tracery and glyphs around the exterior door frames. A
successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check reveals
that the glyphs around each door prevent devils from
passing through the doorway. Scratching away any of
the glyphs breaks the magic on that door, allowing dev-
ils to pass through it normally.
This room contains the following:
Tapestry. A blood-spattered tapestry hanging on the
west wall depicts scores of demons and devils locked
in battle. (A secret door hidden behind the tapestry
opens into area 47c.)
Yarek. A dead male human (Yarek) in bloody robes is
sprawled on the floor in front of the tapestry.
Illusory Wall. A 20 -foot-wide section of the north wall is
illusory, concealing area 47b beyond. A detect magic
spell reveals an illusory wall for what it truly is. It has
no substance, and creatures and objects can pass
right through it. The illusory wall is destroyed by a
successful dispel magic spell (DC 14).
Yarek dragged himself across the floor before he fi-
nally expired. The characters can follow Yarek's bloody
trail through the illusory wall into area 47b, where the
devil mortally wounded him. A character who examines
the corpse and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine)
check can ascertain that the mage was stabbed several
times by a piercing weapon (the devil's hooked polearm)
and has a deep, poisoned wound in his chest (caused
by the bone devil's stinger). A search of the body yields
nothing of value.47B. DEALING WITH THE BONE DEVIL
Devil. Beyond the illusory wall waits a bone devil
armed with a hooked polearm (see the "Variant: Bone
Devil Polearm" sidebar in the "Devils" entry in the
Monster Manual).
Statue. A raised stone alcove contains a chipped and
worn statue of a female drow riding a giant lizard. The
tip of the lizard's tail has broken off and is missing.
(The statue is inanimate and nonmagical.)
The bone devil is reluctant to take on a well-armed
band of adventurers, since the outcome is likely to
conflict with its goals of survival and escape. If the
characters are willing to free it from the confines of
these rooms by scratching away the silver glyphs that
ward the exits, the devil pursues a mutually beneficial
arrangement while exploiting a badly worded agreement
to its advantage. Once it escapes, it tries to hunt down
and kill Skrianna Shadowdusk, thus fulfilling a promise
made to its late summoner. If the characters slay the
devil, it transforms into a pool of s tinking ichor, leaving
its hooked polearm behind.47C. DWEOMERCORE'S VAULT
Stacked against the south wall are seven iron chests
that hold Dweomercore's operating funds (used to pay
guest instructors, purchase school supplies, and so
forth). The chests are currently empty, and Halaster
hasn't had the time or inclination to replenish them.
LEVEL 9 I DWEOMERCORE
- CONJURATION CLASSROOM
A large pentagram is inscribed on the floor of this
20-foot-high domed chamber. A character who studies
the pentagram and succeeds on a DC 20 Intelligence
(Arcana) check can ascertain its properties. The check
is made with advantage if the character is a wizard
whose arcane tradition is the School of Conjuration.
Any magically summoned fiend that appears inside
the pentagram is trapped there until its summoner re-
leases it, until the fiend takes damage from an outside
source, or until another creature enters the circle. Dam-
aging the pentagram renders it powerless in addition to
releasing any creature trapped inside it. - ARCH GATE TO LEVEL 14
Arch. A stone arch embedded in the middle of the south-
east wall has the image of an open book carved into
its keystone.
Secret Door. A secret door opens into a dusty tunnel
leading east.
The arch is one of Ha laster's gates (see "Gates," page
12). Its rules are as follows:
- Holding an open book while standing within 5 feet
of the arch causes the gate to open for 1 minute. The
book turns to dust as the gate opens, even if it is a
spell book. - Characters must be 13th level or higher to pass
through this gate (see "Jhesiyra Kestellharp," page
10). The first creature to pass through the gate trig-
gers an elder rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12). - A creature that passes through the gate appears in
area 25 on level 14, in the closest unoccupied space
next to the identical gate located there.
Aftermath
Characters who become embroiled in academy politics
can form tenuous truces with certain students while
making enemies of others. The loss of one or more
students has little effect on the day-to-day affairs of
Dweomercore, since the faculty has no emotional at-
tachment to the pupils. Within a tenday, the headmaster
replaces dead students with new arrivals and begins
their orientation.
Slaying the arcanaloth forces Wormriddle to step up
and assume the mantle of headmaster, backed by her
flesh golem guards. If the night hag is also slain, all the
remaining students promptly turn on each other. Elan
Tanor'thaljoins forces with Cephalossk to challenge
Spite Harrowdale, Nylas Jowd tries to kill the Horned
Sisters one by one, and Skrianna Shadowdusk waits to
see how these conflicts play out before going after the
survivors. Any students who remain standing gather
what valuables they can from their fallen peers and flee
Dweomercore.