Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage

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Refuse. The pen is littered with the skulls and bones of
deep gnomes and goblins, as well as a few drow who
angered Erelal Freth.
The drow use these goblin slaves as laborers. Each
goblin suffers from two levels of exhaustion. The goblins
cower and beg for their lives when faced with possible
harm. Despite their pitiable appearance, they can't be
trusted and will do anything to survive, including betray-
ing and eating their liberators.


  1. GARDENS
    These earthen fields provide much of the food that
    feeds House Freth's forces in Undermountain. Edible
    moss is grown in the east garden, while the other two
    gardens contain rows of barrelstalks and bluecaps (see
    "Fungi," page 59).
    Tending each garden are two adult troglodytes and
    three troglodyte children (Small noncombatants) that
    work under the watchful gaze of a male drow overseer.
    The vrocks in area 17b and 17c s woop down and attack
    any slave that refuses to work or any creatures that
    threaten the overseer.

  2. SPIDERWATCH KEEP
    Fashioned from seamless black stone with veins of sil-
    ver running through it, this windowless edifice bears a
    striking resemblance to a crouching spider. From here,
    Erelal Freth oversees all House Freth ventures in Un-
    dermountain, with her brother Drivvin as her advisor.
    The central oval of the keep (areas 19e through 19k)
    has 15-foot-high walls and a 30-foot-high domed roof.
    The attached outer structures (areas 19a through 19d)
    have 10 -foot-high walls and 20-foot-high domed roofs.
    All outer doors are held shut with arcane lock spells
    that only drow wearing the obsidian insignia scarabs of
    House Freth can ignore. A successful DC 25 Strength
    (Athletics) check is needed to force open such a door.
    The inner doors have no locks.
    When an alarm sounds outside, the occupants of the
    keep prepare for battle but remain where they are. They
    cannot be surprised, and any ability checks to convince
    residents that intruding characters are not a threat are
    made with disadvantage. This state of battle readiness
    is maintained until Riina Freth tells occupants of the
    fortress that it is secure.


19A. ELITE BARRACKS
Four off-duty female drow elite warriors are stationed
here: Ilanlue and Sabatrin Freth (the third and fifth of
Erelal's seven daughters), Iymn Vrindolin, and Mircolar
Do'ett. They spend their idle hours sharpening and poi-
soning their weapons, eating, sparring, or meditating on
curved stone benches spaced along the walls.
Treasure. Each warrior wears an obsidian scarab en-
graved with the insignia of House Freth (25 gp).

19B. STORES
The stone door to this curved structure has an arcane
lock spell cast on it that only drow wearing the obsidian
insignia scarabs of House Freth can ignore. This cham-
ber contains stone shelves lined with provisions for the
guards of the stronghold: two hundred spider silk pack-

LEVEL. 12 l MAZE LEVEL.

ets, each containing 10 days of rations (dry moss and
mushrooms), and one hundred full water skins.

19C. CASTELLAN^1 S QUARTERS
The stone door has an arcane lock spell cast on it that
only drow wearing the obsidian insignia scarabs of
House Freth can ignore. These well-appointed quarters
belong to the fortress castellan, Riina Freth, a drow
elite warrior with 110 hit points, and the younger sister
to Erelal Freth. This area has the following features:
Hole. A 2-foot-diameter hole is cut through the roof. The
hole, 20 feet above the floor, allows quasits in bat form
to deliver messages to Riina from the gate tower (area
18a). A Small creature can slip through the hole eas-
ily, and a Medium creature can do so with a successful
DC 17 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
Cabinet. A slender, glass-fronted cabinet made of black
wood and inlaid with silver, web-like tracery stands
across from the door.
Hammock. A spider silk hammock hangs to the west.
Chest. A padlocked iron chest to the east has a lid em-
bossed with tiny spiders.
Riina carries the key to the padlocked chest, or the
lock can be picked with a successful DC 20 Dexterity
check using thieves' tools.
Treasure. The chest contains 800 gp, six zircons (50
gp each), four garnets (100 gp each), a topaz (500 gp),
and two potions of healing.
The cabinet contains twenty flasks, each one holding
five applications of drow poison (see "Poisons" in chap-
ter 8 of the Dungeon Master's Guide).
Riina wears a platinum helm shaped like a spider with
eightjet orbs for eyes (2,500 gp) and a spider silk cloak
(50 gp). Fastened to her cloak is an obsidian scarab en-
graved with the insignia of House Freth (25 gp).

l9D. ARMORY
The stone door has an arcane lock spell cast on it that
only drow wearing the obsidian insignia scarabs of
House Freth can ignore. The back wall is lined with
boxes arrayed on shelves. Inside these boxes are thirty
s hortswords, thirty hand crossbows, and several hun-
dred hand crossbow bolts.

19E. HALL OF SPIDERS
This dark hallway crawls with hundreds of harm-
less spiders.
Visitors to the keep are led down the hall to area 19k
to meet with Erelal and Drivvin. The footfalls of pass-
ersby alert the guests in area 19f, who emerge from
their quarters to greet and assess new arrivals.

19F. GUEST BEDROOM
Emissaries. Maleen Shadowdusk (CE female Illuskan
human mage) and Tendra Nightblade (CE female 11-
luskan human assassin) dwell here.
Furnishings. The furnishings, made of zurkhwood,
include a large bed with spider silk sheets and
an armoire.
Light. A shuttered lantern with a continual flame spell
cast on it hangs above the bed.
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