Page 69 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

The kuo-toa are hostile to strangers. If two or more of Eighteen troglodytes live in these caves and respond
them are killed or incapacitated, the survivors retreat quickly to sounds of battle. These enslaved troglodytes
to area 21a. can't take reactions. When an enslaved troglodyte takes
At the start of each turn, any creature not immune damage, it can make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw to
to the stench of troglodytes must succeed on a DC 12 break free of the aboleth's control. On a successful save,
Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start the troglodyte fights for its own survival, not the abo-
of its next turn. A gust of wind spell or similar magic can leth's. Its first instinct is to flee if it can.
clear the air in the cave for 1 minute, while removing the
troglodyte carcasses clears the air for good. 24A. WEST SENTRIES
Three enslaved troglodytes guard this 30-foot-high
22. HOOK HORROR HOMESTEAD cave. Shattered shields, broken spears, and torn nets
(trophies taken from the kuo-toa) lie heaped against the
Cave Features. This cavern has an uneven floor and walls. None of this gear is salvageable.
ceiling, the distance between them varying from 30 to
50 feet. The damp walls are lined with natural shelves
24B. Kuo- TOA BONES
and beautiful rock draperies formed by water seepage.
This 30-foot-high cave is littered with the bones of four
Fungi. Growing out of mounds of bat guano are several
kuo-toa. The bones have all been thoroughly chewed
towering zurkhwoods, as well as patches of barrel- and their marrow sucked out.
stalk, bluecap, and trillimac.
Noise. Eerie clicking sounds betray the presence of 24c. GENERAL QUARTERS
seven hook horrors.
Troglodytes. Unless they've been drawn elsewhere,
The opportunistic hook horrors try to hook stray kuo- twelve enslaved troglodytes rest atop sawed-off sta-
toa, troglodytes, or adventurers and drag them away lagmites in the middle of this 40-foot-high cave.
to be devoured. Experience has taught them to avoid Pictographs. The walls bear pictographs of kuo-toa
contact with large, well-armed groups. A party of adven- abasing themselves before a creature that resembles
turers moving through the cavern with light sources is an otyugh (a bulbous monster with three legs, long
enough to keep the hook horrors at bay, as they click and tentacles, and a gaping maw).
chirp eerily to one another from the shadows.
It's only a matter of time before the aboleth enslaves 24D. ABANDONED NURSERY
the hook horrors or drives them off. The hook horrors The kuo-toa used this 30-foot-high cave as a nursery.
have yet to encounter the aboleth and thus don't realize The cave has been empty since the kuo-toa were forced
the danger it represents. to vacate it. Tiny fish bones litter the floor.

23. HOOK HORROR LARDER 24E. EAST SENTRIES
The underground river is loudest here. Three enslaved
Ambush. A hook horror clings to a 15-foot high ledge,
troglodytes guard this 30-foot-high cave.
waiting to ambush any who enter. The ledge is set into
the western wall, between the two tunnel entrances. AFTERMATH
Bones. Lying on the floor are the bones of several trog-
lodytes mingled with the remains of kuo-toa and other This level has the potential to be greatly changed by the
unidentifiable humanoids. Characters who search the actions of the characters.
bones find a lost treasure (see "Treasure" below). The death of the aboleth allows the surviving kuo-toa
Fungi. Patches of barrelstalk, ripplebark, timmask, and to reclaim their grotto (area 16). The kuo-toa victory is
tongue of madness grow near the water that pools short-lived, however, because the drow start attacking
against the eastern wall. them soon afterward. These attacks continue until the
kuo-toa are wiped out or forced to retreat upriver. After
TREASURE taking over the grotto, the drow enslave the troglodytes
Amid the bones is a common wondrous item called and use them to farm areas 3 and 5. Meanwhile, the
a pipe of smoke monsters. While smoking this pipe, drow move the grotto's treasures to a more secure
one can use an action to exhale a puff of smoke that location, such as the House Auvryndar stronghold
takes the form of a single creature, such as a dragon, on level 10.
a flumph, or a froghemoth. The form must be small If the aboleth survives, it enslaves or kills off the
enough to fit in a 1-foot cube. It loses its shape after a remaining kuo-toa in the coming weeks. The aboleth
few seconds, becoming an ordinary puff of smoke. also enslaves the ettin in area 2, and its slime poisons
and kills off the fungi throughout the Twisted Caverns,
24. TROGLODYTE TAKEOVER destroying the delicate ecosystem. The drow challenge
Every surface of these caves is coated with slime. Sound the victorious aboleth but are unable to defeat it on their
travels easily through the caves, though as one moves own, given the limited support they receive from House
toward the center of the complex, echoes from the un- Auvryndar. Several quaggoths that were once loyal to
derground river become less obtrusive. the drow become the aboleth's thralls. The resulting
stalemate makes the drow desperate for aid, regardless
of the source.

LEVEL 4 I n\'JSTED CAVERNS
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