Page 272 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

The large iron shield hanging on the wall weighs 750 Archmages are exceedingly rare in duergar society,
pounds and bears the broken arrow symbol of Ladu- and Valtagar's gift for wizardry never sat well with the
guer. Any duergar recognizes the symbol right away, clans of Gracklstugh. He doesn't put himself in harm's
while non-duergar recognize it with a successful DC way unless he has a clear tactical edge. If the characters
15 Intelligence (Religion) check. Any humanoid that threaten him after they gain entry to his quarters, he or-
touches the shield becomes cursed with the flaw: "I take ders his golem to attack while he grabs his spellbook off
no joy or pleasure in anything." This flaw supersedes the lectern, casts teleport, and joins his wife in area 18d.
any opposing flaw. Casting a remove curse spell or simi- Valtagar has faced adventurers before and has a
lar magic on the creature ends the curse on it. healthy fear of them. If the characters are willing to
engage in civil discourse, he tries to hire them to slay
TREASURE Fazrian. The patience of his duergar followers is wear-
Aximus and Exekarus hide their spellbooks in the folds ing thin, and he loses nothing by setting the adventurers
of their robes. Each book contains all the spells the loose against the planetar. In exchange, Valtagar guar-
arcanaloths have prepared, plus eyebite, forcecage, and antees safe passage through his domain whenever they
incendiary cloud. need it and promises to tell them the location of a secret
staircase that descends to the next level of Undermoun-
U
_
15. VALTAGAR'S Q "'-_A_R_T_E_R_S ___ tain (see area 19a). To establish trust, he tells them
The walls and floor of this 15-foot-high chamber are about the secret vault hidden behind Fazrian's throne
covered with interlocking stone tiles. The room contains (see area 24) and shares what he knows about Fazrian
the following: and its allies:
Valtagar. When the characters first arrive, Valtagar • A powerful cleric summoned a celestial being of im-
Steelshadow (see below) is reading his spellbook-a mense power named Fazrian, then directed it to slay a
bound stack of mithral plates. The book rests atop a host of monsters that once haunted the Deep Mines.
stout, stone lectern in the middle of the room. • That act of slaughter corrupted Fazrian. After slaying
Golem. Standing in the south corner is an iron golem many monsters, it decapitated the cleric and installed
that looks like a 10-foot-tall duergar. The golem under- itself as lord of the Deep Mines. Fazrian rarely leaves
stands Dwarvish and obeys Valtagar's commands. its throne hall and keeps the cleric's headless corpse
Masks. Dozens of iron masks hang from hooks on the as a memento.
southeast wall (see "Iron Masks" below). • Fazrian takes advice from four yugoloths. These
Other Furnishings. Against the northwest wall stands fiends arrived shortly after Fazrian's madness took
a low double bed. In the middle of the room, a locked hold. Aximus and Exekarus can be found in the
iron strongbox rests atop a low marble table flanked nearby shrine of Laduguer (area 14). Raxxus is at
by two stone chairs. Fazrian's side (area 23b). Valtagar says that Xindulus
roams where it will, choosing not to reveal that the
VALTAGAR STEELSHADOW ultroloth guards the secret staircase down to the next
Valtagar wears a black robe with a cowl that obscures level ofUndermountain (area 19a).
his face. Suspicious and volatile, he is a duergar arch-
mage, with these changes: I RON MASKS
The iron masks are visors taken from the helmets of
• Valtagar is lawful evil. duergar warriors who followed Valtagar throughout his
• He has the Otiluke's resilient sphere spell prepared exile, only to fall in battle. Valtagar displays them not for
instead of banishment.
sentimental reasons, but to reinforce his determination
• He has these racial traits: He speaks Common, Dwar-
to return home.
vish, Infernal, Terran, Troglodyte, and Undercommon.
His walking speed is 25 feet, and he has darkvision TREASU RE
out to 120 feet. He has advantage on saving throws The mithral spellbook on the lectern weighs 30 pounds.
against poison and resistance to poison damage. He It contains all the spells Valtagar has prepared. Its
gains the Enlarge and Invisibility action options de- cover is embossed with a broken arrow, the symbol
scribed below. of Laduguer.
Enlarge (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). For 1 minute, The iron strongbox contains 600 pp. Minted in
Valtagar magically increases in size. While enlarged, Valtagar is Gracklstugh, these coins bear the stern visage of Deep-
Large, doubles his damage dice on Strength-based weapon at- king Horgar Steelshadow V on one side, the mind flayer
tacks, and makes Strength checks and Strength saving throws skull symbol of Deep Duerra (the duergar god of con-
with advantage. lfValtagar lacks the space to become large, he quest and psionics) on the other, and a Dwarvish motto
attains the maximum size possible in the space available. on the rim that translates as "As low as we can go."
Invisibility (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). Valtagar
16. FIRE AND !RON
magically turns invisible for up to 1 hour or until he attacks, he
casts a spell, he uses his Enlarge, or his concentration is bro- The duergar use the forges in areas 16a and 16b to mold
ken (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment he wears or iron into 10-pound bars, which are stored in area 16c.
carries is invisible with him. Area 16d is an old overseer's office that the duergar have
turned into a barracks. A total of fifteen duergar work
and sleep in these areas.

LEVEL21 ITERMINQSLEVIL