Page 39 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

18. COLD STORAGE 19E. SPIDER LARDER
Dense webbing fills this room as well (see area 19c for
The Melairkyn dwarves used this chamber for cold stor-
rules). Suspended within the webs are six cocoons. Five
age. Halaster has turned it into a trap. The room has the
contain the desiccated corpses of four goblins and a
following features:
nothic. The sixth contains a swarm of insects (spiders)
Cold. The room is bitterly cold. that bursts forth and attacks if the cocoon is torn open.
Glowing Rune. The walls rise 10 feet, then angle in- Treasure. The dead nothic has no treasure. A thor-
ward, forming a pyramidal roof with a 40-foot-high ough search of the goblin corpses yields 20 cp, 18 sp, 5
apex. Inscribed on the sloped north wall is a IO-foot- gp, and a silvered dagger.
tall Dwarvish rune that glows with a faint blue light.
20. DEAD EYES WATCH POST
Any character who understands Dwarvish knows that
the oversized rune on the north wall is an ancient sym- The Xanathar Guild forces stationed here include five
bol meaning "cold." A detect magic spell reveals an aura human thugs, eight bugbears, and their leader, Nadia
of conjuration magic around the rune. The rune's magic the Unbent. A beholder zombie provides added security.
lowers the room's temperature to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
When a spell is cast in this room (including one cast 20A. BEHOLDER ZOMBIE
from a magic item), the giant rune flashes and deals 36 Watcher. A beholder zombie floats near the 20-foot-
(8d8) cold damage to all creatures in the room. Once the high ceiling of this chamber, out of melee range.
rune has released this cold energy, it can't do so again Painted in white around its central eye is a circle with
for 1 hour. ten equidistant spokes radiating outward from its cir-
cumference (Xanathar's symbol).
19. GIANT SPIDER DEN Noise. Sounds of mock battle emanate from the tunnel
Giant spiders make their home here despite countless to the west (leading to area 20b).
attempts by adventurers to get rid of them. The beholder zombie attacks anyone who enters the
room without brandishing or wearing the symbol of
19A. ARACHNID DOWN
Xanathar. Combat in this room brings reinforcements
Clutter. Narrow paths wind between scattered piles of from area 20b.
broken furniture and garbage.
Chandeliers. Two iron chandeliers, once anchored to 20B. WATCH POST BARRACKS
the 20-foot-high ceiling, have fallen- their ropes cut. Xanathar Guild. Unless they are drawn to area 20a by
One has crashed into a pile of debris. Pinned beneath sounds of combat, the following creatures are training
the other chandelier is a dead giant spider. here: a 7-foot-tall, powerfully built woman with shaggy
black hair and pale skin named Nadia the Unbent (NE
19B. OLD BEDCHAMBER
female Illuskan berserker), five human thugs (three
Dead Spider. A dead giant spider, its body shot full of women and two men), and five bugbears.
arrows and scorched by fire, lies next to a broken Blood Circle. Painted in blood on the middle of the
wooden bed against the east wall. floor is a IO-foot-diameter circle with ten equidistant
Armoire. Standing against the south wall is a wooden spokes extending outward from its circumference
armoire draped in cobwebs. (Xanathar's symbol).
Treasure. The armoire contains the skeletal remains Hammocks. Fifteen leather hammocks are hooked to
of a halfling adventurer who was trapped inside by giant stone brackets that protrude from the walls at regular
spiders and starved to death. The skeleton is clad in a intervals.
chain shirt and wears a ring of swimming on one bony Secret Door. A secret door in the west wall leads
to area 20c.
finger. Characters who search the armoire also find an
explorer's pack (minus water and rations). If she's here, Nadia the Unbent stands in the middle of
the bloody circle, armed with a 10-foot-pole, and is using
19c. STICKY WEBS
it to knock about her underlings in a contest to see who,
This room is full of thick, sticky webs (see "Dungeon
if anyone, can push her out of the circle. Nadia relishes
Hazards" in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide).
any opportunity to fight and kill, and she hurls herself
The webbing stretches all the way to areas 19d and 19e. and her forces into battle without a second thought.
Any tugging or burning of the webs in this area alerts
the giant spiders in area 19d, which creep down the hall- 20c. ARCH GATE TO LEVEL 6
way to investigate. This hallway has three alcoves:
19D. SPIDER WARREN • The two southernmost alcoves contain secret doors to
Five giant spiders lair here and attack all intruders. areas 20b and 20d, respectively.
• The alcove to the north has an arch embedded in its
back wall. Carved into the arch's keystone is an image
of a rust monster.

LEVEL 2 I ARCANE CHAMBERS
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