7A. JUNK ROOM
Zox stores curious bits of junk here until he finds cre-
ative uses for them. The room's contents are as follows:
Table. A 2-foot-high, roughly hexagonal table made of
welded scrap metal is covered with scavenged bits of
broken machinery and scraps of food.
Music. Tinny music emanates from the southern door-
way (leading to area 7c).7B. LIVING QUARTERS
Pet. A giant badger playfully chews on a stuffed toy in
the middle of the room.
Furnishings. The dingy furnishings include an un-
made bed, a drafting table, and an iron safe (see "Iron
Safe" below).
Alcoves. Alcoves to the south contain a poorly draining
privy and a modest kitchenette where food molders in
unclean pots and filthy pans.
Arch. Set into the west wall is a stone arch decorated
with inlaid images of dancing goblins. Carved into the
arch's keystone is the letter D.
The giant badger fights only in self-defense. Charac-
ters who use magic to speak with it can learn the follow-
ing information if they ask it the right questions:
- Zox is afraid of the "scary red metal wearers" (hob-
goblins) and has befriended the "burning men" (azers)
and "smileys" (lava children) that live in the surround-
ing caves. Zox has a bodyguard named Rex. - Zox normally gets food from the nearby fungus forest
(see area 12), but the "scary red metal wearers" re-
cently set the forest on fire. - The combination to Zox's iron safe is "prairie dog,
wombat, badger, armadillo, wombat."
Arch Gate to Level 6. The arch embedded in the west
wall is one of Halaster's magic gates (see "Gates," page
12). Its rules are as follows: - The gate opens for 1 minute if a creature stands
within 5 feet of the arch and either sings a D note or
plays a D note on a musical instrument. - Characters must be at least 9th level to pass through
this gate (see ''Jhesiyra Kestellharp," page 10). The
first creature to pass through the gate triggers an el-
der rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12). - A creature that passes through the gate appears in
area 47a on level 6, in the closest unoccupied space
next to the identical gate located there.
Iron Safe. The square iron safe measures 2 feet on
a side and weighs 1,000 pounds. It has AC 19, 50 hit
points, a damage threshold of 15, and immunity to poi-
son and psychic damage. Instead of numbers, the lock
has tiny pictographs of the following burrowing animals:
armadillo, badger, chipmunk, gerbil, meerkat, mole,
prairie dog, rabbit, tarantula, and wombat.
A character who spends 1 minute with an ear pressed
to the safe door can try to pick the safe's combination
lock, doing so with a successful DC 25 Dexterity (Per-
ception) check. The correct combination is prairie dog,
wombat, badger, armadillo, wombat. A knock spell or
similar magic also opens the safe.
LEVEL 13 I TROBRTAND'S GRAVEYARD
Treasure. The safe contains ninety 1-pound gold in-
gots (100 gp each), ten red garnets (100 gp each), a set
of Nolzur's marvelous pigments, and Zox's spellbook,
which is missing its cover and has lost a few pages due
to adventuring mishaps. The spellbook contains all the
spells Zox has prepared plus animate objects, fabricate,
glyph ofwarding,jump, and rope trick.7c. TINKER SHOP
Tinkerer. A wild-haired gnome wearing a grease-
stained apron over threadbare robes (Zox Clammer-
sham) sits atop the table, using a set of tinker's tools to
tune a Tiny music box that is playing a tinny tune.
Guardian. Rex, a shield guardian painted with gold
stars and crescent moons, stands next to the table.
Loose Pages. The floor is strewn with sheets of parch-
ment bearing sketches of metal contraptions (includ-
ing the Simulacrux in area 2).
Rex the shield guardian accompanies Zox wherever
he goes. Unlike most shield guardians, Rex doesn't have
an amulet and thus can't be commanded by another
creature. Zox has stored a greater invisibility spell in the
shield guardian.
Zox Clammersham is a rock gnome archmage, with
these changes:- Zox is chaotic good.
- He has these racial traits: He speaks Aquan, Auran,
Common, Gnomish, Ignan, and Terran. He is Small
and has a walking speed of 25 feet. He has darkvision
out to a range of 60 feet. He has advantage on all
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws
against magic. - He has the confusion spell prepared instead of
banishment.
Zox retired to Trobriand's Graveyard after the rest of
his adventuring party fell prey to the perils of Under-
mountain. Having lost all track of time, he doesn't know
how long ago his companions perished or how long he's
been by himself. Zox has no interest in joining another
adventuring party, preferring to work alone.
Zox carries a key that unlocks the palace doors, and
he wears a scaladar control ring on the middle finger
of his left hand. This ring allows him to command the
scaladar on this level. He never willingly parts with the
ring, going so far as to swallow it to prevent its theft. If
attacked or threatened, Zox activates the room's ball tur-
rets, then orders his shield guardian to attack.
Zox's music box has no magical properties beyond
its ability to play a tune. The music plays continuously
but stops if the box is dropped, shaken, or otherwise
handled roughly. The box is a Tiny object with AC 10, 1
hit point, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
Provided it has 1 hit point, the box can be repaired with
tinker's tools. Repairing it requires 10 minutes and a
successful DC 15 Dexterity check, whereupon the music
resumes playing.
Zox plans to use the Simulacrux (see area 2a) to
create enough scaladar to build new things and com-
fortably control what he now views as his domain. The
biggest obstacles to his success are the hobgoblins that
keep stealing his scrap metal.