants to turn the Horned Sisters (see below)
of the deal only as long as it's to his benefit, and he tries into zombies because they have acted cruelly toward
to pin the theft of the spellbook on the adventurers once him. He asks the characters to kill them so he can raise
they're gone. their corpses with animate dead spells. If the characters
If the characters turn down Spite's deal, he teams up refuse, Nylas and his will-o'-wisps attack them.
with NylasJowd and Skrianna Shadowdusk (see below)
to destroy them. SKRIANNA SHADOWDUSK
Skrianna Shadowdusk (CE female Illuskan human
CEPHALOSSK THE MIND FLAYER mage) recently enrolled in Dweomercore at Halaster's
Cephalossk is a solitary mind flayer arcanist (see the urging. She is one of the Shadowdusk family (see level
sidebar in the "Mind Flayer" entry in the Monster Man- 22) and is spoiling for a challenge. Rude, stuck-up, and
ual). It is a pariah among its own kind, has no allies at privileged, Skrianna shows utter disdain for "common
the academy, and isn't looking for friendship from any- rabble" and takes sadistic pleasure in abusing and ma-
one. It shadows adventurers and casts detect thoughts nipulating others with her magic. She is accompanied at
spells on them to glean their true intentions. all times by her shield guardian bodyguard (she wears
The mind flayer considers itself intellectually supe- its amulet), as well as a grell valet that carries her spell-
rior to everyone else, and it loathes Spite Harrowdale book (which contains all the spells she has prepared).
for being Halaster's favored pupil. Cephalossk tries to Skrianna doesn't trust new arrivals and attacks them
convince the characters to distract and kill Dumara at the slightest provocation, trusting that her bodyguard
(Spite's oni bodyguard) while it devours Spite's brain. and her valet will protect her if a fight breaks out.
In exchange for their help, Cephalossk promises to tell
them "three secrets that every Undermountain explorer THE HORNED SISTERS
should know." Once it has fed on Spite's brain, Ceph- Two tiefling sisters named Turbulence and Violence
alossk makes good on its promise and telepathically sought to join the Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan but
shares the following information with the characters: were turned down. They served aboard pirate ships for
a few years before ending up in Skullport, where they
• A mind flayer colony has taken over a level of Under-
heard rumors of a secret academy for magic-users deep
mountain known as Seadeeps. (Cephalossk knows
inside Undermountain. They fought tooth and nail to
this because it has been in telepathic contact with the
reach Dweomercore, but the place hasn't lived up to the
ulitharid on level 17.)
• Githyanki have invaded Undermountain and are try- hype. They have no friends at the academy, and they're
ing to exterminate the mind flayer colony in Seadeeps. unhappy with the quality of the instruction they've re-
• Halaster has commandeered a vessel that can travel ceived. Now they want to leave, but the headmaster has
instructed them to remain while giving them assurances
between worlds through space and hidden it some-
that things will change for the better. Wormriddle the
where in Undermountain (see level 19).
night hag has been keeping an eye on the sisters, who
If the characters refuse to assist Cephalossk, the mind take advantage of any distraction to flee back to Skull-
flayer attacks them. port. They will attempt to enlist the characters to cause
such a distraction.
PNEUMATI C T UBES The sisters are tiefling mages, with these changes:
Dweomercore has a system of copper tubes, through • The sisters are lawful evil.
which cylindrical copper canisters are propelled by air • Each sister has these racial traits: She has resistance
pressure. Each tube is 3 inches in diameter, and each can-
ister is 9 inches long and just shy of 3 inches wide, with to fire damage. She has darkvision out to a range of
60 feet. She speaks Common, Draconic, Infernal, and
a screw-on copper lid. The tubes are labeled with their
destinations. Undercommon.
Many of the level's inhabitants use these tubes to send • Each sister carries a spellbook that contains all the
scrolls, assignments, and missives to one another. Any spells she has prepared.
object or creature able to fit in a tube {including characters
1
in gaseous form) can be transported from one end to the ELAN TANOR THAL
other in a matter of seconds. If timing becomes important, Elan is a drow mage from a house that ran a lucrative
assume that whatever a creature inserts into a tube on its slave trade operation in Skullport until it was driven out
turn arrives at the destination at the start of that creature's by the Xanathar Guild. He hopes to learn enough magic
next turn.
to one day conquer Skullport for his family. Like most

LEVEL 9 I DWEOMERCORE