Page 137 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

The drow priestess is never encountered without her WANDERING M ONSTERS
adopted drow daughter, Zress Orlezziir, and a yochlol
advisor disguised as a female drow named Chalizana. If Muiral survives his first encounter with the adventur-
To determine where the characters first meet Vlon- ers, he begins patrolling areas 1 through 5 and areas
welv and her retinue, roll a d20 and consult the fol- 7 through 12, looking for signs of other intrusion. The
lowing table: characters might also encounter small packs of skele-
tons, zombies , and ghouls that Muiral has created by
d20 Vlonwelv's location
casting animate dead and create undead spells on drow
1- 5 Area 25b corpses. These undead shouldn't pose much of a threat
6-15 Area 26 to high-level adventurers, but they help reinforce the
16-20 Area 27a danger that Muiral represents.
Adventurers exploring areas 13 through 30 are likely
Treasure. Vlonwelv wears two webbed platinum brac- to encounter one or more drow patrols, each consisting
ers (250 gp each) and a spider-shaped obsidian pendant of ld4 + 2 drow elite warriors wearing the insignia of
magically animated so that its legs twitch (50 gp). This House Auvryndar. The leader of such a patrol is always
amulet doubles as a holy symbol of Lolth. a female drow who reports directly to Zress Orlezziir.
Most drow patrols are spoiling for a fight; if a battle
ZRESS 0RLEZZIIR turns against them, however, they withdraw to a more
A deadly warrior from a destroyed drow house, Zress defensible location.
was adopted by Vlonwelv Auvryndar and is ready to die
in the service of her savior. Vlonwelv has come to trust EXPLORING THIS LEVEL
Zress more than she does her own children, keeping All location descriptions for this level are keyed to map
her adopted daughter close by. When determining Vlon-
10. Adventurers most likely enter Muiral's Gauntlet by
welv's starting location, assume Zress accompanies her.
using the stairs from level 9 (near area 1) or by descend-
If you have Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, use the
ing a shaft into area 3b.
drow house captain stat block in that book to represent
Muiral's Gauntlet has architectural features com-
Zress. Otherwise, Zress is a drow champion (see ap- monly found in drow fortresses. Its 20-foot-wide,
pendix A), with these changes:
30-foot-high corridors have arched ceilings bridged at
• Zress is neutral evil. regular intervals by web-like latticework arches serving
• She has these racial traits: She speaks Elvish and as buttresses and rafters. Many of these "web arches"
Undercommon. She has advantage on saving throws are cracked and broken. Shattered pieces of these
against being charmed, and magic can't put her to arches lie scattered across the floor, as well as the re-
sleep. She has darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. mains of broken stone braziers carved in the shape of
She can innately cast dancing lights at-will, and dark- spiders. The bones of interlopers slain by Muiral also
ness, faerie fire, and levitate (self only) each once per litter the dungeon.
day. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save The 15-foot-tall double doors found throughout
DC 13). While in sunlight, she has disadvantage on this level are carved with web patterns, their features
attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks chipped and worn.
that rely on sight.
1. SHATTERED MIRRORS
Treasure. Zress wears mithral armor (plate). Affixed
to her spider silk cloak is an obsidian scarab engraved This corridor lies at the bottom of the staircase from
with the insignia of House Auvryndar (25 gp). level 9. Its features are as follows:
Broken Mirrors. The shards of a dozen shattered mir-
GORZIL'S GANG
rors cover the floor. (Murial destroyed the mirrors in a
Vlonwelv has twenty troglodytes in her service. One of
them is a fat, loathsome specimen named Gorzil. A fol- fit of rage.)
lower of the reptile god Laogzed, Gorzil secretly hopes Empty Frames. Tall, rectangular frames of sculpted
stone line the walls. They appear to have once held
to depose Vlonwelv, seize control of Muiral's Gauntlet,
mirrors but now stand empty. (The wall behind one
and turn it into a troglodyte warren. His dreams, how-
such frame conceals a secret door that swings open
ever, far exceed his grasp.
into area 2.)
The drow have trained Gorzil's gang to wear armor
and fight with swords. All the members are troglodytes, Characters who pass through this hall might catch
with these changes: fleeting glimpses of Halaster reflected in the mirror
shards instead of their own reflections- one of the
• Each troglodyte wears a breastplate (AC 14) and
Mad Mage's harmless regional effects (see "Halaster's
wields a longsword, which it uses instead of its claws.
Lair," page 311).
• As an action on its turn, a troglodyte can make two
attacks with its longsword instead of attacking with its 2. SECRET HALLWAY
bite and claws. It wields the longsword with two hands
and deals 7 (ldlO + 2) slashing damage on a hit. Empty Frames. Empty mirror frames cover the walls,
• The troglodytes understand Undercommon but the floor around them littered with shards of reflective
can't speak it. glass (just as in area 1).

LEVEL 10 I MUIRAL'S GAUNTLET