Altar. Behind the 0ffal pile stands a crude altar made of
minotaur fur stretched over a frame of sinew-lashed
minotaur bones. Two poles thrust out of the altar,
each with a minotaur skull atop it.
Secret Door. The secret door in the west wall is
an 8-foot-square section of stone that pivots on a
central axis.
The minotaurs are led by Maku, who has 117 hit
points, wears a shawl made of drow entrails, and
clutches a brass horn (see "Treasure" below). The mino-
taur shaman treats all intruders as enemies to be carved
up and added to his pile of dismembered bodies. His
first action in combat is to blow his brass horn while the
other minotaurs try to hack intruders to pieces.
Baphomet does not answer prayers, nor does the
demon lord have any interest in Maku's tribe. As such,
the minotaur shaman's ritual has no chance of working.
But the sacrifices performed in this area have saturated
the cave with evil power, such that any humanoid that
makes a weapon attack in this area must succeed on a
DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or be cursed with blood
lust. While cursed in this way, the creature is hostile
toward all other creatures it can see and must use its ac-
tion each turn to attack the creature closest to it. (If mul-
tiple targets are equally close, the target is determined
randomly.) Greater restoration, remove curse, or similar
magic ends the blood lust on a creature. A creature that
succeeds on its saving throw against this effect is im-
mune to it for the next 24 hours.
The altar is made out of two minotaurs that were
killed and devoured in a cannibalistic ritual. Any crea-
ture that touches the altar experiences a ghastly vision
of being torn apart and eaten by minotaurs.
Treasure. Maku carries a horn of the Endless Maze.
This wondrous item functions as a brass horn of Val-
halla, except that the warrior spirits it summons come
from the Abyss and look like minotaurs.
A single character can search through the pile of
body parts in 1 hour, while multiple characters working
together can reduce the search time proportionally. A
detect magic spell can further expedite a specific search
for magic items. The search yields a spider silk pouch
containing 50 gp, two obsidian scarabs engraved with
the insignia of House Freth (25 gp each), a jeweled an-
klet (750 gp), and one of a pair of gloves of missile snar-
ing worn on the severed limb of its previous drow owner.
(The matching glove can be found in area 8b.)
8B. BEHIND THE SECRET DOOR
Fog. A 2-foot-high blanket of fog covers the floor. Hidden
under the fog in the northern alcove is a treasure pile
(see "Treasure" below).
Standing Stones. At the south end of the cave are two
15-foot-tall standing stones hewn from black basalt.
Carved into the lintel stone spanning them is a large
blood-red X.
Standing Gate to Level 19. The standing stones form
one of Ha laster's magic gates (see "Gates," page 12).
When a creature comes within 5 feet of the gate, rivulets
of blood begin to seep from the standing stones. The
rules of this gate are as follows:- The gate opens for 1 minute if a creature marked with
a bloody X stands within 5 feet of it. - Characters must be 15th 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 Sb on level 19, in the closest unoccupied space
next to the identical gate located there.
Treasure. Characters who find the treasure in the
north alcove discover a set of weaver's tools, fourteen
shortswords and six hand crossbows of drow manufac-
ture, a sack of mushroom flour, a spider silk satchel con-
taining 8 days of rations (dry moss and mushrooms), a
silver holy symbol of Lolth (25 gp), and a glove of missile
snaring (the matching glove can be found in area 8a). All
these items are strewn atop 200 gp and 1,700 sp.
- FOGGY CAVES
The fog is thicker in these caverns, rising above the floor
to a height of 4 feet.
9A. AMBUSH POINT
The fog in this otherwise empty 10-foot-high cave con-
ceals a group of sentries from Spiderwatch Keep. Two
drow elite warrior s , a female named Llorelve Dalambra
and a male named Vorljas Imphiz'zal, are on guard here
with two incubi disguised as a pair of unarmed, scantily
clad, supremely handsome male drow named Ezvir and
Zaldo. All four are crouched down in the fog.
Llorelve and Vorljas spring up at the first sounds of
creatures approaching this area, and they attack anyone
they don't recognize. Any humanoids they don't know
are assumed to be allied with House Auvryndar.
When either incubus is reduced to 30 hit points or
fewer, it uses its next action to become ethereal and
doesn't rejoin the battle. It might reappear later to exact
its revenge on those who harmed it, in a place and form
of your choosing.9B. SHAPES IN THE Foo
As the characters move through this 10 -foot-high cave,
the fog here rises and coalesces into threatening, mino-
taur-like forms wielding greataxes. These fog minotaurs
are regional effects created by Halaster Blackcloak (see
"Halaster's Lair," page 311). Each apparition takes a
harmless swing at any creatures that pass through the
area before sinking back into the fog.9c. UNPLEASANT DESCENT
This 10-foot-high passage slopes down gently as it runs
northward. At its final bend, the fog fills the entire pas-
sage, the last 20 feet of which are heavily obscured.
At the end of the tunnel, hidden beneath a breakaway
floor, is a 30-foot-deep pit with stone spikes at the bot-
tom. A creature that steps on the breakaway floor falls
into the pit, taking 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage from
the fall and 10 (3d6) piercing damage from the spikes.
The pit remains open once the breakaway floor falls
away. A character can spot the breakaway floor with a
successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check, but only
if the fog has been cleared away.LEVEL 12 I MAZ£ LEVEL