a spy imprisoned in the dungeon (area V29), can advise
the characters that taking the box to Candlekeep is their
best bet for learning what it contains (see page 4S).
The box bolds a copy of the contract Thavius forged with
Zariel to doom the city or Elturel.The padlock on the chest can be picked by a character
with thieves' tools who succeeds on a DC lS Dexterity
check. The chest weighs SO pounds and contains a jum-
ble of wrinkled garments, red wax candles, quills, blank
sheets of parchment, and jars of ink. it also holds an
unlocked wooden coffer containing^73 gp,^120 sp, and a
potion of healing, as well as a black-covered tome titled
Apocalypto- a poetic prophecy by an unknown author
envisioning the end of the multiverse (worth SO gp).
Vl4. MORTLOCK'S BEDROOM
This dark room contains a bed, a wooden chest with
clawed feet, and a night table. The chest weighs 2Spounds and contains a few drab garments made for a
man of Mortlock's size, a few worthless personal effects,
and a stuffed troll doll from Mortlock's childhood.Vl5. AMRIK'S BEDROOM
This tastefully appointed room contains a bed, a side
table, a claw-footed iron bathtub, a fireplace. and an
iron-banded wooden chest. A three-foot-wide, six-foot-tall mirror is mounted to the east wall opposite the fire-
place. The mirror's varnished wooden frame is carved
with images of rats, ravens, and spiders.
Treasure. Amrik's chest contains neatly folded and
tailored apparel to fit a slender noble, and a jewelry boxcarved from bone (10 gp). This tiny box contains a gold
signet ring (S gp) bearing the Vanthampur motto, "Stone
hearts never bleed."Vl6. DUKE'S POWDER ROOM
This room contains a vanity topped with a framed oval
mirror, bottles of perfume, brushes, cosmetics, needles,and spools of thread. Other furnishings in the room
include a folding wooden partition adorned with a bird
or prey rendered in gold leaf, a tall black wardrobe filledwith corsets and fine clothes, and a decorative gold rug
laid out in front or three unlocked wooden chests. One
chest is full of shoes, another contains three old bridalgowns, and the third contains seasonal hats.
Treasure. The vanity holds six bottles of fine per-
fume (20 gp each), a silver hairbrush inlaid with lapis
lazuli (100 gp), and a wooden jewelry box with electrum
filigree (7S gp) holding a pearl necklace (2SO gp), a plat-
inum cameo shaped like a winged cat (SO gp), and two
potions of healing in thin crystal vials.Vl7. MASTER BEDROOM
Duke Vanthampur retires to this chamber when she
needs to rest or shake off a headache. She also takes
most of her meals here. Food is delivered via a dumb-
waiter in the southwest corner (see area VS for details),
which has a cord that rings a bell in the kitchen. Other
features of the room include a canopied bed with a gos-
samer shroud for keeping insects at bay, a freestanding
wooden privacy screen, a cast-iron bathtub with clawedfeet, a fireplace, and a padlocked iron chest. The padlock
is cast in the shape of a horned devil's scowling visage.
CHAPTER I I A TALE Of TWO OITJJ!SThalamra Vanthampur carries the key to the padlock
(see area V28), which can be picked by a character with
thieves' tools who succeeds on a DC^17 Dexterity check.Treasure. The chest weighs 6S pounds and is trapped
(see "Trap" below). It contains three thin, black-covered
ledgers with entries written in Infernal (records or DukeVanthampur's legitimate business dealings), a set of
calligrapher's supplies (lS gp), a poisoner's kit (SO gp), a
coin pouch made from a sheep's bladder (containing^22
pp, 8S gp, and^113 sp), and pipes of the sewers.Trap. The chest has a false bottom underlaid with
metal springs. The combined weight of the items in the
chest holds the false bottom down, but if three or more
items are removed, the false bottom rises and pulls the
cork out of a thin glass vial hidden underneath it. The
uncorked vial releases a cloud or poisonous gas that
fills a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on the chest. The
cloud is stationary and lasts for 1 minute, or until it'sdispersed by a strong wind. Any creature that starts its
turn in the cloud must succeed on a DC^13 Constitution
saving throw or take 11 (2d10) poison damage.Vl8. DUKE'S STUDY
An oak writing desk angled to face the middle of the
room has a matching chair behind it and two black
candlesticks atop it. Other furnishings include three
bookcases and a freestanding suit of black plate armor
topped with a bucket helm and equipped with a long-sword and a shield. A wrought-iron spiral staircase
leads up to area V19.
The suit of armor is a helmed horror that was fash-
ioned on Avernus. The construct understands Infernal
but can't speak, and it is immune to the following spells:fire bolt, sacred flame, and shocking grasp. The only
creatures permitted in this area are Duke Vanthampur
and her sons. If any other creature enters the room un-
escorted, a fiery orange light fills the helmed horror'shollow interior as it attacks. The helmed horror pursues
intruders beyond the room, returning here only after the
trespassers leave the villa or are hacked to pieces.
Bookcases. Duke Vanthampur abhors reading but
keeps a modest library of fine literature for the sake of
appearances. Her study contains two hundred books. Acharacter who spends 1 hour sifting through the collec-
tion can find twenty rare first editions (2S gp each). The
remaining books are worth S gp each to interested buy-
ers, except for a worthless book titled Last Charge of the
Hellriders. A cavity cut into its pages holds a small ironring with two keys hanging from it. These keys unlock
the cages in area Vl 9.
Vl9. TOWER PEAK
lf the characters climb the wrought-iron spiral staircasefrom area V18, describe this room as follows:
The spiral staircase climbs fifteen feet to a square room
with crisscrossing rafters ten feet overhead and a peaked
roof above that. An empty bookcase dominates the west
wall, and two filthy padlocked cages stand on the floor.
Each cage holds a human prisoner and a chamberpot.