Page 230 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

ALTER DEEP gruff proprietor, Durnan, though it can inhabit other fake
Unconscious creatures in psipods experience the equiva· N PCs as well. The ulitharid has focused most of its atten·
lent of a shared dream as they appear with all their carried tion on the Yawning Portal because that location sits atop
possessions in Waterdeep-or rather, an alternate version the entrance to Undermountain and is a hotbed of human·
ofWaterdeep created by Extremiton. oid interaction.
Through extensive telepathic contact with Waterdavians, Damage, Death, and Healing. Creatures can be hurt,
the ulitharid has created a realistic simulation ofWaterdeep healed, and killed in the simulation just as they can be
that is constantly being refined for greater authenticity. in the real world, and a character reduced to 0 hit points
Within "Alterdeep," the ulitharid takes on various personas makes death saving throws as normal.
and quietly observes how creatures that are projected into Any creature that joins the simulation by entering a psi·
the setting by the psipods interact with each other and the pod and dies in the simulation also dies for real from the
fake creatures and objects around them. shock, as though it had taken enough psychic damage to
Alterdeep looks, sounds, smells, and feels like Water- instantly kill it. Creatures immune to psychic damage can't
deep. Prolonged exposure to this alternate world, however, be killed by this kind of system shock and stabilize auto·
increases the possibility of detecting a flaw that betrays its matically inside the simulation.
true nature. Although Extremiton has created an impressive Leaving Alterdeep. If characters in the simulation try to
facsimile, characters who are drawn into the environment escape Alterdeep's city limits, Extremiton creates situations
notice slight discrepancies in the way familiar NPCs act, or to dissuade them: bad weather, a city-wide lockdown, a
pick up on minor details that the ulitharid has gotten wrong festival-whatever it takes. The ulitharid hasn't researched
or can't reasonably duplicate: slight changes in decor, areas outlying the city. Consequently, nothing but thick fog
books that are blank between the covers, foul-tasting elven lies beyond the city gates. The same is true for Alterdeep's
wine, dwarves unable to speak Dwarvish, and so on. version ofUndermountain; characters who descend the
As soon as a character encounters such a discrepancy, well in the Yawning Portal taproom find themselves en·
the ulitharid also becomes aware of it, since their minds are shrouded in fog with nowhere to go but back up. Extremi-
linked. When confronted with an error, Extremiton either ton, in the guise of Durnan, discourages exploration of Un·
takes steps to correct it or tries to draw attention away from dermountain by claiming that the Mad Mage has magically
it. For example, it doesn't know Dwarvish well enough to sealed it off.
Characters who are brought into the simulation can es·
cause the residents of Alterdeep to speak it fluently, so it
might subtly remove all known Dwarvish-speaking charac- cape only if Extremiton allows it or if their psi pods are shut
ters from the simulation until its familiarity with that lan- down. The ulitharid might remove one or more characters
guage improves significantly. from the simulation if it finds them too disruptive, in which
case they're taken out of their psi pods and confined to area
The Yawning Portal. The most accurate and fleshed-out
location in Alterdeep is the Yawning Portal. Extremiton is 10 until they can be fed to the neothelid in area 8. The char-
particularly fascinated with the establishment, its owner, acters can also try to form an alliance with the ulitharid. Ex·
and its clientele. Most newcomers to the simulation tremiton might release them if. in exchange, they promise
awaken here, and E xtremiton tries to create enough situa· to destroy the githyanki that are threatening the mind flayer
tions of interest in the tavern to keep its captive audience colony. You can roleplay these interactions or have the
engaged. Extremiton appears in the Yawning Portal as its characters make ability checks to convince Extremiton to let
them back into the real world.

Large object with AC 15, 50 hit points, and immunity to 15. P SIPOD NEXUS II
poison and psychic damage. A creature inside a psipod
has total cover against attacks originating from outside This room is identical to area 14, with these alterations:
the capsule. • The room contains twenty empty psipods in various
stages of completion. (Half of the psipods are fully as-
UNCONSCIOUS HUMANOIDS sembled and functional.)
Eight of the humanoids in the psipods are commoners • Three mind flayers are busily assembling one of the
of mixed race, alignment, and ethnicity. Their names unfinished psipods.
are Daundarak Steelfist (LG male shield dwarf),Jarana
Hammerstone (LG female shield dwarf), Falain Tlan- 16. O LD DWARVEN HALLS
drue (CG female moon elf), Merrily Shadowstep (NG The doors in this area are made of stone and sealed
female lightfoot halfting),Jagtar Uythrapp (LG male Mu- with Qualith door locks (see "Qualith Door Locks," page
lan human), Lament (N male tie.fling), Stormal Voss (LE 222). Unless they are held open, the doors automati-
male Illuskan human), and Lander Hellwind (CG male cally close and lock. Rooms here are 20 feet high with
Illuskan human). All were abducted from Waterdeep. 10-foot-high corridors connecting them.
Apply racial traits to them as warranted, and remember
that dwarves, elves, and tieflings have darkvision. 16A. NORTH GUARD POST
The ninth humanoid is Selphorn Amcathra (NE male
Tethyrian human noble). A resident of the town of Am- Scaladar. Two modified scaladar guard the hall. They
phail, he was abducted after attending the funeral of a are described in more detail below.
cousin in Waterdeep. Selphorn promises a reward of Furnishings. Water seeps into the hall through cracks
500 gp for his safe return to the City of Splendors and in the arched, 20-foot-high ceiling, spilling onto a
makes good on his promise, but he puts his self-interest 40-foot-long stone table surrounded by stone chairs as
above all other concerns. Characters from Waterdeep big as thrones.
would know that House Amcathra is one of the city's Dishware. Shallow niches in the walls hold stone
wealthiest noble families. dishes and tankards. Some of the dishware contains

LF.VF.L 17 I SEADEEPS