G8. GREAT HALL
Characters who enter this hall for the first time notice
the following:
- The floor is strewn with bodies. Two thugs holding
bloody maces stand over them. - The sound offighting can be heard coming from the
top of a wide staircase in the northwest corner (see
area G13).
Two iron chandeliers hang from the dark mahogany
ceiling above a long dining table carved from red
larchwood. Chairs surround the table, with a particu-
larly tall and elaborate chair at each end. - Lining the wood-paneled walls are tapestries and
locked wooden cabinets that contain fine dishes, sil-
verware, and candlesticks. - A fireplace with a black marble mantelpiece has a
framed family portrait mounted above it. (The portrait
depicts Lord and Lady Gralhund, their three young
children, and a family dog that died three years ago.)
Corpses. Lying about the room are the bodies of eight
guards wearing bloody and tattered House Gralhund
livery over their chain shirts, as well as two dead Zhents
in black leather armor. All a re humans.
Thuts. The two figures with maces are Zhents clad in
black leather armor. Their orders are to hold the room.
They attack strangers, including members of the City
Watch , on sight. They carry no treasure.
G9. PARLOR
Urstul Floxin was confined here when he returned to
the villa, but shortly thereafter he killed his guards and
escaped. The room is furnished for comfort and con-
tains dainty chairs, a chaise longue, a wine cabinet, and
framed paintings of various long-dead members of the
Gra lhund family.
Corpses. The bodies of the two guards lie atop blood-
soaked rugs. The guards wear chain shirts and the liv-
ery of House Gralhund.
GlO. DEN AND TROPHY ROOM
Lord Gralhund's den has the heads of various beasts
mounted on the walls and gleaming suits of armor
standing at attention in the corners. Bearskin rugs and
overstuffed chairs fill che room.
Lord Gralhund recently took up falconry as a hobby.
In the middle of the room, resting on a table, is a cage
containing a hooded falcon (use hawk statistics).GI I. OROND'S STUDY
The door to this room is locked. The lock can be picked
by a character who makes a s uccessful DC^15 Dexterity
check us ing thieves' tools. The room has these features:- A 10-foot-square canvas wrestling mat is sprawled on
the floor in the middle of the room. - Velvet a rmchairs, small statues of naked men on ped-
estals, and tall mahogany bookshelves are arranged
neatly around the room. - A mahogany desk in one corner doesn't look like it
sees much use.
Books. Most of the books are fake boxes made of
painted cardboard. A few have bawdy drawings and sa-
lacious poems hidden inside them.Gl2. FAMILY LIBRARY
The wood-paneled library includes these features:- Tall bookshelves are packed with tomes. Sliding
wooden ladders mounted on rails allow easy access to
higher shelves.
In one corner stands an iron lectern with a closed,
locked, leather-bound tome resting on it. - Two padded chairs face a large fireplace. One has a
wolf s kin draped over it.
Books. Many of the books were handed down to Lady
Gralhund by her parents, and they are well kept. They
include historical texts, play scripts , novels, and poetry
collections.
Lock ed Tome. Although it looks like it might be a
s pellbook, the tome on the lectern is a chronicle of the
Gralhund family's accomplishments, embellished or
recast to paint the family in the most favorable light. A
detect magic spell reveals an aura of abjuration magic
emanating from the tome.
The tome is meant to be unlocked using a key that
Lady Gralhund wears on a chain a round her neck. The
lock can be picked by a character who succeeds on a
DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or it can be
opened with a knock spell or s imilar magic. Opening
th e book by any means other than using the proper key
causes three specters to appear within 10 feet of the
book and attack its opener. The magic that binds the
specters has weakened over time; they can exist on the
Material Plane for only J minute, after which time th ey
are banished to the Ethereal Plane (unless destroyed
first). The specters manifest as ghostly tiefiiogs with
elongated fingers.
The Gralbund family crest appears on the book's title
page. The rest of the book is written in Common and de-
scribes births, deaths, and other fa mily events between
J 239 DR, the Year of the Bloodied Sword, and^1422
DR, the Year of Advancing S hadows. Of particular note
is the little-known fact that the Gralhunds forged pacts
with devils in years past, giving rise to a strain of tief-
lings. All such members of the house were sent to live
on a Gralhund estate in Yartar, a city far to the north (or
so the book claims in its epilogue), and there are pass-
ing references to some Waterdavian family members
having been born with tails.
Gl3. UPSTAIRS FOYER
A lot is happening in this elegant foyer:- A battle rages between several Zhents and house
guards, and the floor is strewn with dead bodies. - Doors to the master bedroom (area G16) stand open.
(If Lady Gralhund is in the master bedroom, she
shouts, "The City Watch is on the way!") - The door to area Gl5a is ajar. Beyond it, characters
can hear someone putting a boot to another door.
Corpses. Lying on the floor are the corpses and weap-
ons of six guards wearing House Gralhund livery over
chain s hirts and two Zhents in black leather armor.
CHAPTER 3 I FIREBALL