waterdeep dragon heist

(Jeff_L) #1

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LAERAL S ILYERHAND

tains all that's left of her husband. Not surprisingly, the
two mages avoid each other as much as possible.
In times of great need, Laeral can command Vajra
to unleash Force Grey. Until that order is given, Force
Grey isn't allowed to conduct operations in Waterdeep,
though Laeral's spies tell her that Vajra has secretly
activated members of the elite order and sent them on a
number of unauthorized missions. Laeral is reluctant to
confront Vajra on the matter, and rationalizes her inac-
tion by framing it as a test ofVajra's competence.

i\PP'ENDIX B I MONSTERS AND NPCS

MANSHOON
Referred to in this adventure simply as "Manshoon," this
clone of the ancient archwizard infiltrated Waterdeep
years ago and has been hiding out in Kolat Towers ever
since, in the city's Southern Ward.
The original Manshoon was one of the founders of the
Zhentarim. Evil to the core, he made enemies all across
Faertin, including other powerful spellcasters such as
Khelben Arunsun and Elminster. Fearing that he might
be destroyed by his foes, Manshoon magically crafted
several clones-but a mishap caused all of them to be
awakened at once, whereupon they tried to destroy one
another in a series of conflicts that came to be known as
the Manshoon Wars.
Now the original Manshoon is dead, and it's widely be-
lieved that all his clones were destroyed as well. In fact,
at least three are still alive. The one presently in Water-
deep escaped death by hiding out in Undermountain,
where he eventually ran afoul ofHalaster Blackcloak.
After a brief spell duel, Ha laster captured Manshoon
and amputated his left a rm at the elbow for reasons un-
known. Manshoon escaped imprisonment and fled Un-
dermountain, taking refuge in the city above. Attempts
to magically regenerate his severed limb failed, forcing
him to craft an a rtificial arm and hand for himself.
Manshoon took control of Kolat Towers, a crumbling
residence in the Southern Ward that was abandoned
years ago by the two wizards who built it. The edifice is
surrounded by a magical barrie r that has the properties
of a wall of force. Manshoon rarely leaves the towers
and uses a teleportation circle when he must do so, and
thus is never seen entering or l eaving.
Manshoon aims to ru le Waterdeep and replace the
City Watch with Black Network mercenaries that are
loyal to him alone. By bribing and blackmailing the
Masked Lords, he hopes to oust Laeral Silverhand as
Open Lord and take her place, kill the Blackstaff, reduce
the Masked Lords to mere vassals, and declare himself
the Wizard-King ofWaterdeep. Once the city is firmly in
his clutches, Manshoon will then turn his attention to-
ward Undermountain, destroy Halaster once and for all,
and claim t he dungeon's riches.

MANSHOON SIMULACRUM
Manshoon uses the simulacrum spell to create a magi-
cal duplicate of himself as needed. He has customized
the spell to increase his s imulacrum's bit points at the
expense of its spellcasting ability.
Manshoon can have only one simulacrum at any given
time, and he uses it as a s ubordinate to command his
Zhentarim minions in the field. If his simulacrum is de-
stroyed, Manshoon creates another. Each simulacrum
has the statistics of Manshoon, with these changes:


  • The simulacrum has no special equipment. Conse-
    quently, it has AC 12 and lacks the Magic Resistance
    trait and the Staff of Power action option.
    It loses all spell slots of 6th level and higher.

  • It has a challenge rating of 8 (3,900 XP).

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