value. In short, the two are enjoying themselves at each
other's expense.
If he must, Narizmar can free himself from the leather
straps with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of
Hand) check. Once free, he tries to arm himself. He
obeys Sylkress above all others and would willingly sac-
rifice his life to save hers.
Sylkress defends herself, but if she is reduced to half
her hit points or fewer, she calls for mercy and supplies
characters with the following information in exchange
for her freedom:- The drow invasion of the Sargauth Level is just a pre-
cursor to a full-scale attack on Skullport. - Sylkress's older sister, T'rissa, is breeding giant
spiders to bolster the drow forces on this level (see
area 6). T'rissa believes her experimental new incu-
bation method will create larger and more formida-
ble spiders. - Sylkress's twin sister, Melith, has taken a small force
down to the Twisted Caverns (level 4) to establish a
presence on that level.
7E. WHIPPING ROOM
Unless combat in area 7c draws their attention, two
female drow named Pellanonia Auvryndar and Ghirith
Nhilran are engaged in a consensual act of torture in
this room, which has the following additional features:
Drow. A large, rotating platform with leather straps
takes up most of the room. Pellanonia is strapped to
the platform while Ghirith lashes her with a scourge.
Gear. Lying on a chair in the northeast corner are Pella-
nonia's armor and weapons.
Pellanonia and Ghirith are lovers. If she must, Pella-
nonia can slip free of her bonds with a successful DC 15
Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. Once free, she tries
to arm herself. As a daughter of House Auvryndar, she
uses her status in the house as a shield, claiming that
she's worth more a live than dead. If captured or cor-
nered, she is willing to divulge the following information
in exchange for her freedom:- House Auvryndar's main stronghold in Undermoun-
tain is in Muiral's Gauntlet (level 10) and is under the
direct command of her mother, Vlonwelv. - Her oldest sister, T'rissa, has orders from their mother
to secure the Sargauth Level as a prelude to a full-
scale attack on Skullport. - Another of her older sisters, Melith, has gained a foot-
hold in the Twisted Caverns (level 4) and is waging a
campaign of violence against the kuo-toa on that level.
8. WAILING TuNNELS
Drow who fail the Test of Lolth (see area 7c) and trans-
form into driders are banished to these tunnels. Foul
magic of the demon goddess Lolth creates howling
winds in these passages that mimic the anguished wails
of drow who failed her divine test.
8 A. WEBS IN THE WIND
The winds are loudest here, stirring the thick webs that
fill this cave and evoking ghostly shapes.
LEV.EL 3 J SARGAUTH LEVEL
8B. MAD DRIDER
A drider driven mad by the wailing winds covers its
ears in a futile attempt to block out the noise. When the
characters enter the room, it begins shrieking, "Make
it stop!" in Elvish. If the characters cast a silence spell
around the drider, it enjoys the respite and allows them
to pass through its cave unharmed. Otherwise, it attacks
them in a demented rage.8C. PIRATE RHYME
This cave abuts the sluggish River Sargauth and is filled
with web curtains that undulate in the howling wind.
Behind these curtains, carved into the west wall, is an
old pirate rhyme:
If Skullport's where ye wish to be,
With the Sargauth's flow go ye.
If pirate booty is what ye crave,
Fight the surge to the captain's grave.
Downriver. Characters who follow the river south-
west eventually reach Skullport.
Upriver. The river's current is not particularly strong,
and characters can easily make their way upriver to area
9 to find the "pirate booty."- C APTAIN'S GRAVE
Skull port was once a haven for pirates, one of whom
came here to hide her treasure-only to die from a poi-
soned cask of ale shortly thereafter.
9A. RIVER'S EDGE
This cave at the river's edge contains a weathered back-
pack left by an adventurer who met a grisly end in area
9b. A crowbar and a 50-foot coil of hempen rope are
strapped to the outside of the backpack. Inside the pack
are five torches too damp to light, a hammer, a tinder-
box, a skillet, a half-empty water skin, and seven days'
worth of spoiled rations.9B. DEMON-GUARDED TREASURE
Two barlguras crawled out of the Underdark and made
a home here. Alerted by approaching light or the echoes
of footfalls, they turn invisible and wait to ambush
newcomers.
Treasure. Slumped against the west wall is the moldy
skeleton of a human pirate clutching a rusty shortsword
in one hand and a wooden tankard in the other. A shat-
tered wooden cask lies nearby. Careful examination of
the wall above the skeleton reveals a slot carved into
the stone. The slot has the same width and depth as the
pirate's rusty blade. If this shortsword or one like it is in-
serted into the slot, a loose rock in the ceiling falls away,
and with it comes a moldy old chest. The chest splinters
when it hits the floor, spilling out its contents: 500 sp,
a sharkskin pouch containing five moss agates (10 gp
each), a pair of bone dice (1 gp), a 6-inch-tall empty
obsidian bottle carved in the shape of a wizard's tower
with a removable cork roof (50 gp), a pearl necklace
(250 gp), and a shriveled sea elf's head with a potion of
water breathing stuffed in its mouth (with the vial's cork
sticking out).