Page 242 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

BAS-RELIEF MURAL into the Shadowfell. Halaster has made no effort to pre-
The mural depicts Lord Vanrak Moonstar as a skeletal vent this from happening because it intrigues him to see
death knight, riding on the back of Umbraxakar, the part of Undermountain pulled away in such a manner.
shadow dragon. Lying at the dragon's feet are piles of He's happy to let adventurers kill the dragon and return
withered corpses with hideous shadows hovering over Umbraxakar's shadowy domain to Undermountain
them. Characters who examine the mural closely and where it belongs.
succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check no- Characters can try to turn Umbraxakar back into
tice four !-inch-diameter holes bored into some of the a bronze dragon by ending his despair and breaking
corpses. Keresta uses these holes to pass through the Sbar's hold over him. To accomplish this, they must
wall in mist form. present the shadow dragon with items he cherishes
Secret Door. The mural covers a stone secret door and succeed on three separate ability checks to lift his
functionally identical to the one in area 30a. spirits (see below). If they fail more than one such check,
they won't have enough gifts left to turn the shadow
32. UMBRAXAKAR'S LAIR dragon back into a bronze dragon.
As an action, a character can give Umbraxakar a gift
Umbraxakar the shadow dragon dwells here and cannot that holds emotional significance for the dragon. Four
be surprised by the characters, whose presence he has such items can be found in Vanrakdoom:
sensed since they first stepped into the Shadowfell.
Characters who experienced the vision in area 17 rec- • Vanrak's polished coral ring in area 5 (a symbol of
ognize this hall as the same one seen in that vision. The friendship)
hall contains the following: • Vanrak's sun blade in area 8 (a symbol of light) ,,.--
• Vanrak's mithral armor in area 15 (a symbol of preser-
Shadows. The 40-foot-high vaulted ceiling is buttressed vation and resilience)
by eight stone columns, around which gather eleven • The gold horn in area 17 (a symbol of guilt)
shadows and four shadow assassins (see appendix
A) under Umbraxakar's command. (These undead act While gifting one of these items, the character must
immediately after the dragon in the initiative count.) speak sympathetic words to the dragon and succeed on
Dragon's Dais. To the south, stone steps climb 10 feet to a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Other characters
a dais, where Umbraxakar is perched. can't help on this check; it is made with advantage, how-
Statues. A double door at the back of the dais is flanked ever, if the character claims to be an emissary of House
by two 20-foot-tall, black marble statues, one depicting Moonstar or refers to the dragon by his true name,
Shar as a cloaked woman wielding a dagger in each Glyster. If the character tries to deceive the dragon in
hand and the other showing Halaster Blackcloak any way, replace the Persuasion check with a DC 20
clutching a staff. The statues glare at one another like Charisma (Deception) check. On a failed check, the
mortal enemies. dragon is not swayed by the characters' words but still
keeps the gift.
SHADOW DRAGON With each successful check, the dragon becomes
Umbraxakar is a Huge adult bronze dragon with the visibly more conflicted as moonlight magically flickers
shadow dragon template, which causes the following across his scales, making them appear more solid and
changes to his statistics: less translucent. A character who sees this magical
moonlight can sense, with a successful DC 20 Wisdom
• Umbraxakar is neutral evil.
He has resistance to necrotic damage. While in dim (Insight) check, that it's of divine origin. (The moonlight
light or darkness, he has resistance to all damage that is a blessing from Se!One, though there's no way for the
isn't force, psychic, or radiant, and he can take the characters to confirm this.)
Three successful checks are needed to rid the dragon
Hide action as a bonus action. of his despair, whereupon he dismisses any remaining
His Stealth skill modifier is +10.
While in sunlight, he has disadvantage on attack undead under his command, causing them to vanish and
rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that never return. His spirits lifted by the characters' gifts
rely on sight. and words, Umbraxakar changes back into an adult
His Lightning Breath becomes Shadow Breath, deal- bronze dragon, returns the characters' gifts, and insists
ing necrotic damage instead of lightning damage. A on being called Glyster henceforth. He offers to help the
characters clear out the rest ofVanrakdoom as well as
humanoid reduced to 0 hit points by this damage dies, to explore deeper levels of Undermountain in the hope
and an undead shadow rises from its corpse and acts
immediately after Umbraxakar in the initiative count. of finding a gate that he can use to escape from Under-
mountain. Glyster would like to take his collected trea-
The shadow is under Umbraxakar's control.
sures with him (see area 33) and offers the characters a
Umbraxakar and the shadows under his command few choice items if they help him transport the hoard.
try to destroy intruders as quickly as possible, enabling Glyster is an archetypal bronze dragon who likes to
the shadow dragon to revel in their misery rather assume a variety of humanoid and beast forms. For role-
than his own. playing guidance, see the "Bronze Dragon" entry in the
Umbraxakar's Despair. The dragon has spent more Monster Manual.
than a century lamenting the fall of Vanrak Moonstar,
his friend. As the dragon ages and becomes more pow-
erful, his despair causes Vanrakdoom to sink deeper

L'EYEL 18 I VANRAKDOOM