Page 9 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

Obaya is also interested in buying spellbooks for Characters won't find Kressando anywhere, but they
Wakanga O'tamu. She prices a spellbook based on the might find his ring in the possession of a hobgoblin war-
highest-level spell contained in it: 5 pp for 1st level, 25 lord named Azrok (see level 3, area 21n) and discover
pp for 2nd or 3rd level, 100 pp for 4th or 5th level, 250 how Esvele's brother met his untimely end. Returning
pp for 6th or 7th level, and 500 pp for 8th or 9th level. Kressando's ring to Esvele completes the quest and
Once she has paid for 7,500 pp worth of magic items places her in the party's debt.
and spellbooks, Obaya hires a small squad of body-
guards, books passage on a merchant ship heading to THRONE OF THE CORONAL
Chult, and returns to Port Nyanzaru with her trove. Volothamp Geddarm, famous explorer and raconteur,
offers to buy the adventurers a round of drinks to cel-
PAY A HARPER DEBT ebrate their upcoming expedition into the Dungeon of
the Mad Mage. Injected into the conversation is the fol-
A lawful good bard named Mattrim Mereg, known as
lowing tale:
Threestrings to his friends, plays a three-stringed lute
at the Y awning Portal and is a much more talented This story dates to the fall of Illefarn, an elven king-
musician than he pretends to be. In truth, Mattrim is a dom of the North. An alabaster throne belonging to
Harper spy who uses this busking gig to establish rela- Syglaeth Audark, the last coronal of Illefarn, disap-
tionships with the Yawning Portal's unique clientele. peared from the capital city of Aelinthaldaar, where
Mattrim needs a pouch of gold delivered to a female the Mad Mage built his tower and today stands Wa-
half-drow named Cal'al Claddani, who runs a tavern terdeep. It's said that a group of dwarves feared the
called the Flagon and the Dragon in Skullport. Cal'al destruction of such a miraculous work of stonecraft
provided shelter and healing to a wounded Harper and stole the throne right out from under the elves'
spy in Skullport and is owed payment for her support. slender noses. Where the dwarves hid it for so long,
Mattrim's pouch contains three moonstones worth who knows? But should you find it in Undermoun-
50 gp each. tain, it would please the elves of the North to know
Once they deliver the pouch, characters can take it survives.
refuge in a Harper hideout called Dalagor's Fortress, lo-
In truth, the ancient alabaster throne was spared the
cated on the uppermost level of Skullport. Mattrim tells
destruction of Aelinthaldaar by Coronal Audark himself,
the characters that a dragonborn mage named Felrax
who ordered it placed in an underground vault. Despite
guards the place.
the precaution, the throne was damaged in the calamity
that befell the elven kingdom. After the fall of lllefarn,
SEARCH FOR KRESSANDO ROSZNAR
Melairkyn dwarves found the throne and bore it to their
A young noblewoman, Esvele Rosznar has been fre-
halls with the intention of repairing it and returning it to
quenting the Yawning Portal on busy evenings, keeping
the elves.
mostly to herself while sipping zzar and listening to
If the characters find the throne (see level 3, area 14c)
gossip. Her family has a tarnished reputation, having
and inform Volo of its location, he shares this informa-
once been banished from Waterdeep for slavery and
tion with his elf friends, who express their gratitude by
other illegal acts. Although the Rosznar family is trying
giving the party a beautifully crafted longbow and an
to regain its integrity and standing, several bad apples
elven quiver containing twenty silvered arrows. The
threaten to impede that progress with their sinister
bow bears the Elvish inscription "Al hond ebrath, uol
ventures. Esvele's brother, Kressando, was sent to
tath shantar en tath la/ala ol hond ebrath." This phrase
Skullport to conduct secret meetings with the Xanathar
translates to "A true friend, as the trees and the water
Guild and gauge interest in setting up a slave trade in
are true friends." The elves eventually embark on their
Skullport, far from the eyes ofWaterdavian authorities.
own expedition into Undermountain, with the goal of
Esvele didn't learn of this meeting until after Kressando
retrieving the throne.
vanished, and she is determined to stop his scheming
and see him returned to Waterdeep before he can fur-
FUTURE QuE_ ST _s __
ther tarnish the Rosznar name.
Esvele takes one or more of the adventurers aside as Future quests are available to adventurers only after
they prepare to make their initial descent into Under- they satisfy the prerequisites. The characters might
mountain and asks them to keep an eye out for Kres- need to enter and leave Undermountain several times
sando, a 22-year-old man with fair skin and dark curly before they're eligible to receive these quests.
hair, trained in the arts of stealth and thievery. She also
tells them that Kressando wears a platinum signet ring EYE OF THE SPIDER
bearing the Rosznar family crest (a diving white falcon Prerequisite: Complete the "Search for Kressando
on a field of blue) and an inscription of the family motto Rosznar" quest
("Fly high and stoop swift"). News of Kressando Rosznar's death is leaked to the
She promises that if the characters can facilitate Kres- publishers of several local broadsheets, along with
sando's safe return or deliver proof of his whereabouts the names of the adventurers who retrieved his signet
to Esvele, she will owe them a favor, adding that "You ring from Undermountain. The news inspiresjoroth
can trust in House Rosznar." (For more information on Brighthelm, a dwarf spy for the Lords' Alliance, to visit
Esvele Rosznar, see Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.) the Yawning Portal.
UNDERMOUNTAIN OVERVIEW