Page 300 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

dead beetles into ink, and wooden frames and stone save, the wand becomes inanimate until the creature
scrapers to stretch and scrape leather to create sheets lets go of it. If a spellcaster holds the wand long enough
of parchment. The servants ignore visitors. to become attuned to it, that act banishes Rantantar's
Shelves. Standing against the walls are wooden shelves evil spirit from the wand forever.
lined with jars of ink and rolled sheets of blank
parchment. 28. HIDDEN T REASURE
Pentagram. A large pentagram is inscribed on the floor.
26. GATE TO lCEWIND DALE Statue. A life-size stone statue of Halaster wearing a
The room contains a pair of lS·foot-tall standing stones. blindfold stands in an alcove. The statue holds a stout
Carved into each stone are pictographs of primitive hu- staff that has a red dragon's head at each end of it and
mans using spears to hunt reindeer and fend off yetis. is pointing the staff toward the pentagram.
If a creature uses a finger or a staff to trace Halaster's Secret Door. A secret door in the northern alcove con-
rune on the surface of either of the standing stones, ceals a staircase that leads up to area 32.
a gate forms between them and lasts for 1 minute. A The pentagram and the space above it (a cylinder 20
legend lore spell or similar magic reveals the way to feet high and 40 feet in diameter) are contained within a
activate the gate, its destination, and the fact that it's permanent antimagic field (see the antimagic field spell
one-way only. Any creature that steps through this gate description in the Player's Handbook for effects). This
appears, along with any objects it is wearing or carry- field prevents spells from detecting a magic item that is
ing, in Icewind Dale, a mile north of the town of Bryn hidden beneath a secret trapdoor in the middle of the
Shander. (More information on Bryn Shander and Ice- pentagram (see "Shield of the Uven Rune" below). A
wind Dale can be found in Storm King's Thunder.) character who examines the floor inside the pentagram
and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check
27. RANTANTAR'S WAND finds the trapdoor, which is locked. A character can use
This room serves as a parlor where Halaster entertains thieves' tools to try to unlock the trapdoor, doing so with
guests (infrequent though they may be). a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
Furnishings. Ornate wooden chairs with padded seats SHIELD OF THE UVEN RUNE
and backrests line the walls. Between the chairs stand Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
alabaster busts of Ha laster atop wooden pedestals.
Wand. Lying on the floor in the middle of the room is This shield is made from the scale of an ancient white
a 20-foot-diameter, frayed circular rug adorned with dragon. It has a rune burned into its outward-facing
Halaster's personal rune. Floating 10 feet above the side. A character who examines the rune and succeeds
rug is a golden wand with spinning orbs of colored on a DC 20 Intelligence (History) check recognizes
glass at one end (see "Treasure" below). It attacks it as an uven ("enemy" in Giant) rune that confers
any creature that enters the room unaccompanied great power.
by Halaster. While holding the shield, you benefit from the follow-
ing properties.
TREASURE Winter~ Fr iend. You are immune to cold damage.
Following the destruction of Rantantar, one of his oldest Deadly Rebuke. Immediately after a creature hits you
apprentices, Halaster recovered the dead archmage's with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to deal
wand of wonder- only to discover that Rantantar had 3d6 necrotic damage to that creature.
somehow bound his evil spirit inside it. The spirit can Bane. You can cast the bane spell from the shield
do nothing other than animate and discharge the wand, (save DC 17). The spell does not require concentration
which currently has 7 charges. and lasts for 1 minute. Once you cast the spell from the
The animated wand has the statistics of a Tiny ani- shield, you can't do so again until you finish a short or
mated object (see the animate objects spell description long rest.
in the Player's Handbook). As an action, the animated Gif t of Vengeance. You can transfer the shield's magic
wand can expend 1 of its charges and target a random to a nonmagical weapon by tracing the uven rune on
creature with one of its randomly determined effects. the weapon with one finger. The transfer takes 8 hours
Any such effect that would target the wand's user targets of work that requires the two items to be within 5 feet
the wand instead. If reduced to 0 hit points, the wand of each other. At the end, the shield is destroyed, and
crumbles into dust and is destroyed. the rune is etched or burned into the chosen weapon.
A dispel evil or good spell cast on the wand rids it of This weapon becomes a rare magic item that requires
Rantantar's evil spirit, whereupon the wand clatters to attunement. It has the properties of a +l weapon. The
the floor and becomes an inanimate wand of wonder. An bonus increases to +3 when the weapon is used against
antimagic field spell suppresses the wand's magic but one of the following creature types, chosen by you at the
doesn't oust the spirit lodged inside it. time of the magic weapon's creation: aberrations, celes-
If the animated wand is grabbed while Rantantar's tials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants,
spirit is lodged inside it, a contest of wills ensues. The or undead.
creature grabbing the wand must immediately make
a DC 20 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the
creature is forced to release the wand. On a successful

LEVEL 23 I MAO WIZARD'S LAIR
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