Page 158 - Tomb of Annihilation

armor is pulled to the sphere and becomes stuck to it, LEVEL 4: CHAMBERS OF
as does any metal weapon or object that isn't secured
or being held. Any creature stuck to the sphere is re- HORROR
strained until the magnetic field deactivates.
Map 5.4 shows this level of the dungeon. These corri-
Any ranged attack made in the chamber that uses
dors and chambers are choked with dust, their floors
ammunition made wholly or partly from metal has dis-
littered with rubble and the bones of dead Omuans.
advantage on the attack roll; if the attack misses, the
ammunition becomes stuck to the sphere.
45. G ARGOYLE G UARDIANS
Throwing the black drape over the sphere renders it
temporarily inert, with creatures and objects stuck to
it falling to the floor. A successful dispel magic (DC 16)
At the bottom of the grand staircase, a resonant mechan-
cast on the sphere dispels the Nystul's magic aura spell,
ical rumbling emanates from a dark shaft opening up in
permanently deactivates the magnetic field, and causes
the sphere to crash to the floor. This sends a web of the middle of this chamber's floor. Four cylindrical stone
cracks through the marble, negating the floor's friction- pedestals surround the shaft, each ten feet tall, five feet
less effect and allowing creatures to move across it nor- wide, and featuring a tiny slot in its side. Squatting atop
mally. The sphere also deactivates and falls if it comes
each pedestal is a large four-armed gargoyle.
into contact with an antimagic field or is destroyed.
The sphere is a Large object with AC 20; 100 hit
points; resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing Any character looking down on the room from one of
damage from nonmagical attacks; and immunity to poi- the balconies above or another high vantage point no-
son and psychic damage. It weighs 1,000 pounds. While tices something else:
the magnetic field is active, any attack made against the
sphere with a metal weapon automatically hits, though
the weapon becomes stuck to the sphere after impact. Each gargoyle Is contained within a square made of me-
tallic tiles embedded in the top of its pedestal. Starting
B EHOLDER T ACT ICS
with the northernmost pedestal and going clockwise, the
The Tomb of the Nine Gods is not truly the beholder's
tiles arc copper, silver, gold, and platinum.
domain, so it can't use lair actions.
The invisible beholder puts as much distance between
itself and the adventurers as possible, while making Four giant four-armed gargoyles (see appendix D) are
sure to not catch the iron sphere in its Antimagic Cone. perched atop the pedestals, each one crouched within
Belchorzh doesn't pursue intruders who Hee its vault. its square of tiled precious metal. The gargoyles remain
However, if the adventurers steal even one copper motionless until they are provoked.
piece from its trove, the beholder uses the alien growth The slots in each pedestal are 4 feet above the Door
throughout this level of the dungeon against them. and roughly the size of a standard coin. All humanoids
Whenever the characters come near a patch of the must pay a lithe before leaving this room to avoid pro-
growth, it sprouts an eyestalk and attacks (see "Alien voking the gargoyles' wrath. Specifically, each human-
Growth," page 146). oid must insert a coin of the appropriate type into each
The beholder knows Deep Speech and Undercom- pedestal (1 cp in the north pedestal, 1 spin the east
mon, and it refers to itself in the third person. Haughty pedestal, 1 gp in the south pedestal, and 1 pp in the
and defiant, it delights in the destruction of tomb west pedestal). A gargoyle will always accept a more
robbers while refusing to yield. Any character who un- precious coin than the one required, so a character
derstands its words can translate a few ofBelchorzh's inserting a platinum coin into every pedestal could exit
choice sayings: the room safely. A gargoyle will also accept a tithe of
• "You fight like Humphs!" multiple coins of equal or greater value (10 cp instead
• "You are no match for Belchorzh the Unseen's terrible of 1 spin the east pedestal, for example). The pedestals
eye rays!" have hollow cavities within them to store the coins (see
• "What ugly, imperfect creatures you are." "Treasure" below).
The gargoyles always know when they're being
TREASURE cheated. If any humanoid leaves the room without offer-
The nine alcoves contain the following treasures: ing sufficient coin, any cheated gargoyles spring to life
and attack the cheapskate. A gargoyle also springs to life
• 12,000 cp, 5,000 sp, and 2,200 gp
and attacks if it or its pedestal is damaged in any way .
• A clay chameleon statuette covered in crystal beads
The metallic tiles atop the pedestals can be pried loose,
that change colors (25 gp)
but they turn to dust if removed from this chamber.
• Three painted gold masks sized for children and
shaped like the faces of a bat, a monkey, and a parrot, SHAFT
respectively (75 gp each) The shaft in the Boor is 10 feet wide and 15 feet
• A gold coronet shaped like an octopus with mother-of- deep. It opens into the ceiling of area 58. To scale the
pearl eyes (2,500 gp) smooth walls of the shaft, a character needs climbing
A potion of diminution, a bead of force, and a bronze gear or magic.
+ l shield shaped like a screaming devil's face

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