This place offers many hiding places for characters to
lay in ambush. Faerzrcss prevents sounds of combat
from being heard outside in the West Cleft or farther
into the tunnels.
Tf the characters wait here for Droki, he appears after
2dl2 hours. In the middle of that wait. each character
must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a
success, the character feels only a mild discomfort. A
character who rolls a natural 20 on the save receives
flashes of the future. gaining the benefit of the Lucky
feat (see chapter 6, "Customization Options.-in the
Player's Handbook) until the start of his or her next long
rest. If the character already has the Lucky feat. he or
she gains an extra 3 luck points to spend. On a failed
save, a character sees disturbing images within the
shimmering faerzress light and has disadvantage on
ahility checks and saving throws until he or she finishes
a short rest outside this area.
If the characters caught Droki in Gracklstugh and
brought him here, they must make the saving throw
at some point during their interrogation. Knowing
the power of the cavern, Droki bides his time, giving
nonsensical answers and hissing at the characters. He
makes his move to escape after the characters make
their savin~ throws. fleeing by the route described in the
"Finding Droki'' section.DEVELOPMENT
If Buppido is with the parry. he takes advantage of any
distraction to slip away, taking refuge in area lb.l A. PooL BYPAss
A relatively small cave branches off the main tunnel. If
the characters are shadowing Droki. read the following
boxed text aloud to thc players.Droki stands before a tall yet narrow crack in the wall.
He stares at the crack for a moment, then Jeans down
and rummages among the fungi, cackling with glee as
he plucks a short mushroom and eats it whole. As he
finishes the last bite, you see him shrink down to a doll's
size, then run into the crack.The far sidc of the small cavern has a narrow crack
in the wall surrounded by patches of pygmywort and
bigwig mushrooms (ld 10 + 10 of each). The crack forms
the emrance of a narrow. naturally-formed tunnel.lB. B UPPIDO'S L AIR
The derro Buppido discovered the Whorlstone Tunnels
momhs ago but never dared to explore beyond the first
couple of chambers. Hc scllled in this area and erected
a grisly altar to himself. to support the delusion that
he is a god.
If Buppido returns to Gracklstugh, he abandons the
characters at the first opportunity and makes his way to
this place. If he is her<> when the characters arrive, read
the following boxed text aloud to the players. Modify the
text as appropriate if I3uppido isn't prescnr.
CllAPrt k I I GRACKt STUr.llAs you venture 1nto the cavern, a stench of rotting meat
rises The floor IS carpeted with humanoid remains in
varying stages of decomposition, arranged in a spiral
pattern around the cave's center. An off-key humming
comes from a hunched figure working busily at
somethmg on the floor.
"Oh, there you are!" The figure is Buppido. He wipes
his hands on h1s vest and smiles vic1ously. "I didn't
expect you to find me here, with my shrine nearly
finished! And power! My faithful are finally honoring me!
Are you .. .? Yes. Yes, I sense that you are ready to receive
my truth into your hearts!"The humanoid remains on the floor make the entire
cavern difficult terrain. Characters can identify the
remains as belonging to several derro. deep gnomes.
and goblins, as well as a couple grimlocks.
Buppido is a typical derro and attacks the characters
regardless of their intentions. On his first turn, he uses
a bonus act ion to channel the power of this "shrine,"
raising six s ke le to ns to aid him. The undead assemble
from the remains on the Ooor to form shambling,
mismatched bodies. Each skclcton has two skulls.
although this has no effect on its abilities.
Buppido fights with insane confidence and seems
surprised if the party defeats him. screaming incoherent
last words about the end of the world. The skeletons
fight until destroyed even if Buppido is defeated first.
If Buppido was killed in Velkynvclve or at some
point in the characters' travels through the Undcrdark,
replace him with a carrion cra wler feeding on the
dead remains.DEVELOPMENT
When the monsters are defeated, the ghos t of a deep
gnome named Pelek pokes its head up our of the ground,
blinks, and then emerges fully. The ghost is friendly
and tells the adventurers that Buppido killed him not
too long ago. then chopped him into pieces to join the
other body parts in the s hrine. Pelck explains how he
was traveling from Blingdenstonc when he fell in with
Buppido. He knows little about the Whorlstonc Tunnels.
but he has observed a shrunken derro with a funny hat
(Droki) entering and leaving the narrow tunnels. Pelek
doesn't know about the pygmywort mushrooms.
Pelck asks the characters to take one or more parts
of him to Blingdenstone and bury his remains there.
so that his spirit can rest. It's impossible to tell which
body parts arc his. and looking around is a gruesome
task that speaks loudly to Buppido's madness. Pelek
recalls that the strange magic that pervades the tunnels
animated one of his st>vered hands. and it scuttled away
through one of the narrow tunnels. (Characters might
encounter it in area 13.) Pelck points out that characters
can recognize the hand bccau:>e it was wearing an
obsidian ring. If the characters need more reasons to go
to Blingdenstonc, Pelek adds that the svirfneblin who
live there know many ways to the s urface.