Page 253 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

Chair. A bloodstained wooden chair with iron wrist- which is held together by an enormous plant; and the
clamps bolted to its armrests sits in a forward alcove. wheel-shaped H'catha. Beyond the planets are the con-
A pool of sticky blood covers the floor around it. stellations of Realmspace, all visible in the night skies of
Secret Compartment. A character who searches the Tori I at various times of the year.
cabin for secret doors and succeeds on a DC 15 Wis-
dom (Perception) check finds a small hatch built into 13H. OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN!
the floorboards. This hatch conceals a shallow com- The floor here is covered with shattered glass and brine,
partment containing Captain N'ghathrod's spellbook. the remains of jars that once held pickled humanoid
brains. The curved walls bear empty shelves where Cap-
N'ghathrod straps captives to this chair before devour- tain N'ghathrod stored its emergency food reserves. The
ing their brains. A creature shackled to the chair can mind flayer was forced to eat the pickled brains after its
use an action to try to escape, doing so with a success-
crew fled and now hungers for fresh food.
ful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobat-
ics) check. 14. OOZE DEN
Treasure. Before he was transformed into an illithid
by the process known as ceremorphosis, Captain This 10-foot-high cave has become the lair of a Huge
N'ghathrod was a spacefaring elf. Although it has no gray ooze (see "Huge Gray Ooze," page 244), which
memories of its former life, the mind flayer retains its lurks in the northernmost alcove to the right of the en-
trance. If the characters already fought this ooze in area
elven fondness for celestial beauty. The paintings, which
illustrate worlds that N'ghathrod has visited, are worth 12, the cave is empty.
100 gp each. 15. STANDING GATE TO LEVEL 17
N'ghathrod's spell book is bound in leather, its contents
written in a Braille-like script. The mind flayer uses its Rising out of a 2-foot-deep pool of ooze is a pair of
tentacles to read the script, which other creatures can 15-foot-tall standing stones topped with a lintel, carved
decipher with a comprehend languages spell. The book into which is a symbol of an arrow. The standing stones
contains all the spells N'ghathrod has prepared, plus form a magic gate (see "Gates," page 12). Its rules are
animate dead, Bigby's hand, and Evard's black tentacles. as follows:
• If an arrow or a crossbow bolt is shot between the
13E. STARBOARD CREW CABIN
standing stones, the gate opens for 1 minute.
This cabin contains two sets of bunks stacked three
• Characters must be 14th level or higher to pass
tiers high.
through this gate (see "jhesiyra Kestellharp," page
13F. PORT CREW QUARTERS 10). The first creature to pass through the gate trig-
This cabin is furnished like area 13e and also contains gers an elder rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12).
a dead orog lying face down on the floor. Examination • A creature that passes through the gate appears in
of the corpse reveals that the orog's skull was cracked area 8b on level 17, in the closest unoccupied space
open and its brain sucked out. Lying at the orog's feet is next to the identical gate located there.
a greataxe.
16. TUNNEL TO LEVEL 20
------
13G. BRIDGE At the top of the tunnel that descends to level 20 is an
The door to the bridge stands slightly ajar. N'ghathrod, 18-foot-high, ring-shaped cavern created by a purple
ther mind flayer captain, is here (see the "Captain worm that Halaster disposed of long ago.
N'ghathrod" sidebar). The features of the bridge are
as follows:
AFTERMATH
Windows. Two circular, 9-foot-diameter windows of The characters have a couple of reasons to return to this
bulging, transparent crystal rest in bronz. e fixtures. level after exploring it:
Celestial Chart. Painted on the sloped ceiling are famil-
iar constellations and unfamiliar planets. If they acquire the phylactery of the lich Ezzat, the
Grooves. Grooves in the middle of the floor suggest that characters must come back to the Caverns of Ooze
a piece of furniture once rested there. with the phylactery to claim their prizes from the
marid in area le or the dao in area llb. Giving the
Characters who examine the grooves and succeed on phylactery to one genie makes an enemy of the other.
an Intelligence (Investigation) check can ascertain that If the characters recover the spelljamming helm that
they're designed to secure a heavy chair or chair-shaped was stolen by Ha laster, they can return it to the Scav-
object to the floor. The grooves conform to the footprint
enger and use a wish spell to expel the vessel from
of the ship's spelljamming helm, which can be found Undermountain.
on level 23.
The chart on the ceiling has the sun at its center, with The level changes little in the characters' absence,
elongated rings showing the paths of the eight planets at least in the short term. If Ichthyglug or jarfik is set
that orbit it: rocky Anadia; Coliar the gas giant; Tori I and free, Halaster might trap an efreeti on this level and
the small asteroid cluster orbiting it called the Tears of pit it against whichever genie was denied Ezzat's phy-
Selt1ne; the water worlds Karpri and Chandos; the nox- lactery, setting up the new arrival in a cave befitting its
ious ringed planet Glyth; the asteroid cluster of Garden, fiery nature.

LEVEL 19 I CAVERNS OF OOZF