Descent into Avernus

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

Klim's shackles have AC 19, 10 hit points, and immu-


nity to poison and psychic damage.


The suit of armor is welded together and is harmless,


but its gauntlets are detachable. Both gauntlets are


animated objects statistically identical to flying swords,


except they deal bludgeoning damage instead of s lash-


ing damage. The gauntlets detach from the armor and


attack anyone who disturbs them or frees the prisoner


from his shackles.

Dl3. MORGUE


Unless the characters approach this room quietly and


without light sources, they alert the occupants here. De-

scribe the area to the players as follows:


This partially collapsed room has three wooden beams
bracing its ceiling. Situated between the beams is a
scorched wooden table with a human cadaver resting
atop it. A frighteningly thin woman in a black robe is
studying the corpse, her face largely hidden under a cowl.
Around her feet creep a swarm of skeletal rats.

The necromancer looming over the corpse is Flennis, a


female human master of souls (see page 234 for her


stat block) and the highest-ranking follower of Myrkul


in the dungeon. Use the swarm of rats stat block in the


Monster Manual to represent F lennis's skeletal rats,


which are undead instead of beasts. The swarm can be


turned by any character with the Turn Undead feature,
but spells that target beasts have no effect on it.

Flennis is preparing to make a zombie out of the


corpse on the table, but the animate dead spell takes


1 minute to cast, which means she must deal with the


characters first. Her skeletal rats attack the nearest foe,


and she casts spells while using the table for cover.


Tr easure. ln addition to her robe and her flail, Flennis


carries a dusty spellbook that contains all the spells she


has prepared. The book has black leather covers and


sports a tiny, skull-shaped locking mechanism. Flennis


has the key to the lock stuck in her hair. A character can


also pick the lock with a successful DC 10 Dexterity


check made with thieves' tools.


The first time a creature other than Flennis opens the


book, a wisp of black smoke rises from its pages and co-

alesces into a skull that cackles madly for a few seconds


before dissipating. The creature holding the book when


the smoke appears must succeed on a DC 14 Consti-

tution saving throw or be cursed for 24 hours, during


which time the creature has vulnerability to necrotic


damage. A remove curse spell or similar effect ends the


curse on the creature.


D14. HUNGRY RAT


An ordinary rat scurries around this room, looking for


scraps of food. If the characters use a speak with ani-


mals spell or similar magic to communicate with the rat,


it can share its knowledge of the dungeon with them. It


warms to characters who offer it food.


The rat's knowledge is limited to places it has visited-


specifically areas DS through D26. It doesn't know the


location of secret doors, so it's unaware of areas D27


through D33, which are hidden behind the secret door


in area D23.


Dl5. FLOODED ROOM


The flooded, rubble-strewn tunnels leading to and from


this room narrow to a width of 2\li feet in places. Four


rotting wooden beams rise from the murky water to
brace the ceiling here. Rubble piled in the northwest
corner contains nothing of interest.

Dl6. FLOODED CRYPT


Murky, foul-smelling water surrounds an open stone sar-


cophagus resting in the middle of this crypt, its stone lid
lying broken in three pieces under the water north of it.

A detect magic spell reveals an aura of evocation magic


around the sarcophagus. Characters who pull the lid


fragments out of the water see that the lid was carved in


the likeness of a screaming, axe-wielding barbarian.

Exposure to the dampness has rotted the bones in the


sarcophagus. reducing them to black sludge.
Trap. If the contents of the sarcophagus are disturbed,

a ghostly battleaxe appears above the sarcophagus.


The battleaxe is created by magic similar to a spiritual


weapon spell and is treated as a 2nd-level spell effect for


the purpose of dispelling it. The ghostly battleaxe can't


be harmed, can't leave the room, and targets only crea-


tures, acting on initiative count 20. On each of its turns,


it moves up to 10 feet and makes a melee spell attack


(+5 to hit) against an available target, dealing 6 (ld8 + 2)


force damage on a hit. The effect ends when there are


no longer any creatures in the room, and the trap resets


after 24 hours.


Dl7. MYRKUL'S ALTAR


Read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the play-


ers when their characters first enter the room:


This dry, partially collapsed room contains a stone altar
with humanoid skulls and bones piled around it. The top
of the altar is covered with dozens of half-melted candles
made of black wax, all currently unlit.

If one or more of the black candles on the altar are lit,


they shed a green light that reveals black writing on


the walls. The writing, which is not visible otherwise,


says in Common, "RISE AND BE COUNTED!" If these


words are spoken aloud within 5 feet of the altar, the


words vanish as bones hidden under the debris at the


north end of the room rise up and knit together, forming

three animated human skeletons. The skeletons are evil


undead, but they obey the commands of whoever spoke
the words that raised them, serving that individual until

they're destroyed or their master is killed.


Dl8. GAS BUILDUP


The ceiling of this Hooded room is supported by nu-


merous wooden beams. The air here smells like rotten


eggs, a putrid stench that carries beyond the room. Any


character approaching this area who succeeds on a DC


10 Wisdom (Survival) check realizes that the stench is

CHAPTER I I A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Free download pdf