Page 278 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

LEVEL 22: SHADOWDUSK HOLD

HAOOWOUSK HOLD IS DESIGNED FOR FOUR is that the city's Watchful Order of Magists and Protec-
17th-level characters, and characters who tors was responsible.
defeat the monsters on this level should gain All three of Xerrion's sisters were killed in the fire that
enough XP to advance halfway to 18th level. consumed Shadowdusk Hold. Xerrion escaped and fled
to his sisters' redoubt in the depths of Undermountain.
WHAT DWELLS HERE? From there, he used sending spells to contact Shadow-
dusk family members living abroad and brought them
A Waterdavian noble family driven into exile to live with him in a twisted, underground version of
long ago has carved out a home for itself on this level.
Shadowdusk Hold. Among those who answered the call
was Margaraste Shadowdusk, a distant cousin whom
T HE SHADOWDUSKS
~~~~ ~~~~~~ Xerrion would later marry.
The Shadowdusk family, like many other Waterdavian Level 22 of Undermountain became a safe haven
noble lineages, made its fortune in trading. Three sisters where the Shadowdusks could treat with Far Realm
named Arandraya, Maelweene, and Yarlithra Shadow- horrors away from the prying eyes of their fellow Wa-
dusk became famous for sponsoring and then leading terdavians. In the end, Xerrion and Margaraste stepped
adventuring expeditions into Undermountain. One of through a gateway into the Far Realm and were never
the items they recovered from the dungeon was a tablet seen again. In their absence, the torch of leadership
of black crystal that allowed contact with entities of the passed to Xerrion's niece and nephew, Dezmyr and
Far Realm. Their brother, Xerrion, came to possess the Zalthar- the twin children of his late sister Yarlithra.
tablet and used it to contact otherworldly beings in an These former paladins of Torm abandoned their faith
attempt to destroy his family's business rivals and po- long ago, becoming death knights.
litical enemies. This contact drove Xerrion mad, and it Over the years, Ha laster Blackcloak has kept his eye
didn't take long for the madness to spread to other mem- on the Shadowdusks and their plots, even as he allows
bers of the Shadowdusk family and come into public the family free rein in their corner of his domain. The
view. As the family's behavior grew more bizarre, local Mad Mage has decided that these are the kinds of
broadsheets circulated rumors that the Shadowdusks nobles that need to be making decisions and wielding
had been replaced by aberrant horrors in human guise. power in Waterdeep- so that he can secretly rule the
Their ancestral villa, S hadowdusk Hold, was burned to city using them as puppets. As such, he encourages the
the ground in the Year of the Harp (1355 DR). The Wa- Shadowdusks to consolidate power in preparation for a
terdavian authorities who investigated the blaze never triumphant and bloody return to Waterdeep, after which
made their findings public, but the commonly held belief Halaster will seize power as the city's Shadow Lord.

LEVEL 22 I SHADOWOUSK HOLD
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