Page 191 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

Underdark Model. Standing about the room are six 35. RALLYING HALL
7-foot-tall, stalagmite-shaped spires made of tiny
rectangular blocks, with a half-finished seventh tower This wide hall has a 50-foot-high ceiling that angles
under construction. down to 20 feet high as it travels north and east. Shouts
Furnishings. Furnishings include a wooden bed, an echo from area 36, the door to which is slightly open.
overstuffed leather chair with a matching ottoman, 36. DEATH'S HEAD TRAINING
a stone shelf holding a wooden cask of ale, a hand-
somely carved stone table strewn with mason's tools The door to this room hangs ajar, and shouts in Gob-
and bits of stone, and a heavy wooden seafarer's trunk lin come from within. The room contains the follow-
with a smashed lock. ing features:
Tapestry. On the south wall hangs an old, faded tapes- Hobgoblins. Twelve hobgoblins are practicing phalanx
try that depicts a beautiful crystal cavern. formation maneuvers in the middle of the room, over-
A few days after settling in Arcturiadoom, the hob- seen by a hobgoblin captain. When faced with an un-
goblin warlord commanded his underlings to bring him known threat, the hobgoblins close ranks and attack.
a set of mason's tools. Some old tools were gathered Furnishings. Around the perimeter of the room are
and promptly delivered to him. In the days since, Doom- wooden trestle tables and benches.
crown has been carving rectangular blocks of stone Wall Decor. The room is lit by continual flame spells
(each 2 inches wide, 4 inches long, and 1 inch thick) and cast on iron torch sconces bolted to the walls.
using them to build odd, tower-like structures resem- Mounted on stone plaques between the sconces are
bling stalagmites. The endeavor has helped alleviate his the heads of three dwarves, two orogs, a troglodyte,
boredom, even if he doesn't know exactly why he's build- and a gargoyle.
ing them. The answer lies with his strange companion.
Until recently, this ftumph surreptitiously fed on the 37. WEAPON OF MASS
mental energy of Arcturia's mind flayer assistant. The DISINTEGRATION
illithid's sudden death (see area 29) cut off the ftumph's In the event that her experiments got out of hand or her
food supply. Fortunately, it can get by for some time
without needing to feed on more psionic energy. It enemies tracked her down, Arcturia built this chamber
shacked up with Doomcrown and has been trying to to purge them all at once while protecting herself and
convince him to reform. The hobgoblin has proven to her apprentices (of which she currently has none). The
be stubbornly, irredeemably evil, but their lengthy tele- chamber has the following features:
pathic contact has caused Doomcrown to exhibit odd Plated Walls. At the end of a short hallway is a 20-foot-
traits, including a subconscious need to recreate the high domed chamber with seven narrow alcoves.
ftumph's home- the Underdark- out of building blocks. Every surface is covered with gleaming mithral plates.
The fiumph knows that its longing to return home is Each alcove is brightly lit by the yellow glow of a small
affecting the hobgoblin's behavior, but it relies on Doom- crystal dome embedded in its 8-foot-high ceiling.
crown for protection. If the two become separated, the Key Shapes. Set into the mithral-plated walls between
ftumph opts to return to the Underdark. the alcoves are six key-shaped indentations at chest
The characters can befriend the ftumph and coax it height. Each indentation is 6 inches long.
into joining the party for a while. It has encountered Each alcove is 8 feet tall and 4 feet deep, and narrows
adventurers in Undermountain before and is generally in width from 3 feet to 1 foot. A detect magic spell re-
quite fond of them and their tales of the surface world. veals a strong aura of abjuration magic engulfing each
alcove, which is just spacious enough to accommodate a
TREASURE
The wooden trunk contains the hobgoblins' loot: 2,500 single Medium creature. The crystal dome in the ceiling
gp, an electrum pepper shaker (25 gp), a pewter candle- is the source of the alcove's magic, and destroying its
stick (25 gp), a red velvet cape (50 gp), an ornate coral globe renders an alcove dark and powerless. Each dome
has AC 11, a damage threshold of 10, 1 hit point, and
statuette of a ship cresting a wave (250 gp), a dwarven
beard comb made of lapis lazuli and set with gemstones immunity to acid, fire, poison, and psychic damage.
(750 gp), a platinum crown with black pearl inlay (2,500 USING THE MrTHRAL KEYS
gp), and an elven helm made of leafed gold with a spiral Six mithral keys are required to activate the chamber.
horn of amethyst protruding from its brow (7,500 gp).
Each conforms in shape to one of the six indentations
in the walls, which are (from left to right, going clock-
34. SHRIEKING GAS SPORE
wise around the room): an upside-down Y, a backward
Floating in the middle of this otherwise empty room is J with a small loop at the top, an upside-down F, an
a gas spore that has the added defense of a shrieker. upside-down U, a V with a small loop at the bottom,
When bright light or a creature comes within 30 feet of and an H missing its top left stem. When the six keys
the gas spore, it uses its reaction to emit a shriek audible (located in areas 7, 10, 13b, 27, and 39a) are placed in
within 300 feet of it. The gas spore continues to shriek their corresponding indentations, a magic mouth spell
until the disturbance moves out of range and for ld4 counts down from 20 seconds (in Common). At the end
rounds afterward. of the countdown, there is an ear-splitting whine, and a
The shrieking of the gas spore alerts the hobgoblins in powerful spell deals 150 force damage to every creature
areas 32c and 33, who come to investigate.

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