Page 71 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

the woods she called home. Determined to keep Wyllow GOBLIN WEREBATS
in Undermountain, Halaster used several wish spells to
create a magical forest for her, but even this gift wasn't South ofWyllow's tower stands a large complex of
enough to offset the druid's languor. When Yinark for- ornate stone buildings that used to be home to a cult
bade her from ever returning to the surface, Wyllow of Malar, the Beast Lord. Wyllow allowed these evil
grew positively despondent. The relationship soured and humans to hunt in her forest, but they abused the privi-
turned violent. A volley of spells on both sides resulted lege-so the archdruid and her green dragon ally eradi-
cated the cultists.
in Yinark's death. After Wyllow's fury abated, all that
remained was undying grief and encroaching madness. The village and its environs stood empty for years
She remains in Undermountain in accordance with until a congregation of goblin werebats took residence
Yinark's wishes, a prisoner of her own guilt. in the caves around the buildings. The werebats prefer
Undermountain is Wyllow's home now, and all mem- the dank caves to the structures, which have largely re-
mained abandoned. Wyllow allows the werebats to feed
ory of the surface world has faded from her mind. She
is distant but kind toward those who pass harmlessly on stray vermin and adventurers. They wisely acknowl-
through her domain, but turns violent whenever her edge the arch druid as master of the forest and leave her
forest or its peaceful denizens are threatened. Before animals and her dragon ally alone.
setting out to destroy interlopers, she rallies the green
dragon and the werebats, using them to soften up her WANDERING MONSTERS
adversaries. She can also summon six awakened trees Wyllowwood is a thriving ecosystem. The woods sup-
from the forest with a whistle. port awakened shrubs, awakened trees, bats, bears,
Wyllow's displacer beast companion, Crissann, is blink dogs, boars, deer, elk, rodents, small birds, and
named after a human mercenary whom the elf be- other denizens of temperate forests. Carrion crawlers,
friended many years ago. Before this friendship could ettercaps, giant spiders, and owlbears make occasional
blossom into a romance, Halaster intervened and used forays into the woods as well.
his magic to turn Wyllow's new friend against her. The If your game session needs a jolt, try using one
heartbroken druid slew Crissann in the woods with the of the following encounters or an encounter of your
help of several forest creatures and vowed never to let own design.
another mortal touch her heart so deeply.
Wyllow has conflicted feelings about Halaster. She is BEAR WITH Us
grateful to him for providing her a home and keeping A timid black bear shadows the characters, hoping to
Wyllowwood alive with his magic, but she blames him scavenge a tasty offering. If they feed the bear, it follows
for Yinark's death. She also pities him, for the Mad them like a companion and expects to be fed regularly.
Mage too appears to be trapped in a prison of his own
making. Wyllow believes he is no longer human, but an TREE BELIEVERS
immortal entity composed of pure magic. Thus, she has As the heroes pass through the forest, two awakened
given up any hope of being rid of him. trees interrogate them in Common, demanding to know
the reason for their intrusion. If the characters are look-
WYLLOW'S STATISTICS ing for shelter, safe passage to deeper levels of Under-
Wyllow is a moon elf archdruid (see appendix A), with mountain, or information, the trees offer to escort them
these changes: to Wyllow's tower (area 6).
• Wyllow is chaotic neutral.
VOOL THE OUTCAST
• She has these racial traits: Her walking speed is 35 A rash of attacks against the deer of the forest threat-
feet. She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
ened to turn Wyllow against her goblin werebat neigh-
She has advantage on saving throws against being
bors until it was revealed that the culprit of all the
charmed, and magic can't put her to sleep. She speaks
bloodletting was a single goblin werebat (see appendix
Common, Druidic, and Elvish.
A) named Vool. To appease the archdruid, the other
werebats drove Vool out of their village. He found a se-
VALDEMAR (TEARULAI)
cluded cave nearby (see area 17) and took refuge there.
This young green dragon, once a lawful evil creature, He ventures out once a day to feed but avoids contact
experienced a change in alignment and personality with his kin.
when an adventurer impaled it through the skull with If Vool catches sight of the party, he tries to feed on
a sentient, emerald-bladed sword of shai:pness named a lone straggler. If captured or cornered, he apologizes
Tearulai. The dragon now refers to itself as Tearulai and for his uncontrollable blood lust and offers to make
has the longsword's neutral good alignment. It sleeps amends by serving as a faithful guide. He's lonely and
atop a platform overlooking the River of the Depths, genuinely in search of companionship, but be is without
guarding its treasure. honor or decency. In an attempt to win favor and distract
Wyllow once set adventurers against Valdemar, hop- the characters from his own shortcomings, Vool tries
ing to destroy the evil dragon, but the dragon's change to turn them against Wyllow, painting the archdruid as
of alignment caused Wyllow to reconsider their relation- a creature of pure madness and malevolence. He also
ship. Now that Valdemar and Tearulai are one, the arch- shares rumors of "great treasures" that are hidden in-
druid considers the dragon part ofWyllowwood's eco- side Wyllow's tower.
system. The two currently enjoy a peaceful coexistence.

LEVEL 5 I WYLLOWWOO'D