The narrow tunnel is lit by the same dim, ambient light
found throughout th1s complex. Ahead. you hear the
high· pitched cackling of several creatures.four quasits are wrestling each other farther along in
the tunnel. If they notice the characters. they attack.
When two quasits arc reduced to 0 hit points. the two
remaining ones turn invisible and flee. However. they
make enough noise in doing so for the characters to
follow them by sound. If any quasit escapes. the cultists
in ar<'a 12 <'an'r b<' surprised and prepare an ambush.DEVELOPMENT
If the characters manage to capture and interrogate
a quasit. the creature readily surrenders the name of
Narrak-th<' dc·rro savant leading the cultists in the
Whorlstone Tunnels (sec· area 12 ). In exchange for
its life, the-quasit reveals that the cult plans to curse
Cracklstugh's ston<> giants with madness as a means to
sowing chaos in the city.XPAWARDS
Each character earns a special award of 50 XP if the
party learns of arrak's plans from a quasit.
- CULTIST HIDEOUT
Droki e nters this cavern from the east. via a narrow
tunnel that comes up through a crack in the cavern floor
(see the "Narrow Tunnels" section of the "Whorlstone
Tunnels: General Features" sidebar).
West of the cavern is a shrieker that serves as an
alarm sy<;t<>m (s<'<' "Fungi Patches'') and a pit trap
(see "Trap").
The smell of bums tone and foul chemicals emanates
from thts large chamber. The light of campfires shows
a natural platform where five derro are droning a
cacophonous chant. A two-headed dog stirs ins1de a
cage, wh1le another derro nearby plays with a crossbow
and watches the dog nervously
A green glow nses suddenly from a magic circle at the
center of the platform, where a small humanoid statue
is the focus of the chantmg ritual. As you watch, a lump
sprouts from the statue's neck, enlarging and reshaping
itself with each unholy verse to take the form of a
second head.Narrak, a dcrro savant, belongs to a fringe group within
the Council of Savants using demonology as a path
to power. Sinre tht' arrival of the demon lords, he has
gathered and bullied several apprentices to participate
in rituals aimed to sow chaos in Gracklstugh. Narrak
knows the stone giants art> a pillar of the Deepking's
power, and that cursing them with Dcmogorgon's
madness will be an appropriate first step toward
delivering the entire city to the demon lord.
The cage by the tunnel holds a deatb dog, watched
over by a nervous d erro cultist. Atop the platform,
Narrak and four more derro cultists are performing
a ritual around the statue at its center. (Statistics for
Narrak and the derro can be found in appendix C.) The
cultists' chanting is punctuated with arrak calling out
the name -oemogorgon!" Also atop the platform. resting
comfortably in an fungi-filled alcove (and injtially out of
the party's view). is Narrak's bodyguard-a female ettin
named Grula-Munga.