Page 291 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

1. No RETREAT Desk. In the middle of the 15-foot-high ceiling is an
upside-down desk topped with a stack of tomes held
Arch. The north wall is set with a stone arch, its key- between two golden, upside-down bookends shaped
stone bearing Halaster's visage whose animated eyes
like bulettes bursting out of the ground.
follow any creature that approaches the arch. Carved
into the wall above the keystone is a sigil. The reverse gravity field can't be negated, though it is
Statue. An alcove to the south contains a life-size, suppressed within an antimagic field. Unless anchored,
painted stone statue ofHalaster perched atop a 4-foot- held down, or affected by a fly spell or similar magic, any
tall granite plinth like a vulture, squatting with arms creature or object that enters this room falls up toward
outstretched and fingers curled like talons, as though the ceiling.
ready to leap down and claw at anyone who stands be- The desk is empty except for the array of nine books
fore it (see "Halaster Statue" below). held between the bulette-shaped bookends. Eight of the
Frescoes. Six 10-foot-square painted frescoes adorn the books contain essays pertaining to the eight schools of
walls around the arch: two flanking the arch on the magic, one book dedicated to each school. The cover
north wall, two side by side on the west wall, and two and the pages of the ninth book appear blank.
side by side on the east wall. Each fresco displays a Placing the other books in alphabetical order
magically animated image of Halaster performing one by school of magic between the bookends causes
or more mundane activities: stretching and yawning, Halaster's rune to appear on the cover of the ninth book
and spells to appear on its pages. This tome is one of
juggling rods, sweeping the floor with a broom, trying
to escape from a straitjacket, doing handstands, and Halaster's spellbooks (see "Treasure" below).
shadowboxing.
Secret Door. Hidden behind the fresco that depicts TREASURE
Halaster stretching and yawning is a secret door. The gold bookends are worth 500 gp for the pair, while
the eight books detailing the schools of magic are worth
Targeting an animated fresco with a dispel magic 100 gp each.
spell has no effect other than to cause Halaster's image Halaster's spellbook contains the following spells:
to silently mock the spell's caster. The images become Bigby's hand, color spray, crown of madness, enlarge/
motionless while in the area of an antimagic field. reduce, fabricate, false life, gaseous form, gust of wind,
hold monster, ice storm.jump, maze, Otto's irresistible
ARCH GATE T O L EVEL 22
dance, reverse gravity, sleet storm, and weird.
The sigil inscribed above the arch is Halaster's personal
rune. Both it and the face carved into the keystone 3. T ALKING HEADS
are harmless.
Halaster can open the gate for 1 minute by touching This 10-foot-high room has wooden shelves covering the
the arch. The gate cannot otherwise be opened from walls from floor to ceiling. Hundreds of wide-mouthed
jars line the shelves, each containing a severed head
this side. A creature that passes through the gate ap-
pears in area 35 on level 22, in the closest unoccupied floating in brine.
space next to the gate located there. The heads in the jars are specimens that Ha laster has
collected throughout Undermountain: goblins, drow,
H ALASTER STATUE kuo-toa, duergar, troglodytes, githyanki, mind flayers,
Anytime a creature other than Halaster tries to cast a and other creatures. Although detached from their
spell in this room, the statue's arms animate and per- bodies, the heads remain alive and sedate as a result
form the quick series of somatic gestures needed to cast of Halaster's magic. Tapping on a jar is enough to stir a
counterspell. After casting its spell, the statue reverts to head to consciousness. The heads speak only the lan-
its inanimate state until triggered again. The counter- guages they knew in life and have no recollection of how
spell attempt succeeds automatically. they ended up in their disembodied state. A character
The statue is a Large object with AC 17, 50 hit points, can prompt a head for information, which it's happy to
and immunity to all damage except force damage. The provide. Each head shares one Undermountain secret
statue falls to pieces and loses its spellcasting ability if determined by drawing a card from the Secrets Deck
it is reduced to 0 hit points. Destroying the statue trig- (see appendix C). A head can also confirm that Halaster
gers a magic mouth spell; the mouth appears amid the spends a lot of time on this level of Undermountain.
shattered remains and says, "Is this the end of Halaster Removing a head from a jar or removing a jar from
Blackcloak? Ha! I think not." this room ends the magic that animates the head, which
immediately dies.
2. REVERSED LIBRARY
4. HELMED HORRORS
Everything in this room is upside down because gravity
in the room is magically reversed. The room is fur- Six helmed horrors float in the alcoves marked H on
nished thusly: map 23. These constructs attack intruders on sight and
fly after those who flee.
Bookshelves. The walls are lined with upside-down
bookshelves, fully stocked with upside-down history
books from the many parts of the world Halaster
has explored.

LEVEL 23 I MAD WlZAIU>'S LAIR
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