Mateen and Tendra have come from Shadowdusk
Hold (level 22) on the orders of Halaster Blackcloak. Un-
der the guise of seeking an alliance between Shadow-
dusk Hold and House Freth, they have extended an offer
to Drivvin Freth to become the Mad Mage's newest ap-
prentice. Drivvin has told the two that he needs time to
make his decision, and now the emissaries have grown
anxious waiting for his answer.
Both emissaries show evidence of their (false) interest
in currying favor with House Freth by coming to its de-
fense if Spiderwatch Keep is attacked, but they flee the
fortress if Erelal and Drivvin both fall in battle.
19G. KITCHEN AND PANTRY
The main room of this area is a kitchen, with counters
and cupboards lining the outer wall. Two unarmed
and unarmored male drow named Elendar and Farril
prepare meals here for the residents of the keep. Geas
spells regularly cast by Drivvin prevent the two cooks
from poisoning the food or drink.
The smaller room east of the kitchen is a well-
stocked pantry.1 9H. BATH
An iron tub stands in this a rea, with an iron pump
nearby. The pump draws water from an underground
hot spring beneath the fortress to fill the tub.- DRIVVIN'S STUDY
Cape. A long black cape with silver, web-like embroidery
and a silver spider clasp hangs from a peg by the door.
Furnishings. An ornate zurkhwood lectern stands bare
in the middle of the room. At the foot of the lectern sits
an adamantine chest with spider-shaped handles.
Treasure. The cape hanging by the door is a splendid
garment worth 250 gp.
The chest has an arcane lock spell cast on it that
only Drivvin can ignore. A knock spell or similar magic
opens the chest, which is otherwise impregnable. The
chest's interior is divided into compartments and con-
tains a pair of black leather boots, an empty water skin,
a petrified basilisk egg, spider s ilk sack containing^175
pp, a potion of vitality, and two thick spell books.
The spellbooks contain all the spells Drivvin Freth
has prepared, plus animate dead, animate objects, anti-
magic field, arcane lock, fabricate, finger of death, fire-
ball, geas, globe of invulnerability, ray of enfeeblement,
spider climb, and stone shape.
19J. ERELAL'S SANCTUM
Erelal uses this area to engage in numerous dark plea-
sures. The room contains the following:
Prisoners. Two male drow hang s uspended from man-
acled iron chains anchored to the curved outer wall.
Two other sets of manacles hang empty.
Cradle. Against the south wall, between the two doors,
is an ornate cradle carved with spiders and fitted with
a protective web-like canopy.
Table. On a small table next to the cradle sits a small
black casket. The table has a lower shelf with a ring of
iron keys resting on it. (The keys unlock the manacles
in this room.)Both prisoners have been strung up to face the wall,
their bare backs covered in blood from the cuts inflicted
by Erelal Freth's scourge.
One of the prisoners is Hatchrin Alet'taz, consort of
Erelal Freth and the father of her unborn eleventh child.
He is unarmed and unarmored, and has 3 hit points re-
maining. Erelal is torturing him because she received a
report that someone close to her was planning to poison
her child after its birth, then found a vial of poison on
his person. (The false report and the planting of the poi-
son are both the work of Drivvin Freth, who wants to get
Hatchrin out of his sister's life.) Hatchrin promises any
service to characters who can help him regain Erelal's
trust and thus enable him to see the birth of his child.
The other drow prisoner is a House Auvryndar spy
named Varrn Telenna. He is unarmed and unarmored,
and has 6 hit points remaining. Erelal has finished in-
terrogating him, and Varrn is beyond caring whether
he lives or dies. If he is set free, Varrn thanks the
characters, praises Lolth for sparing his life, and plots
his escape.
Treasure. The cradle is dressed in spider silk blan-
kets. Six tiny jeweled spiders (250 gp each) hang from
the cradle's canopy by silver threads.
The black casket is a false offering of fealty brought
by the Shadowdusk emissaries. It is set with mother-of-
pearl and emblazoned with a painted gold emblem of the
Shadowdusk family: a lit torch with three trailing em-
bers, turned upside down. The casket weighs^15 pounds
and is worth 250 gp as an art object. Its purple velvet
lining holds a gold music box worth 2,500 gp.19K. MOTHER AND BROTHER
As the characters approach any of the doors to this area,
they hear a female voice shouting in Elvish, followed by
a male voice's muted responses. Erelal Freth is chastis-
ing her brother Drivvin for his repeated failures to bring
the minotaurs of the southern caves under drow control.
T he western door has an arcane lock spell cast on it
that only drow wearing the obsidian scarab insignia of
House Freth can ignore. The room's occupants and con-
tents are as follows:
Drow. Erelal Freth, a pregnant drow priestess ofLolth,
reclines on a cushioned crystal divan of web-like de-
sign in the middle of the room. Two male drow are at-
tending Erelal while Drivvin Freth, a drow a r chmage,
paces angrily around the room.
Cabinet. A glass-fronted cabinet against the north wall
contains a crystal decanter of mushroom wine and
several varnished zurkhwood goblets.
Shrine. Against the east wall s tands an impressive sil-
ver shrine to Lolth (see "Shrine of Lolth" below).
Erelal wears a flowing black and s ilver gown instead
of armor, giving her AC 12, but is still armed with her
scourge. The male drow with her are Chaszantar and
Ulgreth, two sycophants vying to become her new con-
sort. They both wear spider silk togas instead of armor,
giving them AC 12.
Erelal is a mere thirty days away from giving birth
to her eleventh child, but she refuses to let her preg-
nancy interfere with her work: the destruction of HouseLEVEL 12 I MAZE LEVEL