Page 51 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

barnacle-covered spars that were once masts. At the Pulling apart the web cocoons or setting them on fire
top of the mountain of junk is a crow's nest that con- reveals the petrified creatures hidden inside them. The
tains the sea hags' treasure (see "Treasure" below). creatures include several drow, kuo-toa, and troglodytes,
Wall Decor. Hanging from iron spikes pounded into the as well as a few dwarf miners and human pirates. All of
walls are dozens of captain's wheels plundered from them are locked in poses of combat, with expressions of
sunken ships and festooned with skulls. fear on their faces.
Figurehead. Leaning against the south wall is a ship's
figurehead carved in the form of a wailing banshee. 12. Boo-TY HUNTERS
The rowboat wreckage is difficult terrain, and sections The shape of this riverside cavern resembles a clam-
of it are prone to collapse. Any creature that ends its shell. The ghosts of three human pirates named Algarr
turn on the wreckage must succeed on a DC 10 Dexter- Grimtide, Liddie "Slurtongue" Peddlekant, and Fish-
ity saving throw or fall prone. bone Jim move in and out of the rocks, searching for
The waterlogged figurehead stands 8 feet tall and buried treasure. They attack creatures they perceive as
weighs 1,200 pounds. A detect magic spell reveals competitors and ignore any others.
an aura of abjuration magic around it. Casting dispel The ghosts can't rest until they find hidden treasure.
magic on the figurehead renders it nonmagical. Unless The characters can get the ghosts' attention by offering
its magic is dispelled, the banshee figurehead lets out to lead them to a hidden hoard (such as the one in area
a tremendous wail if any creature other than a sea hag 9b) or to a location near the river where the characters
approaches within 10 feet of the crow's nest. The ban- have buried treasure themselves. The ghosts can follow
shee's wail echoes throughout the cavern and can be the party or possess characters but can't stray more
heard as far away as area lOc. If the hags survive, they than 100 feet from the River Sargauth. Once they find
gather reinforcements from areas lOa and lOb and rush what they're looking for, they cackle and dance about
to defend their precious treasure. madly, then vanish forever. Characters who lay the
Treasure. The crow's nest contains 2,000 cp inside ghosts to rest in this way should receive XP as if they
a lidless wooden chest, 250 sp inside a tin urn, an um- had defeated them in combat.
brella, a set of weaver's tools, an ebony walking cane
with an octopus-shaped handle made of pewter (25 gp), 13. R IVERSIDE C AVES
and a cracked spyglass (250 gp).
These rooms contain conveyances the characters can
use to travel up and down the River Sargauth.
11. RECLUSE
A drider lives here. The sea hags in area 10 use it to 13A. DROW RAFTS
guard the "front door" of their lair. The drow use rafts to ply the River Sargauth. Leaning
against the walls are two 10-foot-square rafts made of
llA. PETRIFIED PRINCE zurkhwood logs lashed together with thick spiderwebs.
Maw. This yawning cave resembles the maw of some Resting nearby are six 10-foot poles that the drow use to
great fish. Natural columns of rock support the guide the rafts up and down the river.
30-foot-high ceiling.
13B. FERRYMAN'S REST
Statue. In the middle of the cave stands a half-crumbled
This 20-foot-high cave abuts the River Sargauth and has
statue of a princely human clad in plate armor, his
the following features:
sword drawn and at the ready.
Door. An ornate stone door embedded in the northwest
A medusa lived in these caverns many years ago until
wall is flanked by bas-reliefs of helmed dwarves, their
adventurers got the better of her. The crumbled statue is
faces chipped away by vandals. An inscription carved
all that remains of one of her victims.
into the door's molding has also been damaged, ren-
llB. C OCOON FOREST dering it indecipherable.
Ferry. A black gondola, its hull carved with leering eyes,
Drider Spellcaster. A drider lurks in the smaller cave
is moored at the river's edge and ferried by a black-
to the north and emerges to confront intruders who robed tiefling skeleton clutching a 10-foot pole, which
enter by way of area 1 la. This drider has the Spell-
it uses to guide the boat.
casting trait described in the sidebar that appears in
the "Drider" entry in the Monster Manual. The gondola and the skeletal ferryman are all cre-
Statues. The main cave has a 40-foot-high ceiling filled ations of Halaster. The gondola, which can hold up to
with the petrified victims of a medusa that once lived seven Medium creatures and their gear, is a Large ob-
here. The drider has wrapped these statues in thick ject with AC 11, 50 hit points, and immunity to poison
webs, creating an eerie forest of gray cocoons. Strung and psychic damage.
between these cocoons are web strands that create The tiefiing skeleton understands Common and Infer-
difficult terrain. nal, but can't speak. It plies the River Sargauth in which-
ever direction its riders want to go. When the characters
The drider clings to the walls, staying out of reach of
reach their destination, the tiefling extends a bony hand,
melee weapons while casting spells or shooting its long- expecting a payment of one coin per passenger. If it
bow. As it attacks, it says over and over in Elvish, "The doesn't receive the proper payment, both it and the boat
queen is mad-mad at me. She is mad as mad can be."
fade away. Characters who destroy the skeleton or use

LEVEL 3 I SARGAUTH LEVEL
50