Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage

60

BLUECAP

Dubbed "the grain of the Underdark," a bluecap is a

tall, slender mushroom with a bright blue, bell-shaped

cap. Although bluecaps are inedible, their spores can be

ground to make a nutritious, bland flour. Bread made

from bluecap flour is known as sporebread or bluebread.

One loaf is equivalent to 1 pound of food.

RIPPLE BARK

This shelf-like fungus resembles a mass of rotting flesh,

but it's surprisingly edible. Though it can be eaten raw, it

tastes better roasted. A single sheet of ripplebark yields

ld4 + 6 pounds of food.

TIMM ASK

Known as "devil's mushroom," a timmask is a 2-foot-tall

toadstool with orange and red stripes across its beige

cap. Uprooting or destroying a timmask causes it to

expel a 15-foot-radius cloud of poisonous spores. Crea-

tures in the area must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution

saving throw or be poisoned. While poisoned in this

way, a creature is under the effect of a confusion spell

with a duration of 1 minute. When the spell effect ends,

the poisoned condition also ends.

'TRILLIMAC

A trillimac is a mushroom that grows to a height of 4 to

5 feet and has a broad, gray-green cap with a light gray

stalk. The cap's leathery surface can be cut and cleaned

for use in making maps, hats, and scrolls; its surface

takes on dyes and inks especially well. The stalk can be

cleaned, soaked in water for an hour, then dried to make

a palatable food akin to bread. Each trillimac stalk pro-

vides ld6 + 4 pounds of food.

TONGUE OF MADNESS

A tongue of madness looks like a large human tongue.

Although it is edible, it holds no nutritional value. A crea-

ture that eats this fungus must succeed on a DC 12 Con-

stitution saving throw or compulsively speak aloud its

every thought for the next hour. The effect can be ended

with a lesser restoration spell or similar magic.

ZURKHWOOD

A zurkhwood is a mushroom that can grow up to 40

feet high. Its large, grain-like spores are edible (one

specimen provides ld4 + 4 pounds of food), but the

fungus is more important for its hard and woody stalk.

Zurkhwood is one of the few sources of timber in the

Underdark; it is used to make furniture, containers,

bridges, and rafts, among other things. Skilled crafters

can use stains, sanding, and polishing to bring out dif-

ferent patterns in a zurkhwood stalk.

Exploring This Level

The following locations are keyed to map 4. A tributary

of the Sargauth River called the River of the Depths en-

ters Undermountain here and flows down to level 5.

Unless otherwise noted, all tunnels on this level are

20 feet high, and caverns are 30 to 50 feet high. Most

of the floors on this level are uneven and covered in dirt

and bat guano. Because of this soft ground, Wisdom

L.EVEL 4 I TWISTED CAVERNS

(Survival) checks made to track creatures on this level

are made with advantage.

1. FUNGUS FOREST
   Fungi. Mossy paths run between patches of stout trilli-
   mac and a forest of towering zurkhwood whose caps
   scrape the 40-foot-high ceiling.
   Clearings. Throughout the cavern are small clear-
   ings where the fungi have been torn out of the
   mossy ground.
   Characters who search for tracks and succeed on a
   DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check find several large, bare
   footprints made by the ettin who regularly feeds on the
   mushrooms in this cavern.

h JIBBER-JABBER

Ettin. An ettin inhabits this dripping cave.

Stalactites. Needle-sharp stalactites stud the 30 -foot-

high ceiling.

Fungi. Barrelstalk, bluecap, and ripplebark fungi grow

in irregular patches throughout the cavern.

The ettin's heads are named Jibber and Jabber, and

they get along well-an unusual state of affairs for an

ettin. This situation might be the result of the ettin's hav-

ing a comfortable home and all the food it could desire.

The ettin a lso has a friendly neighbor in the Alchemist

(see area 4), who providesJibber-Jabber with compost

that transforms the water in barrelstalk mushrooms

into mead. The only thingJibber-Jabber is missing in its

simple life is treasure to ogle. If the characters offer it

50 gp or more in coins, gems, and shiny art objects, the

ettin allows them to pass through its domain and even

harvest some fungus if they please. Jibber-Jabber might

also impart the following useful information.

• "Spider people" (drow) are living in the caves to the
  east. They are new neighbors.


• The "fishy folk" (kuo-toa) and the "stinky lizards"
  (troglodytes) seem troubled and are moving about
  more than usual. (The ettin has not yet encountered
  the aboleth and knows nothing about its conflict with
  the kuo-toa.)
  The water in the river has started to taste bad. (The
  ettin has not yet been poisoned by the water, which the
  aboleth has tainted with its presence.)
  If the characters look like they could use more help,
  the ettin suggests they talk to the Alchemist and points
  them eastward.Jibber-Jabber describes the Alchemist
  as "smart, handsome, and small, but with a big smile."

3. DEATH FROM ABOVE
   Fungi. Gardens of barrelstalk, bluecap, timmask, and
   trillimac fill the cavern. Between the garden patches
   meander paths that lead to and from the various exits.
   Piercers. Stalactites cover the ceiling of the wide tun-
   nel that leads south (to area 5). Eight piercers lurk
   among them.
   Any character who searches for tracks along a path
   can make a Wisdom (Survival) check. On a check total