Page 61 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

BLUECAP (Survival) checks made to track creatures on this level
Dubbed "the grain of the Underdark," a bluecap is a are made with advantage.
tall, slender mushroom with a bright blue, bell-shaped
cap. Although bluecaps are inedible, their spores can be 1. FUNGUS FOREST
ground to make a nutritious, bland flour. Bread made Fungi. Mossy paths run between patches of stout trilli-
from bluecap flour is known as sporebread or bluebread. mac and a forest of towering zurkhwood whose caps
One loaf is equivalent to 1 pound of food. scrape the 40-foot-high ceiling.
Clearings. Throughout the cavern are small clear-
RIPPLE BARK ings where the fungi have been torn out of the
This shelf-like fungus resembles a mass of rotting flesh,
mossy ground.
but it's surprisingly edible. Though it can be eaten raw, it
tastes better roasted. A single sheet of ripplebark yields Characters who search for tracks and succeed on a
DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check find several large, bare
ld4 + 6 pounds of food.
footprints made by the ettin who regularly feeds on the
TIMM ASK mushrooms in this cavern.
Known as "devil's mushroom," a timmask is a 2-foot-tall
toadstool with orange and red stripes across its beige h JIBBER-JABBER
cap. Uprooting or destroying a timmask causes it to Ettin. An ettin inhabits this dripping cave.
expel a 15-foot-radius cloud of poisonous spores. Crea- Stalactites. Needle-sharp stalactites stud the 30-foot-
tures in the area must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution high ceiling.
saving throw or be poisoned. While poisoned in this Fungi. Barrelstalk, bluecap, and ripplebark fungi grow
way, a creature is under the effect of a confusion spell in irregular patches throughout the cavern.
with a duration of 1 minute. When the spell effect ends,
The ettin's heads are named Jibber and Jabber, and
the poisoned condition also ends.
they get along well-an unusual state of affairs for an
ettin. This situation might be the result of the ettin's hav-
'TRILLIMAC
A trillimac is a mushroom that grows to a height of 4 to ing a comfortable home and all the food it could desire.
5 feet and has a broad, gray-green cap with a light gray The ettin also has a friendly neighbor in the Alchemist
stalk. The cap's leathery surface can be cut and cleaned (see area 4), who providesJibber-Jabber with compost
for use in making maps, hats, and scrolls; its surface that transforms the water in barrelstalk mushrooms
takes on dyes and inks especially well. The stalk can be into mead. The only thingJibber-Jabber is missing in its
cleaned, soaked in water for an hour, then dried to make simple life is treasure to ogle. If the characters offer it
a palatable food akin to bread. Each trillimac stalk pro- 50 gp or more in coins, gems, and shiny art objects, the
vides ld6 + 4 pounds of food. ettin allows them to pass through its domain and even
harvest some fungus if they please. Jibber-Jabber might
TONGUE OF MADNESS also impart the following useful information.
A tongue of madness looks like a large human tongue.
• "Spider people" (drow) are living in the caves to the
Although it is edible, it holds no nutritional value. A crea-
east. They are new neighbors.
ture that eats this fungus must succeed on a DC 12 Con- • The "fishy folk" (kuo-toa) and the "stinky lizards"
stitution saving throw or compulsively speak aloud its
(troglodytes) seem troubled and are moving about
every thought for the next hour. The effect can be ended
more than usual. (The ettin has not yet encountered
with a lesser restoration spell or similar magic.
the aboleth and knows nothing about its conflict with
the kuo-toa.)
ZURKHWOOD
The water in the river has started to taste bad. (The
A zurkhwood is a mushroom that can grow up to 40
feet high. Its large, grain-like spores are edible (one ettin has not yet been poisoned by the water, which the
aboleth has tainted with its presence.)
specimen provides ld4 + 4 pounds of food), but the
fungus is more important for its hard and woody stalk. If the characters look like they could use more help,
Zurkhwood is one of the few sources of timber in the the ettin suggests they talk to the Alchemist and points
Underdark; it is used to make furniture, containers, them eastward.Jibber-Jabber describes the Alchemist
bridges, and rafts, among other things. Skilled crafters as "smart, handsome, and small, but with a big smile."
can use stains, sanding, and polishing to bring out dif-
ferent patterns in a zurkhwood stalk. 3. DEATH FROM ABOVE
Fungi. Gardens of barrelstalk, bluecap, timmask, and
EXPLORING THIS LEVEL trillimac fill the cavern. Between the garden patches
meander paths that lead to and from the various exits.
The following locations are keyed to map 4. A tributary
of the Sargauth River called the River of the Depths en- Piercers. Stalactites cover the ceiling of the wide tun-
ters Undermountain here and flows down to level 5. nel that leads south (to area 5). Eight piercers lurk
among them.
Unless otherwise noted, all tunnels on this level are
20 feet high, and caverns are 30 to 50 feet high. Most Any character who searches for tracks along a path
of the floors on this level are uneven and covered in dirt can make a Wisdom (Survival) check. On a check total
and bat guano. Because of this soft ground, Wisdom

L.EVEL 4 I TWISTED CAVERNS
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