Page 32 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

2D. KALABASH'S BEDROOM The puppet responds to any movement within 20 feet
The door to this room bears a sign written in Common of it and threatens any creature that comes closer, shout-
that reads, "Kalabash's Room. Do not enter unless your ing in Halaster's voice, "Terrible and painful magical
name is Halaster." The room contains the following: death! Fireballs and lightning bolts! Begone!" It speaks
and understands Common, but voices nothing but empty
Furnishings. A dusty bed stands with its headboard
threats and a desire to continue its "work" undisturbed.
against the north wall. At the foot of the bed rests a
If asked what it's working on, it shouts, "Magic!" and
locked wooden chest (see "Trapped Chest" below). A
chuckles. A character who watches the puppet work
desk in the southeast corner has stacks of musty old
and succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check
tomes atop it (see "Treasure" below).
ascertains that the puppet isn't doing anything other
Summoning Circle. An old rug woven with arcane sym- than mixing harmless substances while muttering
bols lies in the middle of the floor. (Beneath the rug,
gobbledygook.
painted on the stone floor, is a IO-foot-diameter sum- The puppet is a Medium construct with AC 10, 8 hit
moning circle that has been partially erased.)
points, a walking speed of 20 feet, immunity to poison
The summoning circle hidden under the rug radiates and psychic damage, and ability scores of 10. It can't
an aura of abjuration magic under the scrutiny of a de- be charmed or frightened, and it is not subject to ex-
tect magic spell, but three of its activation glyphs have haustion. It speaks and understands Common, has no
been erased. A character who examines the circle and attacks, and falls to pieces if reduced to 0 hit points or
succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana or Investiga- if a successful dispel magic spell (DC 15) is cast on it.
tion) check can reconstruct the circle and, with blood or Hidden inside the puppet is a flask of alchemist's fire
paint, reapply the missing glyphs in ldlO minutes. that shatters as the puppet falls to pieces, causing its
If the circle is completed, it immediately summons remnants to catch fire. The breaking flask does no harm
Kalabash (CE male Calishite human mage). Appearing to nearby creatures.
in the middle of the circle, Kalabash attacks any crea- If the puppet is destroyed, Halaster's voice magically
tures he sees. He is intoxicated and suffers the effects calls out, "Auugh! Now who will find the cure to filth
of the poisoned condition until he sobers up or until the fever?!" before trailing off into silence.
condition is ended with a lesser restoration spell or sim-
ilar magic. Erasing part of the completed circle causes 4. ABANDONED CAMP
Kalabash to be whisked back to his pocket dimension.
The Xanathar Guild had a base camp here, but it was
The only item of value Kalabash has is his spellbook,
forced to abandon the place after a run-in with the Fine
which contains all the spells he has prepared. He also
Fellows of Dagger ford.
carries around an empty wine flask. This room is strewn with rotten supplies and the
Trapped Chest. The wooden chest is of solid con- remains of a fire pit. Three bugbear corpses and an
struction, and its steel lock is warded with a magic trap. intellect devourer's body are heaped in the northeast
Picking the Jock requires thieves' tools and a successful
corner. Searching the corpses reveals a scrap of parch-
DC 15 Dexterity check. If that check does not succeed, ment with the following phrase written on it in Com-
or if anyone tries to break or smash the lock, the mech- mon: "As many as there are stars in the sky." This is the
anism releases a small bolt of lightning that deals 10
pass phrase to safely enter the Xanathar Guild outpost
(3d6) lightning damage to the creature tampering with
at area 9.
it (no saving throw). The chest is empty except for a note
in Common that reads, "Retirement fund. Don't spend 5. ARCH GATE TO LEVEL 4
this on ale, Kalabash!"
Treasure. The desk has twenty old books on it. Each This dusty room is hidden behind a secret door dis-
book is blank and can be sold for 10 gp. guised to look like a plain section of wall.
Embedded in the middle of the room's north wall is
3. HALASTER PUPPET a stone arch, its frame engraved with images of falling
coins. The arch's keystone has a tiny slot in it. This is
Both doors to this room are difficult to open because
one of Halaster's magic gates (see "Gates," page 12),
furniture inside has been piled against them. A success-
and its rules are as follows:
ful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check forces open either
door. Apart from these crude barricades, the room con- • Feeding a gold coin into the slot in the keystone
causes the coin to disappear and the gate to open for
tains the following:
1 minute. Other coins placed in the slot disappear but
Automaton. An animated, life-size puppet of Ha laster
don't open the gate.
Blackcloak is hard at work on an experiment. The
Characters must be 8th level or higher to pass through
puppet is made primarily of wood and canvas, with a
this gate (see "Jhesiyra Kestellharp," page 10). The
shoddy gray cloak draped over its shoulders. Dozens
first creature to pass through the gate triggers an el-
of cloth eyes have been sewn into the cloak. der rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12).
Table. The puppet looms over a stone table covered • A creature that passes through the gate appears in
with dusty alchemical equipment and vials of various
area l lc on level 4, in the closest unoccupied space
solid and liquid substances, but nothing valuable or next to the identical gate located there.
dangerous.

LEVEl. 2 I ARCANE CHAMBERS