Out of the Abyss

the chief negotiators of this fact. the ones who are still
alive arc thankful enough to share dismrbing news from
their home settleml'nts ofBiingdenstOnc. Gracklstugh.
and Menzoberranzan, rrsprctively (sec chapter 10.
.. Descent 11110 the Depths .. ).

FOLLOW-UP ENCOUNTERS

H:wing Sladis Vadir (sec area le). Peebles (see area 3b).

or Zilchyn Q'Leptin (arra 4a) join the parry can lead to

special follow up encountt~rs in the vicinity of Mantoi-

Derith. as described below.

CRICKET CATCHER

If Zilchyn Q'Leptin is with the parry as it lea,•es Mamoi-

Derith. he insists on visiting a nearby cave to retrieve his

!,ecret stash of potions.

Zilch's cave lies one day's travel west of Mamoi-Derith.

alon~ the same route the characters must travel to

reach Graven hollow. The cavt> is swarming with bats

and infested with dozens of giant albino cave crickets

that feed on the bat guano. The crickets are as big as

hal flings yet harmless. A happy-go-lucky kuo-toa named

Ougalop is also here. trying to catch thf" giant crickets in

a homespun net. When he sees other intruders. Ougalop

waves at them and continues with his cricket catching.

He poses no threat and has no interest in joining the

party. The kuo-toa lives in Sloobludop (see chapter 3)

and is blissfully unaware of recent events there.

Treasure. On a 30 -foot-high shelf overlooking the

cave is an old grick nest. Hidden here are three potions

of vit.1/ity. Climbing the wall to reach the shelf requir es a

successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.

AMARITH'S Zoo

If Sladis Vadir joined the party and is still around

when the characters are ready to leave Mamoi-Derith.

hr offers to guide them to a cavern roughly eight days·

travel west of Mantol-Dcrith, along the same route the

charilrtf"rS must travel to reach Graven hollow. Sladis

claims that the cave is home to another member of the

Emerald Enclave: a dwarf named Amarith Coppervein.

This news will interest characters searching for

Amarith on behalf of Morista Malkin (sec chapter 8).

Amarith Coppervein is a shield dwarf veteran with

the following statistical moclificmions:

Am~~rith's alignment i!> neutral good.

She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.

Amarith's dwarvcn resilience gives her advantage on

~aving throws against poison. and she has resistance

against poison damagt>.

A .. MIIT ..

COPPERVEI>i

r.H,\PTI'R ~ 1 MA:>:-rot-nERITJt

• She wields a warhammer instead of a longsword ( Jd8
  
  
  • 3 bludgeoning damage on a hit. or ldlO + 3 blud-
    geoning damage if using the Wf"apon with two hands)
    Amarith's cavern contain!> a do1.en stalagmites which
    have been hollowed out and lill(·d with iron bars to sen
    as monster cages. Locked in three of these cages arc
    a rust monster, a winged kobold. and a fire snake.
    Amarith charges 3 ep per per son to tour her "zoo.''
    If the characters ask Amarith to join them, shf" gather<-
    up her belongings and does just that. lamenting that "the
    zoo business is tough! .. Her gear includes a backpack.
    a bedroll. a lantern with no oil. a tinderbox. an iron pot.
    ten days of rations (edible fungi). a pouch containing 3
    cp. a 50-foot coil of hempen rope with a grappling hook
    tied to one end, a net. a miner's pick. and a 10-foot pole
  
  
  
  

XAZAX THE EYEMONCER

If Peebles or the characters harvest Lorthuun·s

eyestalks (see the ·'Beholder Eyeslalks'' sidebar).

Peebles asks to join the party as it leaves Mantoi-

Dcrith. After traveling with them for a tenday, Peebles

urges the characters to deviate from their preferred

route. claiming that they're dangerously close to a

nest of purple worms. Peebles uses this lie to propose

an alternate route. If the characters follow this

detour, Peebles leads them to the cavern of Xazax th e

Eyemonger, a terrifying b eholder that kills others of its

kind and grafts their eyestalks to its body. Peebles head<-

to Xazax·s cave regardless of whether the characters

follow him or not.

Xazax's cavern has a 30 -foot-hi gh ceiling and is

unremarkable save for a 20 foot-wide, 100 -foot-dccp

shaft in the middle of the floor. Upon arriving, Pef"bles

calls out, .. Master! I've returned!'' Moments later. Xaza\

rises up from the shaft. Xazax has eight extra eyestalk.,

grafted to its body. giving it a total of eighteen. but it

can't fire rays from the grafted eyes. If the characters

took one or more of Lorthuun·s eyestalks, Peebles

demands that the characters surrt>nder them at once.

Whether they do or not. Xazax becomes enraged and

attacks. Both Xazax and Peebles light to the death.

Treasure. At the bottom of the beholder's shaft,

buried among the shattered remains of petrified foes. i~

a flame tongue lon~sword. Scaling the shaft requires a

successful DC 10 Strength {Athletics) check.