Page 68 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

saving throw to break free of the aboleth's control. On 21. ARCHPRIEST'S CHAMBERS
a successful save, the kuo-toa flees to the underground
river by the shortest route and hides there. These caves are coated in slime.
Treasure. A thorough search of the beach yields 600 21A. MAKING A GOD
gp, a copper goblet (1 gp), a tarnished and dented silver
pitcher (5 gp), a rotted leather bracer inset with three Kuo-toa. Noolgaloop, a kuo-toa archpriest, is building
peridots (500 gp each), and a corked bottle containing a a statue in the middle of this 30-foot-high cave while
spell scroll of magic weapon. two kuo-toa whips stand perplexed.
Rotting Corpses. Mutilated monster carcasses piled
17. P ICK AND CHUULS around the room's perimeter exude a putrid stench.
Slimy Water. This cave and the adjoining tunnels are Noolgaloop is unwaveringly committed to reclaiming
flooded to a depth of 10 feet with slimy water fouled by its holy shrine (area 16), when the wiser course of action
the aboleth's presence. would be to lead its fellow kuo-toa to a new home far
Chuuls. Two chuuls hide in the murky water. If the away from the aboleth and its servants. If the characters
chuuls are defeated, an aboleth enters the cavern try to speak with the archpriest in a language other than
from the northeast passage. This aboleth is a magical Undercommon, Noolgaloop casts the tongues spell so
projection created by Illuun to frighten away invaders. they can converse. It demands that the characters help it
(This projection is like the one in area 15.) complete the statue by retrieving the following items:
Rusty Pick. The walls and the 30-foot-high ceiling are • The legs and fur of a giant spider, to be fashioned
coated in slime. A rusty miner's pick is stuck in the into wings
west wall just above the water line. • Enough wood to build a chariot (a large raft or a
The miner's pick can be pried loose with a successful zurkhwood mushroom would suffice)
DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check. It has no special prop- • A weapon worthy of a kuo-toa god
erties and is in poor condition. If the characters refuse to help, the archpriest deems
them agents of the aboleth and tries to kill them with the
18. SLIMY ALCOVE help of its bodyguards and the kuo-toa in area 21b. If the
Slime. The floor of this damp alcove is 7 feet above wa- characters gather what it needs to complete the statue,
ter level, and every surface is coated in slime. Noolgaloop thanks them but decides on a whim to re-
Damaged Rowboat. At the back of the alcove is a row- place the statue's current head (a rusty lantern) with the
boat with a 1-foot-diameter hole in its hull. (A mending head of one of the characters. Noolgaloop fully expects
cantrip can repair the boat, which is large enough to the character to make this sacrifice for the good of the
hold four characters and their gear. The boat's oars kuo-toa tribe.
are missing, however.) God Statue. The archpriest has already given its new
god a name: Klaabu. This "god" sprawls on the slimy
19. BEACHHEAD floor and consists primarily of a decapitated limestone
statue depicting a bare-chested male sea elf. Its hands
This slimy beach is littered with dead crabs and fish have been replaced with troglodyte claws, and addi-
(killed by the aboleth-tainted water). Characters who tional limbs have been added in the form of a bugbear's
search the beach also find two fishing nets left here by severed arms. A pair of rusty shortsword blades thrust
the kuo-toa.
outward from the statue's breast, and it wears a kilt of
green moss. A rusty lantern serves as the god's head,
20. Kuo-TOA REFUGE
inside which rattles a fist-sized green gem-the control
Slime. Every surface of this 30-foot-high cave is gem for the green slaad in area 4. Any character who
coated in slime. casts identify on the gem learns its function.
Kuo-toa. Two kuo-toa whips, twenty adult kuo-toa, and The figure's added parts are held in place by the same
ten young kuo-toa (Small noncombatants) reside here. glue that the kuo-toa apply to their shields.
One whip stands watch by the river while the others Monster Carcasses. The kuo-toa have collected more
rest on pallets. All the kuo-toa are poisoned from eat- carcasses than the archpriest needs. The rotting collec-
ing bad fish. tion includes a dead darkmantle wrapped in a net, a bug-
Caltrops. Caltrops made of sharpened bones lie scat- bear's severed head and torso, a dead hook horror, and a
tered along the river's edge. (The caltrops are meant headless carrion crawler swarming with maggots.
to discourage the aboleth from beaching itself in the
cave. Characters can easily spot and avoid them.) 21B. Kuo -TOA CARNAGE
The presence of the aboleth has tainted the under- Stench. The air in this cave is fantastically foul.
ground river and poisoned its fish. Lacking an alterna- Kuo-toa. Four poisoned kuo-toa guard this area. Two of
tive food source, the kuo-toa have been eating the fish them are using spears to cut the head and claws off a
out of necessity, which has poisoned them. In their con- dead chuul. The other two are feasting on the corpse
dition, the kuo-toa fight only in self-defense. of a dead kuo-toa (a former companion).
If the characters approach the kuo-toa in a friendly Troglodyte Corpses. Lying about the cave are the reek-
manner and offer them food or relief, the kuo-toa whips ing carcasses of five dead troglodytes, one of which
lead them to the archpriest Noolgaloop in area 21a. has had its claws hacked off.

LF.V!::l. 4 I TWISTED CAVERNS