Page 128 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

TOXIC B REW In her halfling form, Wormriddle claims to be one
Failed potions are tossed into the stone basin, adding to of Dweomercore's most promising students and offers
the toxic brew within. Any creature that starts its turn to take characters on a tour. If the characters accept,
immersed in the brew is poisoned until it leaves the liq- she leads them to area 23c and orders her golems to
uid and washes itself off with water. attack. If the golems have already been defeated, the hag
Two poison weirds lurk in the toxic brew and try to weeps over their loss and turns ethereal to escape the
grapple creatures within reach and pull them into the party, only to return once she rounds up the students
basin. These creatures are water weirds with a chal- and forms a posse. If the characters attack her here, the
lenge rating of 4 (1,100 XP) and these changes: night hag turns ethereal and flees.
Doll Collection. The dolls are crudely fashioned in
• The weirds are invisible while fully immersed in the
the likenesses of the students currently enrolled in
toxic brew. They die if forced to leave the basin or if a
Dweomercore. The eight on the shelf represent Spite,
purify food and drink spell is cast on the toxic brew.
Cephalossk, Nylas, Skrianna, the Horned Sisters, Elan,
• A creature takes 10 (3d6) poison damage at the start and Karstis. The doll on the floor represents Yarek,
of each of its turns while grappled by a poison weird.
the student recently killed by the bone devil in area 48.
Each doll incorporates bits of the student's hair or some
23. WORMRIDDLE'S S A NCTUM
other sample from its body (foul-smelling slime in the
These chambers are claimed by Wormriddle the night case of Cephalossk the mind flayer).
hag (see "Wormriddle the Night Hag," page 117). If Embedded in the stuffed chest of each doll is one of
she hasn't already been encountered and defeated else- the night hag's toenail clippings, signifying and enabling
where, there's a 50 percent chance she's in area 23b. her secret power over the individual represented by the
Otherwise, she's in area 23c. doll. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence
The hag's plane shift spell doesn't work in Under- (Arcana) check can ascertain that the way to rob this
mountain, but she can use her heartstone to escape power is by replacing the hag's nail clipping with a piece
to the Ethereal Plane if outmatched. The flesh golems of the character's own body. Doing so enables the char-
in area 23c form Wormriddle's first line of defense. If acter to use the effigy to visit harm upon the student it
they're defeated, the hag seeks out the headmaster, who represents.
directs the hag to round up the students and form a For a doll to function, both it and the creature it rep-
posse to hunt down and destroy the interlopers. resents must be in Undermountain. A character who
has placed a piece of themselves in a particular doll can
23A. SMOKE-FILLED HALL
use an action to mutilate the doll in one of the following
This chamber is heavily obscured by smoke billowing ways to gain a desired result:
out of two stone braziers. The night hag uses the smoke
• If the doll's eyes are pierced with pins or needles,
to deter students from entering her sanctum. The smoke
the student it represents is blinded until the pins or
blocks vision entirely, and creatures in the smoke are
needles are removed, or until a remove curse spell or
effectively blinded. Each brazier bowl contains dozens
of tiny holes through which the smoke seeps. Liquid similar magic is cast on that student.
poured into a brazier drains away quickly and does noth- • If the doll is stabbed through the back with a knife or
ing to stop the billowing smoke. similar sharp instrument, the student it represents
is paralyzed until the instrument is removed, or un-
Wormriddle fashioned tight-fitting iron lids for the bra-
ziers and keeps them in area 23b. If both braziers are til a remove curse spell or similar magic is cast on
properly covered, the smoke in the room begins to dis- that student.
• If the doll is set on fire or torn apart, it is destroyed,
sipate, making the area lightly obscured after 1 minute
and the student it represents must make a DC 14
and clear after 5 minutes.
Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the
2 3 B. WORMRIDDLE'S DEN student is stunned for 1 minute. On a failed save, the
IfWormriddle the night hag is here and has been student instantly drops to 0 hit points and is dying.
alerted to the presence of intruders, she assumes the
23C. FLESH GOLEM WORKSHOP
form of a young halfling girl named Medley. In this form,
If Worm riddle the night hag is here, she's in her natural
she wears a black witch's hat and sweeps the floor with
a small twig broom. The hag's den has these features: form, searching the room for a misplaced wooden coffer
(see "Treasure" below).
Bones. Cat bones cover the floor.
Iron Lids. Leaning against the north wall are a pair of Stench. The room smells like rotting meat.
25-pound, circular iron lids (covers for the braziers in Golems. Unless the characters already encountered and
destroyed them elsewhere, four flesh golems lie under
area 23a).
stained white sheets atop wooden trestle tables in the
Bed. Mummified cats hang rr/m a decrepit four-poster
middle of the room.
bed near the south wall. (Tu~d ~er a moldy pillow
is a jar filled with the night hags dirty toenail clip- Work Area. A fifth table surrounded by patches of dried
pings, which the hag uses to weave evil magic.) blood is covered with saws, needles, spools of black
thread, and bits of decaying flesh. Next to this table is
Dolls. Behind the bed, mounted to the wall, is a shelf
a wooden barrel that holds humanoid body parts in
lined with eight dolls. A ninth doll has fallen off the
shelf and onto the floor. various stages of decay.
LEVEL 9 I DWEOMERCORE
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