39c. CRYSTALIGHT BOUDOIR
Chandeliers. Four crystal chandeliers hang from the
ceiling, bathing the chamber in magical light.
Harpsichord. A living unseen servant (see appendix A)
plays a harpsichord in the southeast corner. Because
the unseen servant is invisible, the harpsichord seems
to be playing by itself.
Dancers. Waltzing about the room are a resplendently
dressed man and woman. The man wears a gold ruf·
fled shirt and blue trousers, while the woman wears a
ruffled blue ball gown and a gold tiara.
The living unseen servant plays the harpsichord tire-
lessly and fights only in self-defense.
A detect magic spell reveals auras of transmutation
magic around the dancers who, in truth, are a mated
pair of young blue dragons. The dragons are Arcturia's
guests, and their names are Nystalancer and Venasorrn.
With the help of Arcturia's magic, they are experiencing
what it's like to be human and pay no attention to new
arrivals. If the music stops or either of them is touched
or harmed by another creature, the dragons revert to
their true forms simultaneously and attack. Their cloth-
ing and jewelry merge into their new forms. Arcturia-
doom is not their lair, and they keep no treasure here.
4 0. ARCTURIA
(^1) S CHAMBERS
Arcturia has cleared out an old dwarven crypt and
turned it into her private sanctum.
40A. SENTINEL STATUE
Statue. Standing in the middle of this 30-foot-high room
is a life-size statue of a dwarf in plate armor, wearing
a bucket helm and standing at attention atop a block of
stone that measures 3 feet on a side.
Secret Door. Set into the north wall is a secret door that
swings open into area 40b.
The dwarf statue is inseparable from its base, and its
base is inseparable from the floor. If anyone other than
Arcturia opens the secret door, the statue transforms
into a 6-inch-thick wall of stone that bisects the room
from east to west, creating separate chambers to the
north and south. The wall is permanent. Each^10 -foot-
square section of it has AC 15,^180 hit points, and immu-
nity to poison and psychic damage.
40B. ARCTURIA'S LIBRARY
Pedestal. A 5-foot-tall stone pedestal carved in the
likeness of a nalfeshnee demon stands near the
southern wall.
Secret Door and Trap. A secret door in the east wall
opens into area 40c. The 10-foot-square space in front
of the secret door contains a polymorph trap (see
"Polymorph Traps," page 180).
A detect magic spell reveals auras of transmutation
magic around the pedestal and rectangular sections
of the north wall where hidden bookshelves magically
emerge (see "Treasure" below).
The pedestal is a Small object with AC 15,^20 hit
points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
LEVEL 14' I ARCTURIADOOM
Under certain conditions, it transforms into a nalfesh-
nee (see area 40 c). The pedestal also transforms if it
takes damage. With Halaster's help, Arcturia pressed
the demon into service. Its primary task is to guard the
lich's phylactery. While in pedestal form, the demon
is unaffected by the weapon of mass disintegration
in area 37.
Treasure. When the proper command word is spoken
("palimpsest"), tall stone bookshelves magically pro-
trude from the north wall. The shelves are inaccessible
otherwise. Packed into these shelves are dozens of spell-
books that Arcturia has accumulated over the years.
They contain most of the wizard spells in the Player's
Handbook, plus any others of your choosing.
All the 8th-level and 9th-level spells that can be found
are contained in Arcturia's personal spellbook, which
magically changes its appearance each dawn. When
first discovered, it has black crystal covers and gold-leaf
pages engraved with arcane runes and phrases. The
book is titled Arcturia's Arcane Esoterica: Vol. IX, and it
contains the following spells: antimagic field, astral pro-
jection, dominate monster, feeblemind, gate, incendiary
cloud, power word kill, power word stun, shapechange,
telepathy, true polymorph, and wish.
40C. ARCTURIA'S PHYLACTERY
A niche in the north wall holds a small box made of
purple crystal- Arcturia's phylactery. The phylactery
does not detect as magical. If the characters remove the
phylactery from this room, the demonic pedestal in area
40b transforms into a n alfeshnee and attacks them.
Destroying this phylactery leaves Arcturia with no
means to rejuvenate once her physical form is destroyed.
The object can be destroyed only after being digested
in the stomach of a mimic for three days. A legend Jore
spell or similar magic reveals the exact method of the
phylactery's destruction.
- WATCHFUL PILLARS
Two stone pillars, each carved with dozens of lidless
eyes facing in all directions, flank a double door.
The doors swing inward, revealing a 10-foot-wide
landing at the top of a staircase that descends hundreds
of feet to level 15 , area 1.
Aftermath
Arcturia returns to her home periodically to peruse her
spellbooks, place new polymorph traps throughout the
level, and alter the conditions that trigger existing ones,
as needed. If intruders have laid waste to her defenses,
she might forge an alliance with the mind flayers on
level 17 , intending to secure an illithid security force to
further strengthen her hold on this level. If the dragons
in area 39c are still alive, Arcturia bribes them into
guarding the tunnels leading to levels^13 and 15.
Defeating Emberosa and her giants stalls the prog-
ress on Mecha-Halaster, but only until Halaster finds
new metalsmiths (perhaps a band of azers) to continue
the work. The Mad Mage considers the hobgoblins
expendable.