Page 233 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

The Lords of Waterdeep didn't make things easy for Waterdeep's temple of SelOne, whom she blames for the
Vanrak Moonstar in the years that followed. They hired destruction ofVanrak Moonstar.
waves of adventurers to descend into Undermountain to Keresta is a vampire, with these changes:
bring Vanrak and his followers to justice. Although none • Keresta summons giant centipedes instead of wolves.
of these adventurers succeeded, they winnowed down • She gains the Spellcasting feature described below.
Vanrak's army to the point where he could no longer
threaten the city. Spel/casting. Keresta is a 9th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting
Halaster Blackcloak compounded Vanrak's woes ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell at-
by urging other Undermountain dwellers to invade tacks). She has the following cleric spells prepared:
Vanrakdoom from time to time. In a desperate move, Cantrips (at will): guidance, mending, resistance, thaumaturgy
the few remaining priests of Shar performed rituals to 1st level (4 slots): bane, command, inflict wounds, ray of sickness
harness the despair of Vanrak's shadow dragon mount, 2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, ray of enfeeblement,
Umbraxakar, and use him to transport Vanrakdoom spiritual weapon
into the Shadowfell. In the end, Halaster's magical hold 3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, bestow curse, dispel magic,
over Undermountain proved too strong to overcome, yet spirit guardians
a small section of Vanrakdoom crossed over into the 4th level (3 slots): blight, death ward, divination
Plane of Shadow and became ensconced there. 5th level (1 slot): antilife shell, destructive wave
Confronted by failure, Vanrak came to believe that REGIONAL EFFECTS
Shar had deceived him and had orchestrated his down- Vanrakdoom is Keresta's lair, and the following regional
fall solely to spite her nemesis, Se!One. Vanrak had lost effects are noticeable throughout it:
his family, his title, and most of his army, and he was
in danger of losing hold over his domain. In the Year of • Fog creeps into areas of dim light or darkness. It van-
Silent Shadows (1436 DR), he renounced his faith in ishes when light is brought to bear on it but reappears
Shar and begged SelOne's forgiveness for the destruc- when the light passes. A permanent fog hangs in some
tion of her temple and its followers. In a desperate act of areas regardless of light, as noted in the descriptions
redemption, the death knight destroyed his undead form of those areas.
using a sun blade. A vampire cleric of Shar named Ker- • Rats and bats are plentiful. In areas where they are
esta Delvingstone has ruled Vanrakdoorn ever since. not specifically mentioned, droppings and guano be-
With the shadow of Vanrak faded from memory, tray their presence, and they can be heard constantly
House Moonstar has prospered. The Waterdavian fam- scuttling and shrieking in the distant darkness.
ily is currently overseen by the once shrewd but now If Keresta is destroyed, the fog disperses, and the
senile Lady Wylynd Moonstar, a venerable human noble- rats and bats gradually die off until only a scattered
woman who, by last estimate, is well over a century old. few remain.
Although she has no children of her own, Wylynd is sur-
rounded by distant relatives, including a savvy half-drow UMBRAXAKAR
grandnephew named Helion Moonstar, whom she has
The shadow dragon Umbraxakar used to be a lawful
chosen to be her heir. The family's business interests lie good bronze dragon named Glyster. Fond of assuming
in cartography and exploration, and Wylynd has been human form, Glyster was Vanrak Moonstar's friend
known to fund expeditions to Undermountain from time
to time for reasons she prefers to keep to herself. and companion, remaining by the noble's side even
after Vanrak's fall from grace. Glyster tried to turn
Vanrak away from the worship of Shar, to no avail, and
WHAT DWELLS HERE?
the dragon sank into despair. In this forlorn state, he
This level is controlled by servants of Shar and crea- allowed Shar's priests to transform him into a shadow
tures of shadow. dragon to better serve Vanrak in the battles to come.
Thereafter, Glyster became known as Umbraxakar
KERESTA DELVINGSTONE ("shadowborn" in Draconic).
The death knight and the shadow dragon fought side
Keresta Delvingstone grew up in the streets of Water-
by side for many years, expanding their domain and
deep and is no stranger to hardship. Hoping to make
a better life for herself, she became an adventurer and then defending it against adventurers and other invad-
sought fame and fortune in Undermountain. Keresta ers. By this time, Umbraxakar had stopped caring about
met her end in the lair of a vampire and became a vam- anything except his friendship with Vanrak. The friend-
pire spawn under its command. ship finally ended when Vanrak destroyed himself with
a sun blade, leaving Umbraxakar and the remnants of
After Vanrak destroyed the vampire and conquered its
lair, he took Keresta under his wing. Consumed by dark- Shar's wicked cult to fend for themselves.
ness and loss, Keresta was drawn to Shar like a moth to VISIONS OF UMBRAXAKAR
a flame and rose to become a vampire cleric of the evil
god. She now leads Shar's debased cult in Vanrakdoom As characters explore areas ofVanrakdoom, they expe-
and intends to send the group on a mission to destroy rience magical visions of terrible things that the dragon
experienced long ago. These visions, byproducts of
the Spires of the Morning, the temple of Lathander Umbraxakar's despair, provide clues that can help free
(god of birth and renewal) in Waterdeep. She also has the dragon from his dark curse. A character does not ex-
her sights set on destroying the House of the Moon-

LEVEL 18 I VANRAKDOOM
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